Off duty question

I filed a DataQ challenge and lost that too. Missouri State Police affirmed the metro cop's ruling.

 

Just because you're at customer doesn't mean you're "waiting to be dispatched." I already know where I'm going next; the dispatcher has already dispatched me to another customer or to a truck stop to wait for further dispatch. So, I'm legally in the sleeper berth while loading or unloading.
There's way to many uninformed cops out there causing problems and messing with driver careers, just to stay in the good graces of their boss by pretending they know what they're doing and generating revenue for the town they work for.

 

Missouri has always been a horrible state for truckers that are passing through.

 

That's my point. Waiting to be dispatched is a condition of being on duty. If you are not waiting to be dispatched then you are not required to be on duty. You can be off duty and be 100% legal. Don't even have to be in the sleeper.

 

When I was very young, I watched too many western movies and in my mind law enforcement officers in Texas and Missouri were the real men in the country. Found out I was wrong when I became a trucker and had to deal with them. Sure, many are ok, but far too many are just wimpy butt kissers that make the good ones seem untrustworthy.

 

A lot of cops have to justify their existence,in other words earn their keep.It's the way they do it that determines the type of official they are.The ones that go for the quick buck are just lazy and some of them are spiteful and have a grudge.I've also noticed truck cops hate their job because their fellow officers don't consider them real police.

 

If you're sitting just waiting to be loaded or unloaded and not doing the work yourself it can be off duty, but it doesn't really matter unless you're sitting there long enough to actually stop your 14 hour clock.

 

Your on duty when at waiting to load or unload even if your just sitting in drivers seat doing nothing.
You are not free to do as you please, you can't just walk or drive away. You have to stay and attend the truck and trailer as it being loaded.

If You Need to Be There, You're On Duty

Question: With the regulation in February 2012 that allows a driver to log “time spent resting in or on a parked vehicle” as off duty, can I now log time at a shipper or receiver as off duty if I am in the cab of my unit?

Answer: According to FMCSA hours of service, on-duty time is defined as:

“All time loading or unloading a commercial motor vehicle, supervising, or assisting in the loading or unloading, attending a commercial motor vehicle being loaded or unloaded, remaining in a state of readiness to operate the commercial motor vehicle, or in giving or receiving receipts for shipments loaded or unloaded.”

If any of these apply, you are on duty and not driving.

Auditors and inspectors determine whether a driver had the ability to leave the facility when judging whether he or she could have been off duty.

So, if you need to be there, you are considered on duty.

 

Voss seemed to me the only saving grace. And one other truckstop near the Germans down into the south and west roughly. Then there is the Petro at Joplin. I wish I remember exactly that one old time independant, it was a texaco or some such . The food there was heaven to me.

 

Where in the regs does it state anything about ability to leave as being a requirement for off duty? Even that opinion piece (Note, that's not guidance from FMCSA) doesn't state that.....