Paper Logs

Probably, but I would never get myself in a position where I would have to run 700+ miles a day (or any day) to make a living. 600-650 max. There is no need to run that hard if things are lined up properly. It just eats up fuel, tires, and extra wear on the truck. Just not cost effective. And any customer that does want it done that way, will just have to pay a premium for premium service or I won't do it. I could care less what can or cannot be done in a log book. It is a matter of using a little sense and learning how to be profitable without resorting to running like a banshee with hair on fire. That is so old school smokey and the bandit nonsense. And from a paid by the mile company driver standpoint, if you have to bust your chops like that to make a living, I would advise you find another carrier. Because one that does that sure doesn't give a rip about you.

 

The main reason that I'll max out my driving hours for the day when I can is so that if there's a problem late in the trip, I have more clock time to get it handled without having to be concerned about bumping my 14, or risking a missed appointment and / or late delivery. For me it's not a matter of HAVE to, it's a matter of time management with a contingency buffer in mind.

 

Exactly.

Lets be frank, the DOT knows there is some creative editing going on with paper logs. If how you logged is plausible, then that's what works. They're looking for obvious glaring errors, like you saying you were taking a 34 hr reset in Jackson, MS on the 14th yet you have a fuel receipt in Meridian for the 14th. Or they ask you where you watched the superbowl and you say you were at home but your log shows you 500 miles away taking your 10hr break. My former company's safety coordinator was a former DOT inspector for the New Mexico Motor Carrier Enforcement division. He said a large chunk of all logbook violations are due to drivers logging way to far off from how they drove and not keeping their story straight. The other are merely form and manner, not signing the PTI or forgetting to enter the BOL number on the log or flat out miscalculating your available hours.

Basically, as long as you drove a plausible trip (700-715 miles in a 65 mph truck is plausible), all your supporting documents match the trip, etc., you'll pass a roadside or scale log audit. Don't do something like logging from Prescott, AR to El Paso, TX and say you did it in 11 hours, that's neither plausible or possible legally.

 

On the flip side the brain dead EOBR drivers running the megga fleets get rode like donkeys to do that 11 hours.

 

When I was getting a lvl3 in Truckee ca there was a guy getting anally fisted by dot.. she was like so you drove from Arizona to here in 5.5 hours... shes like Soo Thats about 188mph lol

 

Frank Zappa wrote a song about what that driver was going to get.

 

As an O/O i say you all work way to hard..

You are making the ''man'' a killing on your hard work.I run short haul and make a killing.Again i am an O/O.I guess if i got paid by the mile i would have to run hard to make a buc.I sure am glad i own a truck these days....I would not want to run that hard.

I made 1,400 bucs to the dinner table and only ran 700 miles in 2 days,INCLUDING D/H.Now i go home and relax for a few days and do it again.Again this is IMO...

 

I pay 1/3 of your taxes and live on the Gulf of Mexico LOL

 

I hear ya.My taxes are not as bad as people think...

 

True but I made near 9k in 20 days and pay 1/3 of the NY taxes and setting in a tropical paradise.