Is it a big deal if I log out of my ELD and drive a few miles to avoid an HOS violation?

Don't take this wrong but if you were one of my drivers, I would be close to firing you for this crap.

You call your dispatcher or who ever you work for, have them move the delivery time one hour to an hour and a half out.
Then deal with it after your ten.

Unless you are doing Just-In-Time loads or doing an emergency load, it is something that can be delivered a little later.

Playing games with HOS will get you put out of service and it may be a cop who would do more than just put you OOS for 10.

Next time don't be in a hurry to deliver.

 

If I’m reading that right, for 10 minutes you’re better off taking the violation and adding a notation you were seeking a safe haven or something rather than logging out of it. If you get pulled over in the next 7 days and they see it they’re more likely to cut you a break than logging out and running it. That turns into falsifying logs and a bunch of other crap you don’t wanna deal with. I’m not condoning my aforementioned suggestion btw, I’m just saying THAT would be better than logging out and driving since you asked how big a deal it would be. I’m with the other fellers, split your sleeper berth.

 

Part of the problem is load planners and dispatch don’t give drivers enough time. Plus you can’t away just move appointment back an hour or two.

my company been complaining to drivers because they lost customers because of late loads. They blame the drivers we blame the dispatch system they have and cuts load times to tight for real world driving time. I just did load that had unload at 7:30am -2pm. The next load had pick appointment for 8am with delivery for 12pm same day 170 miles. The first load was not unloaded till 10:30am. So I missed the 8am appointment. I was 4.5 hours late at delivery. They were closed for the day. So had to wait till next day to unload.

I tell them how could they ever think I can unload at 7:30am, get empty and drive 30 miles by 8am for another appointment. They said they knew it would be a little to tight but nobody called to see what time the delivery closed and just figured I would make it later past my appointment at delivery. They refused to unload my the time I arrived,

They never want to admit they cut it to short and charge their dispatch system. I was going home anyway and took load home but I had go back next day on my day off to deliver the load. I get 2 days off at week, but not this week. I think lots of companies cut time to short on drivers.

 

Most Safety critters will never admit this. It is akin to asking a cop how many MPH over the limit can I go before you make a case? The thing is FMCSA auditors don't get too upset about clock busts provided they don't happen much and the % aligns with industry norms. Many times in my career I busted my clock. Was forced to because of circumstances beyond my control. This is why the FMCSA "allows" PC.

All Carriers from Swift to Podunk Rubberized dog crap haulers have to deal with these situations. I doubt there are any drivers on these boards with more than 5 years of experience who have not been forced to bust a clock or use PC to get out of a bad situation. Even working for carriers that "officially" don't allow PC.

Since I now call Williamsburg Virginia home I clearly remember picking up a load of beer at AB. The load had some problems and I was delayed for almost 3 hours. This killed my 14 hour clock, back then I was using paper logs. I went ahead and drove to one of the TA truck stops near Richmond. I noted on my log why. Later I had a brief meeting with Safety and he went over the situation. Since I kept my clock busts to a minimum nothing more was said.

I am going to tag @brian991219 and then make this comment. NEVER turn in a false log. In the case of ELDs tinkering with the system is making a false log. False logs are one of the most serious violations a driver can commit. It's far better to just log the violation and let the carrier handle it in their system.

 

I always leave that on, it’s amazing what wonders that trick does. I’ll sit the extra 20 minutes to get that time back

 

The problem is the driver doesn't push back to tell them they can't do it.

Many drivers don't even know how to do route planning, they throw the address in the nav unit and go go GO!!

 

only if you get caught. Otherwise, you're perfectly fine.

 

as a general rule I would always try to have at least an hour lee way planned.

if dispatch or broker gives one real tight, I would just say, "nope ain't gonna happen".

and not budge, got a lot of crap for it, but kept my late arrivals to a minimum.

 

So, what did you do?

 

Thats what i was wondering .