In training and unwilling to falsify logs to help my trainer make $. What to do?

I posted this to get some experienced drivers opinions and hopefully confirm to myself that I'm not the one in the wrong.[/QUOTE]

Well in my experience it sounds like you want to be right more than you want to work. Everybody does things differently. Deal with it or move on.

 

I'm not sure the company fully realizes or condones what's being done. I'm hoping my trainer doesn't represent the company as a whole.

 

It seems counterproductive to lie through our teeth to report hours to suit rules that we think are ridiculous. What if everyone reported honestly? Would the rules be redefined? Perhaps even redefined to something that we can better live with.

 

No we would all just get fined. Next you'll suggest running over a scale. You need to take some time off.

 

We would all be fined for reporting honestly? I think you misread my post.

 

Right. hos violations

 

TTR bosses kind of frown on naming names. They prefer to keep to the positive side of the business.

Mikeeee

 

I haven't visited this forum in a long time but this is a good discussion and I am happy I dropped by. This is one of those deals where I figure basically everyone is right, they just have different perspectives and circumstances.

What I would add is that I finally figured out that what the DOT wants, what your company wants, is a log book that shows no violations. They all know that the whole thing about the signature saying that this is exactly what happened is a fantasy. This to me is the key to the whole game.

Yes, Mr. by-the-book, it IS a game. I was exactly like you. EXACTLY: "I do not sign false documents! I have morals and ethics and honor! I don't need this #### this bad!" Sound familiar?

And then I ran produce out of CA. For a while there, I figured that if it had a reefer in back, it had false logs inside. I got over it, I no longer think it's that bad.

The main thing is to present log pages that A) Show no violations and B) are consistent with the times they know about, i.e. crossing the scales and pumping the fuel, and possibly time-stamps on your BOLs. (As I understand it, fueling time-stamps only are accessed during audits, but audits happen so you may get away with it but only until the audit happens, and maybe the audit is internal and not the DOT.)

You cannot fake the ten hour break. Not and really expect to get away with it. The example of the drop, then 10 hour, then hook, is excellent. You gotta show the trailer numbers, they didn't drop and hook themselves, the mileage and speed limits and scale crossings nail it down.

Here's the other key that lets me, with my ethics still intact, to play the game successfully: The DOT tells me that "if it has to do with the truck, it's on duty". What is left unsaid there is that loading and delivering are off-duty because it has to do with the load, not the truck. So as soon as you arrive to load or deliver, boom, you are not driving or even on-duty.

You gotta show the 15 min pre-trip and the fueling time, but you can be waiting in the fuel line off duty.

The other other key is that if you're not running so hard that every 15 minutes count, you really shouldn't have to fake anything. This has been my experience anyway, maybe someone else can show why this is wrong. So if the trainer says "done my way, we wouldn't be sitting, we'd be rolling" ain't necessarily true. I actually pad my logs sometimes just so the DOT can look at it and conclude that I don't cheat. If your book shows the max all the time, they are going to look harder. Once upon a time, this saved my ###. There was a violation right in his face, but the rest of it was not close to the line, and he skipped right past it.

Oh, and don't be stupid like I was a admit to stuff they don't wanna deal with. I got caught logging an early departure due to the time-stamp on the BOL once, and that's where I learned to stop doing that. He looked me in the eye and asked me to explain it. I suddenly caught a clue and simply said "I cannot explain it, Officer", and he smiled, telling me non-verbally that I had given the correct answer. He wrote me up but it could've been much worse. They actually don't want to deal with violations, it makes them do work. Just make it look right.

 

Again.

I can't think of another "Profession" in America where the Employees actually beg to work longer hours instead of fighting for better pay!

Mikeeee

 

Nice reply. Thank you. Maybe what I need is a trainer who can fully explain the why's and how's of the way things are done rather than just repeating "just trust me, you won't get a ticket" over and over.