Logbook ticket

I doubt going to court will help you lower the fine. Judges generally don't lower fines. What they can and frequently do in hardship cases is allow either more time to pay or set up payments. I was in court in Georgia back in 2009 and seen a State Court Judge do this with several large fines. The Judge told them however if payments were not made they would have their licenses suspended and Bench Warrants would be issued.

 

This is the guy that before he had his license and a driving job was starting thread after poorly written thread on how to reduce his corporate tax liability and the best way to start his own fleet of trucks. We told him he was putting the cart before the horse and should focus on learning how to drive first.

 

I didn't see that thread.think some just post any ole thing to see how much of a rise they can get.

 

I noticed after reading the OP that the charge was falsified logs. Your lucky you walked away with just a fine. Your going to find attitudes in here that false logs are not a big deal. Trust me they are. Hopefully you will never be involved with an accident that results in fatalities or serious major property damage regardless of fault. If you are say a brief prayer all your documents are in order. Because chances are YOU and your EMPLOYER will be sued. If you have prepass these records will be subpoenaed. I actually seen this done in a divorce case. All your fuel records will be got. Your freight bills will be looked at. The plaintiffs attorney's will by discovery get all your toll receipts. Then your DMV and insurance records will be looked at. Once all the information is collected they will go line by line over your logs. This is where you start hoping your prayer is answered. If they find you have falsified your logs. The case is lost. You and your company will pay a large award, and there is a good chance you might have to do some time if the matter is referred to the local prosecutor. I don't remember if it was Pennsylvania or New York but I remember a driver doing four months for falsification of logs after losing a case. In the past when I spoke to new drivers about this I always implored them to never hand in a false log. If you busted your clock log it and put in the comments why. I was held up by a Walmart DC in southern Florida once and had to bust my 14 hour clock. Yep you guessed it I got my logbook checked by Florida DOT. The officer told me he was impressed by my honesty gave a stern lecture and handed my logbook back. Remember for those of you still using paper logs, log it as you drive it.


The reason I know the above is I have seen it up close and I suspect others in here have as well.

 

No, it is not. That would be considered running two log books which will get you in a heap of trouble. You keep a paper log book handy in case your e-logs go on the fritz, but that's it.

 

You're better off not having a log book at all and playing stupid than falsifying one.

 

Besides subpoenaing all those paper records in case of an accident they will also subpoena your phone records to verify your location and compare those records to your logs and if they don't match you're automatically at fault.

 

I also forgot to add that if the Attorney is smart and knowledgeable about the tools carriers use to check logs they will get another item as well. I can't remember the name of the company, but there is a company that some carriers use to check logs. I have seen this. They will also get copies of your DAC. Your life as a trucker is laid bare. I know a guy that drove for USA Truck that was fired by safety for continued HOS violations. What if that driver ever gets into a fatal accident? I wonder how long till an Attorney finds out about the termination, and why? This is why I sometimes wince when I see in this forum or others like it another driver telling someone HOS violations are not a big deal. Just "" fix "" it and keep on trucking. Bad advice!

 

No s***! One of the main things my instructor focused on was being able to do a paper logbook and knowing the regulations

 

That's the first thing they taught me in truck driving school was how to keep a log book and the truck driving school was only two weeks long