Log books, What's really in them?

I am a farmer/farm hand by trade. I farm with my brother in SW MN. We just purchased out first semi- tractor trailer to haul grain with. As a farmer and, as a person who is directly employed by a farmer, I do not need to upgrade my Drivers License or get a CDL. I've heard a lot of truckers talk about log books. What sort of information is really entered in them? What is there purpose? What is a Bingo card? How many hours a day/ week or whatever are you legally allowed to drive on the road as a trucker? What sort of legal hoops do you really all have to jump through to stay on the road?

My brother and I may someday decide to get our CDL's just to make things look better.(It will be needed if we haul grain for any other farmers) If we do this we will not go to school. Rather we will just read the MN CDL book and go take the test. I'm trying to learn all I can just in case someday we decide to do that. Thanks!

 

Log books are basically all about revenue, supposed to be about safety but as with some other laws and regs that the DOT enforces mostly logs are about revenue. You are supposed to keep up with your hours in case you have an accident, DOT will have a reference to see what you've been doing for the last 7 days. You are allowed a 16hr work day if you're local, 14 if you are over the road. 11 of which you are allowed to drive before you have to take a 10hr break. I would double check the laws on being required to have a CDL to operate a Commercial Vehicle on private property.

 

I agree, I would double check those MN States laws about needing a class A CDL, Many states used to have an exception for agriculture and staying within 10 miles of your operation. But I think the insurance groups did lobby a few years ago, to require training and a Class A under all situtations with a tractor-trailer vehicle. (I think large straight trucks under 28,000 GVW were ommited) Do not ask the local police, go directly to the DMV, as these laws change, and often the local police do not keep up..... till you have an accident & your insurance does not cover you, due to the fact that your improperly licensed.
You will find out when you go to insure this vehicle, you will not be able to add it to your list of farm vehicles, it will need to be on its own ploicy due to the fact it's referred to as a road worthy "combination vehicle" and your agent will give you a list of limitations & restrictions ( including a list of lic.drivers in your operation, regardless of how small). If your agent never mentioned this, you may need to review this with them, many are not aware of laws regarding large combo vehiicles, if that is not their main business (there are many specialized firms, that insure combo vehicles only, and large companies like State Farm, Allstate, etc...will sub the policy out to these specialized firms).Its seems strange as you will not have your own authority or will you be "For Hire", but so many farm operations have been under-insured or non-insured (mis-informed agent) and now the federal regs have come into play.

P.S. Bingo cards no longer are used, they now issue a federal permit for fuel tax, some states like NY still have their own state fuel tax certificate. You will not have to keep a log book, as local companies that operate within 100 "Air Miles" are ommited from log book regs.

 

As I know allot of Over the Road drivers, I am not familiar with the farming regulations. I can find out for you.

The first thing I would need to know is: Are you driving Over the road or staying within the state you live?

 

Information on the log book:
Carrier headquarter address
Your home terminal address
Where you were (start of day) and where you stop (end of day). Sometimes this is the same place.
How many miles you drove today
How many hours you were sleeping (sleeper berth), driving, onduty (not driving) and off duty.
A pretty graph you make yourself to show the exact times of each four activities (this is why they are called coloring books)
Exact location of each change of duty status.

You can be on duty up to 60 hours in 7 days or up to 70 hours in 8 days. This clock can be reset by logging 34 or more consecutive hours OFF duty. Note that it's highly unlikely you'd log 60 hours in 7 days DRIVING without running afoul of other HOS regulations. The 60 hours includes all time on duty, not just driving.

Each day you can be on duty up to 14 hours, including driving time. So if you drive a half hour to your shipper, wait 10 hours to be loaded... now you can only drive about 3 hours before you need to shut down for the day. (gotta leave time for post trip) -Dave

 

Not to cause tension only to make sure you understand and I understand you correctly.

