Logbooks Should Be Banned

I'm not an anarchist by any means. There has to be government or there will be chaos. The point is, a grown man/woman should be able to make their own decisions in this case. Have you ever been too tired to drive and had to anyway? Be completely honest. Has the logbook ever dictated to you in an adverse way? Be completely honest. That is more dangerous than being able to make up your own mind. We are not robots. We are not machines. We should have the right to make our own decisions in this area. Not be pushed by regulations. There comes a time when there's too much government and not enough common sense. This is one of those times. I believe it would be safer for each individual to listen to their own bodies to tell if they are rested enough to drive rather than having a law dictate that. If I need to sleep...STOP...If I'm okay...DRIVE...Instead of, "Oh Crap!! I'm running out of hours I need to keep going!!"....That's deadly. That's not having a reasonable choice. And I don't think it's neccessary to keep mentioning how carriers respond to, "I can't be on time." For whatever reason the majority of them get pissed off. That's just the way it is. And the comment about goofing off instead of sleeping? I suppose you've never had to sit with your c.b. on for hours on end with no rest waiting on a shipper or receiver and then had to get out and go anyway? Happens way too often. Or deliver early in the morning right after a break and have to sit all day long to get a load and can't sleep because you JUST WOKE UP. Then when you get a load they want you to leave when your body is saying, "It's time to go to bed now!". There's a list of things that can go wrong and mess up your entire schedule but that carrier doesn't want to hear it and your body doesn't either. That logbook has the ability to eliminate your right to make a correct decision without having to suffer unwarranted consequences from the carrier or even deadly ones. If someone messes up...punish them...not everbody because of them. If I do something stupid should you be punished for it or me? The right to drive safely and the ability to make that decision for yourself should not be mandated by a law that all too often prevents you from doing just that.

 

That's what I'm talking about. Get to the root of it. Not the leaves. Stiffer penalties would make people think twice. And eventually the weeds get pulled out of the garden. There's got to be a better way than taking away our God given right to use sound judgement.

 

That's why the carriers need to have something in place to make them accountable. It's all getting pushed off on the drivers. You think E-Logs will stop carriers pushing? It won't. They'll be getting pissed when you don't use every available second.

 

Yes I understand that there will be some that think it's a free-for-all. But If it can be proven that a driver was driving like an idiot and caused something horrible and a prison term ensued, don't you think there would be a LOT of second thought before driving like that?