log books

FMCSR states you have to update your log at every duty status change. So, what you would do is when you do your pretrip, update your log for the new day showing when you did your pre-trip which city and state, then go to line 3. You don't have to show any drive time yet, just put the vertical mark to show you started driving. Then, when you stop, for whatever reason, you update your log again. Say you stop for lunch for an hour. So you'd go line 3 up until the time you stopped, then go to line 1. After lunch, you'd come back out, show your 1 hour on line 1, and mark up to line 3. Easy as that. Of course, there are ways to be a little more creative, but I'd rather not get into that if you are asking for basics.

 

You'll need to keep track of total milage, for end of the day reports on the log. "Miles Driven"

Easy to do, just write your start milage down, then figure it up when you stop for the day.

Some companies require that you write milage down at each state line. But not all.

 

You do not have to mark you log book when you cross any state lines, or borders. Most companies have you write that information down so they can track how many miles you have driven in each state, so they can pay that tax. One company I drove for had a trip envelope with spaces available for that information on the back. The other company had us write it down on a route sheet. But, not in the log book.
But, as danc694u stated, you have to keep up with the miles driven while on duty for the day, there should be a line for that just above the grid.
I was taught it was always easier to keep your log book up to date, when you mark it at the time of the change. When you stop, mark it down. When you start out, mark it down just before you release the brake, and put it in gear.

 

Ya, I shot myself in the butt a few times for not marking fueling stops right when I did them and later found out the clock in my truck was well off due to the truck having been worked on. Ah well, I had so few log violations with safety they didn't say a thing about the 2 I got in one day from that little mess.

 

Companies that use GPS usually don't require that you track mileage in each state because the computer tracks that for fuel tax purposes.