If I have a 10 hour break prior to 12:00 am I can say be on line 4 for 30 minutes then drive 11 hours, then sleep 10, do a 15 minute line 4 and then drive again another 1.75 hours in a 24 hour period. Which means I drove a total of 12.75 hours, and I was on line 4 for 1.50. YOu are not limited to 11 hours in a 24 hour period, and actually should always be referred to as "you can drive 11 hours in a 14 hour period, at the end of the 14th hour you must take a 10 hour break (Which you can start the break prior to the 14th hour or after as long as you don't DRIVE past the 14th hour) before you drive again or if you are splitting take an 8 & 2h hour break!.
I tried to post a grid to go with what I was discussing but it didn't work tonight!

 

Definitely staying with in the state we live in. (Which is Minnesota.) All loads would be from the field to the farm yard. Or, from the farm yard to the grain terminal or ethanol plant. We will never get more then 30 miles from home.

Many Farmers have tractor trailer trucks now and very few get a class A license,Or whatever, or a CDL. I don't think insurance requires it. But, they would certainly like it better in case of a accident. The thing is though, as soon as you upgrade your license your insurance goes up! The insurance company now thinks you might be hauling commercially and so they raise your rates accordingly.

I really don't know what the Class A,B,C, or D license stuff in MN means now. For over twenty years I had a class C license. Then when it came time for renew a few years back they changes it to a class D license. MN is one of those states that always has to #### around with stuff just to make things difficult.

 

Sounds like a complected nightmare. No wonder you all hate it.

Build a colored graph! Oh for heavens sake.
Is there any computer programs you can put on a laptop and take with you to make this stuff easier for you? Sounds like there should be. Then you could just punch in the numbers and presto out pops a graph. I spose you would have to haul a printer with you then hun. The cops probably do not accept anything but hard copies I bet.

 

Caveman,

Its much simpler then people make it, Here it is.....

Once you start your day, (drive, unloading, pretrip, etc.) thats called on duty. Once you start that "On Duty Clock" you now have 14 hours of time to get you days work done, inside that 14 hour of duty, you have 11 hours avaiable to drive (No More) then you need to take a 10 hr break.

Example: You get up at 6AM Take a shower in the truck stop and eat breakfast. Your get back at the truck at 8AM and start your pretrip, your now on the clock, and you have till 10 PM to get your work done...including 11 hours of driving, in that 14 hr period...and then you must take a 10 hour break. People often ask me why do they make it 14 hours and not just 11 hours? This extra 3 hours is for breaks, inspections, paperwork, and loading and unloading (In theory...lol)

There is a split sleeper birth exception, but it requires so much time in the sleeper birth, to extend your day.....that you might as well take the full 10 hours and get another complete day out of it. (it changed a couple years ago, used to be worth it...not anymore. So many people apply the older sleeper birth exception rules and get snagged at the scales.)

See its really not that complicated, there area a few other details, but these basics are what is used each day. The key not starting your day, until your ready to roll, and get some miles behind ya, seems like the shippers and receivers need to some how have a pay plan, that is all about getting the trucks loaded and unloaded, safely and as fast as possible.

P.S. I know insurance is a big expense on a farm, but it would be awful to to lose the farm due to an accident and not having the proper insurance....at that point the insurance would seem like a pretty good deal. I say this, because see so many farm / truck accidents in my area. I think you have been given some misinformation on the insurance issue, yes your insurance will be more if your "For Hire", but there are completely different policies for farming operations, using it for their own business....and like I said above your insurance company will give you a long list of restrictions of use (which will make your insurance null & void if you do not comply). You can not plead ingnorance on this issue, they will nail ya to the wall....even in a minor accident. The fines and jail time for, willfully being under insured in states like MN, WI, OH, IA are killer!!!

 

Well, my older brother is the one who handles things like insurance. We have been getting our insurance through the same local agent for 40 years. Well,,, I guess he is actually the second agent. The first one died of old age. I'll ask my brother if he has enough and the proper coverage. I bet he does.