I Got Fired For Discussing My Hours Of Service

I have kind of followed this since the beginning and have refrained from commenting but my inner devil has got control of the keyboard today.

The OP in my opinion was one of those drivers that spend the 10 hour break looking for something to complain about on the 14 hours on duty. If the OP really was having a problem with the time they should have logged it exactly like they say they were going to do it, showed up late at the post office and taken the late slip for being 4 minutes late. Then and only then would they have had something in black and white to take in front of a judge showing proof. But to go in and complain to the manager that they were being cut short by a couple of minutes, well if I was the manager I would have sent them packing at that point as well but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

As for trying to find "the right lawyer" and asking for donations because the lawyers are wanting money up front, well right there is proof enough the OP has no case. There are tens of thousands of hungry lawyers that will take ANYTHING on contingency if they think there's even a remote chance of getting a single penny of settlement. The fact that the lawyers are wanting money up front leads one to believe that they already know they are going to loose the case and don't want to work for free.

I do not advocate breaking the law, nor do I encourage someone to "do whatever it takes" when it comes to getting the job done. Personally I will do whatever it takes within my definition of reason but that's the way I work. I have been doing this driving thing for over 24 years and I have yet to every get even a warning for anything log book related. However with that being said, in my opinion the OP would have had something to complain to the manager about had they been trying to schedule them an hour too early but 5 minutes, really 5 MINUTES? I say the manager did the right thing only because in that 24 years I have been on the management side and again in my opinion, someone who complains about 5 minutes has always been the one who complains about EVERYTHING.

OP - Move on, go find another job, take the settlement from MTI and ask that they show your reason for leaving as something other than fired. Otherwise make a name for yourself trying to get donations to fight an already lost case and see how many doors are closed in your face for the next 10 years. BTW, they aren't offering you a settlement because they think you have a case, they are paying you to go away and quit wasting their time. Who's right, well that's an opinion and there are as many of those as there are people on the earth. Take the settlement and tell yourself that you were right, fight them and have a judge tell you that you were wrong, you get to decide here.

 

I don't believe you are required to show a pre trip even everyday. Just at the beginning of a trip. In other words after you pick up your load. If you get a long haul that takes 2 days you only have to log one pre trip for that. I never logged a post trip and was never informed that I needed to.

 

[h=3]§396.11 Driver vehicle inspection report(s).[/h]
Question 1: Does §396.11 require the DVIR to be turned in each day by a driver dispatched on a trip of more than one day's duration?
Guidance: A driver must prepare a DVIR at the completion of each day's work and shall submit those reports to the motor carrier upon his/her return to the home terminal. This does not relieve the motor carrier from the responsibility of effecting repairs and certification of any items listed on the DVIR, prepared at the end of each day's work, that would be likely to affect the safety of the operation of the motor vehicle.
Question 2: Does §396.11 require that the power unit and the trailer be inspected?
Guidance: Yes. A driver must be satisfied that both the power unit and the trailer are in safe operating condition before operating the combination.


If you do not do a pretrip, how can you satisfy question 2

 

The whole time I was on the road I only logged pre trips after I picked up the load. Now a majority of the time I picked up one day and delivered the next so pre trip got notated every day but there were plenty of times where I didn't log pre trips every day since I was under the same load. Still walked around and filled out the DVIR but what I am saying is you are not required to log this in your HOS.

 

I don't know who is in charge of loging drivers Hours other the than the driver No one can dictate to you how and when you should take your post trip Pretrip other than what was specified in your hours of service manual you log it as it happened if they are going to dictate to you what to do with your log then they have to be liable for that That's what is called falsifying log's and that is bad for you and the company Get everything in Writing If he/she told you are terminated make sure you get that in writing don't just walk away If they refuse then submit a registered letter demanding an explanation of you work status and reason for termination if any Assuming your side of the story is accurate then you can proceed with a legal action against employers like that. But you must be 200% truthful and accurate or you are just wasting time and Money You don't need to spend a fortune to find out if you can or can't win a case like that Google the word " Prepaid Legal Plan " and see if you are able to join This is not your typical chicken hauler lawyers for traffic tickets this is for business related legal issue's you pay them monthly and they advise you on legal matters like this so you know where you stand plus many more benefits Good Luck

 

They question it on every inspection I have had.

Your choice. But, if there is an accident, I have proof I have checked it each day before and after.

 

The carrier has the right to tell employees when and how long to log inspections . Prepaid Legal is a ripoff and I have yet to hear anyone say they were effective with CSA issues . The only action an employee can take against an employer is a civil suit and I never heard of Prepaid Legal getting involved in that .

 

Really doesn't matter whether he was tired after 9hrs and 55 minutes....that IS NOT a 10 hr break. Pre trips and post trips take however long it takes the driver to do them. The driver wasn't refusing to work, he was refusing to violate the HOS. There is no grey area here, he either got in a full 10 hr break (and no less, not even by 1 minute), or he didn't. CSA exists because of stupid drivers and ignorant people running trucking companies. Sounds to me like he tried to be compliant and was terminated for it. I can find nowhere in the law where it states "if you've gotten in 9:55 and you're not tired it's okay to drive."

 

Im tired of this 5 minute argument... was she on paper logs????

 

No she wasn't the company uses a GPS based logging system. But doing some very simple math using her original post and there was a problem with the time, HER problem.


Her Own Words:
So, I had an early morning run and got back late from my run where I had hauled mail. I was back in the yard sometime around 10:00AM, did my 15 min post trip and would have finished my shift around 10:15AM on my count. I had been told the day before that my next shift had a dock time of 8:30PM; with having to do a 15 min pre-trip and a 10 - 15 min drive to the post office, I would have needed to start by 8:00PM. Because I was running late, with a late slip from the post office from that early morning run, I would have been about 5 mins or so short on my 10 hour break. I took my concern to the driver manager, she became irate, told me that the shift was for an 8:35PM dock time and that she "knew the laws."

Per the General Managing Partner of the company, Midwest Transport, INC, I was fired for "complaining to my manager about not getting a 10 hour break, when clearly by I had." By their account, I turned my truck off at 9:54AM, had only 10 mins to do a post-trip (because they will only pay their drivers for 10 mins of a post-trip, even though we are required by law to show a 15 min one), that would have meant that I was done by their account at 10:04, and needed to be back to work at 8:10PM for my duties for the next trip.

And Here We Go:
By the companies account, she shut her truck off at 09:54am and even misunderstanding the laws regarding a post trip and logging a full 15 minutes, she would have been on line 1 at 10:09am. She said in the last sentence above that she needed to be back by 8:10pm for her duties for the next trip. Now I'm not a rocket scientist but simple math and the way I have it calculated she would have had 10 hours and 1 minute off duty. Again, not a rocket scientist here but after 24+ years of driving I do believe that 10 hours and 1 minute is more than enough time for a 10 hour break, a whole 60 seconds more. Her own math and description of events leading up to getting the boot explains why even the lowest of bottom feeder lawyers will not take her case on contingency.