Oh what fun! Elogs

You can't!

If you are out of driving hours for the day and you move the truck 6 inches you will set off all the buzzers and it will show a violation!

This is not hearsay, it happened to me!

I would not park somewhere that you might have to move later if I were you, you are gonna have to shut down early sometimes just to get a spot to sleep!

 

Like I said, if your elogs do that, then they are set up wrong. If mine did that to me, I would start looking for another truck to get into. That's not an option for everyone right now, but I'd at least be looking. That kind of system is going to get you into more trouble than it's worth eventually.

 

That's part and parcel of how elogs implementation is set-up at JBC - your management has made certain choices that characterize how it appears to you in the drivers seat. In your case, it appears that they are much more restrictive than other carriers because of the "bad actor" settlement with the FMCSA. I think they have the parameters that move you from off-duty to line 3 very restrictive, and I believe that there is no ability for you to use off-duty driving - aka "line 5". Both of those parameters are different in the implementation at my carrier...

Have you ever been on elogs? That's a common response from folks who haven't made the switch. Moving to some sort of automated log system coupled with GPS is only a matter of time for the entire industry... if for no other reason than the additional information that is made available for load planning and load status. Its attractive to many carriers for the decrease in log errors that end up as CSA points charged to the carriers. My opinion is that by say 2015 all interstate carriers will be using it.

That being said, La Hood's BS change to the HOS regs should be shelved at this point until the manditory switch to elogs/EOBRs has been made. The simple fact is that the HOS regs under paperlogs needs to be modified to deal with the realities of how automated logging is going to affect the industry - so we're going to be back here fighting with the know-nothing beaurecrats about this again. The situation that puts you at the end of your 14-hour window while on the property of a shipper or receiver who will not allow you to complete an HOS break while at there facility begs a rule change in and of itself.

At Prime the parameters that move you to line 3 are a little less restrictive, but just the same knowing exactly how its set up at your carrier is important. Too many of those kind of violations may get you to the same place that Old Goatie got to... unfortunately. Tonight I've got about 1.5 miles from where I'm parked to the DC guardshack - I'm legal to go to line 3, but if I don't bust 25 mph (it'll be 3 AM local when I do this) I won't be moved to line 3... not that it's important. Nice though, when it comes to dealing with the next load though...

That's another thing to consider when moving from one carrier to the next in the era of elogs... just how touchy are they going to be about elog violations? When that DOT clock gets down to zero, you need to be stopped and have the parking brake set in order to have the system sense the conditions necessary for that automatic switch off of line 3 - or you have to have enough time to get to the status screen to manually change it.

LOL! First time it went off on me, my thought was... Dang! When did this become the starship Enterprise, with a boat load of Klingons attacking??!!!

If you go read some of the other elogs threads, this is a common theme that we've been commenting on for some time. Two things that elogs really require is more planning up front by the driver, and the awareness of how the current status of the DOT clock relates to your daily driving goal and the brick wall in time that is your load/unload appointments. A good example of this is on a trip that puts you in Tulsa OK for an HOS break... either you get there early, or there won't be any truckstop parking. Passing up an open spot at a rest area or picnick stop on the turnpike is a bad idea - especially later on in the evening.

That's a question you need to pose to your management (aka the "logbook nazi" - LOL!) - how are they going to treat a situation that puts you stuck in something like the traffic jam resulting from a major accident - where it is impossible to move, and you are going over your 14. Happened to me recently, and the HOS rule that allows you to go over your 14 in the case of an unforseen circumstance saved my happy heiny - and a call to the log department the next morning added an annotation to the log file. That's not something that is going to get me terminated... but what happens at Swift or JBC???

How management deals with this now is important. On paper logs, you could always work out an artifice that made things come out right... but with the ol' computer nanny on the job - she'll tattle on you in a NY second. The old saw about what management doesn't know, isn't going to hurt them - no longer applies. Not only that, but in the case of a total jerk dispatcher who starts dinging you on why you've stopped for a couple hours for a nap. That's the sort of thing that will make elogs intollerable, not just that we're using technology instead of a pen...

When you pull the trigger on the 14-hour clock is extremely important! If you start too early (say right after your 10 is up.. because you can) you can run out of hours very quickly. Also managing your available hours once your 14 is active is very important as well. Deciding whether its better to go or complete an 8-hour break after being delayed at a shipper can be a critical decision in terms of your ability to complete a trip without a service failure. Always, always look at those situations BEFORE you end up with the irrevocable change to line 3.

Something else here to consider... do you know how split sleeper berth logging works? If you don't, now is the time to learn it. I used it fairly often on paper logs, but since the switch to elogs, I'm using it much more frequently to make something work - all the way from dealing with delays to planning something tight using them with the advantage of gaining a couple of hours at the end of a trip by using the time at a receiver as the 2-hour short break of a split.

Look at what you're saying here... YOU desire to use every minute available to you - but elogs won't let you - so you hate it. OTOH, you're being planned better, so your time is being used more efficiently. Maybe its time to re-evaluate that internal need to use every second of your 11 daily hours...

Just sayin...

Might avoid an ulcer, ya know!

Ah, yes... dear Ms Elogs - that evil automated biotch!

 

"Like I said."

 

Here is what happened to me awhile back...............

I was on a run that was tight so I couldn't afford to shut down too early, I had an hour left on my 11 as I was going through Nashville, so I had enough time to make it to the Love's at exit 89 I believe it is.

Just south of downtown an Averitt truck had flipped over and the hwy was a parking lot, by the time I got through that I had to stop at the TA in Antioch. There were no spots left so I go next door to the truck wash that was closed and parked there. Pulled in with 1 minute left, shut it down switched to off duty, then I had to move to make sure I was out of the way, "ding ding ding! You are in Violation!"

Never heard from anybody in Greeley so I don't know if I'm in trouble or not, but from now on the load will be late before I try to stretch out my clock again!

Our elogs don't put you on line 3 till you go 0.7 miles UNLESS you are out of drivetime when you move!

 

That's messed up. Hopefully when the company realizes that they will be getting in just as much trouble as you are for it, they'll change the system to make more sense.

 

They can't - part of the federal settlement for past log violations.

BTW... you're solution that doesn't take you to line 3 automatically won't pass muster when the mandate goes through... just so ya know.

 

I am so thankful I have other options.

This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. Eh, no thanks.

 

I believe it will. Nothing in the regulations has changed. If the elog can't follow the regulations than it is set up wrong. If you are puttering around in a private lot then you are on duty not driving. Period.