Paper logs vs. electronic logs

That is true, depending on the driver as much as the company. The driver can have input into how schedules are set as much as anyone. If the carrier or the customer can't work and play well with the driver, the driver can go on to greener pastures. No one is forced to do anything except die. Some of us have developed clear understandings with those we work with in this regard. As for if the load won't be ready for another 12 hrs after I arrive at the agreed time, then they can get someone else because my truck is not available to them anymore. Freight capacity is down and indexes are up. Lot of freight chasing fewer trucks. Of course that is not in every location, but national average. As for a company driver, they have a decision to make. If their carrier can't make these kinds of decisions, then time to find another carrier. They all are screaming for bodies.

The driver's time is outside of their control to some extent with this business. But trucking is not the only one that has that problem. How one deals with it and how much they allow someone else to control them is up to them. It is one thing for a driver to suck it up on a one time delay like you mentioned, it is quite another if they allow it repeatedly. The only flaw in your problem is that the driver is going to have the same reality with paper. Same schedules, same delays, etc. And it all comes down to one reality you and others seem to miss.... the driver has the final call when he can and when he will drive. Period. It is in the regs. No carrier or shipper/receiver can change that fact. There is no one else in the cab but the driver. No sure why this little bit of reality seems to escape most folks.

 

yes, your right. I can put myself off duty any time i wont. But when #### happens. And you have to decide on weather to keep your appointment or be late and have to wait for everybody to get done before you get unloaded or get rescheduled, I am going to choose to be on time. so then yes E-Log will make you have to run when you don't wont to. there is no flexibility with e-log. at lease with paper i can create flexibility. is that cheating? sure it is. but it's allowing me to drive when i am good to drive. not when that computer tells me. It's allowing me to drive when all the ######## are off the road. I am a much safer driver when I decide when to drive and not to. If you have 10 hrs to drive, you deliver the next morning and your 9 hrs away. you start out 3pm and you deliver 7am. There is no taking brakes. you cant use that hr you have because you have to save it for #### happens. so what do you do. You drive 9 hrs straight. Chances are you will start getting tired during that 9 hr drive. So what do you do. You drive tired. because the consequences of being late are to expensive. I have been driving for 25 yrs. a owner the entire time. with no accidents. because i drive smart. not how e-log tells me to or the government tells me to. Do i cheat on logs. Sure, once in awhile. but i am safe. And that is what it is all about. Besides that. Not using E-log is my choice. you guy praising E-log gives the government more fuel to take that choice away. My right to chose how to operate my business. affecting my livelihood. How many rites have to be taken from us before you see the big picture. They wont control of my life and yours. hello DICTATORSHIP. SO SCREW ALL OF YOU THAT PRAISE E-LOG

 

REALITY IS. You can create some flexibility with paper. There is none with E-LOG. What this industry needs is flexibility and proper training. Witch we have neither.

 

All that does is stop the 70 hr clock not the 14. If you only have enough time to get there and a 8 or 10 hr break will make you late. Then you don't have much choice then to keep going. Unless you can afford to waste a day waiting to get unloaded. Most of us cant.

 

If one is managing things right, the occurrences of needing all that flexibility is very low. Training, I can cotton to that idea. The biggest problem I have seen over the years is that folks will book loads with unrealistic time frames and have to jump thru all kinds of hoops and such to get things done. They hardly ever take into account delays that might occur and factor that into the time to run a load and setting up appointments. And one thing that stands out also, is folks wait to the last minute to communicate any problem with those that can readjust schedules and keeping everyone in the loop. I see it happen time and again where a driver waits till he is 1 hour from the customer to send a message or call that he doesn't have the hours to do it. Why didn't he communicate this long before then?

I still place as much blame on drivers as anyone else. I am not sure why it is so difficult to tell someone that a load will not be where they want it when they think it should be. I tell brokers, carriers, shippers, etc all the time when things are unrealistic and it needs to be readjusted. I have yet to have any retribution taken out on me, lost income, lost jobs, whatever. I guess that is why I have not had any real problems adjusting to e-logs. Not really doing things much different than when I was on paper. And I am not heading to the poor farm and risking losing my truck.

 

Depends on your paper log usage and methods how much eLogs will "affect" you. If you cheated logs as a matter of routine and routinely ran 4000 mile weeks, you will have real issues if you expect to make the same money. If you were reasonably truthful with you paper logs, eLogs won't be much of a change for you. They can be a problem when running real tight out of necessity or real-world occurrences you have no control over.

They eliminate a lot of math mistakes, put your options in black and white that no one can dispute or argue with (keeps every one honest). I fought them (eLogs) for years but have been on them for a year now and like them ... 95% of the time. Where I am, they do a good job of utilizing available hours very efficiently with dispatch choices but some companies are better then others at implementing and working with eLogs. But I suppose a lot depends on the type of running/loads you typically do where you're working at ... "your results may vary"

 

As long as you utilize and manage your hours of service i dont think it dips into your pocket. Like sTexan said, they do eliminate a lot of math mistakes.

 

i don't run 4000 miles but i certainly cheat the logs. I'll drive when i'm awake and sleep when i'm tired.

I don't sleep in the truck like i do at home. I'll be darned if i gonna sit in the sleeper wide awake for 6 hours before i can drive. Only to get tired in 2 hours.

And yes, you have to drive tired or cut your clock short. The 2 helps but it's nothing compared to the old system that wasn't broken in the first place.

You had flexibility with the old system. You don't with the new BS.

The company i'm at now, and others that run california. Are going to killed with elogs. As some of you running the 95 already know.

 

Just taking your "killed with elogs" comment reminded me of story of the patient who went in to the doctors office and was complaining that when she did something, it hurt. The doctor quickly replied, "then don't do that". The same can be applied here. When e-logs finally get implemented, and it will "kill" your routine and income, then now is the time to investigate and come up with an alternative than just continue on the current path and wait the ball to drop. The one silver lining in this deal is that one has 2 years to figure out a solution. Now is the time to decide what your are going to do, not 2 weeks before the mandate fully kicks in.

 

I find that I do make better money with paper logs but not by a ton. It's more of a safty issue, on elogs I'll be insanely tired but I can't stop to take a nap or I'll be out of hours and miss my appointment. If that happens I might have to wait a day and I won't make a paycheck. On paper I can take an hour nap get back on the road and safely make my appointment. I don't think elogs are nessesaraly bad, but the hos are very dangerous.