Paperless logs

Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by Road Dog, Sep 24, 2006.

  1. ziggystyles

    ziggystyles Road Train Member

    Well I havent read all the replies, just a few on here...figured I would toss in my two cents.

    My Schneider dedicated account recently switched over to paperless logs. I dont know what programs other carriers are using, but ours is a new version from Qualcomm called the MCP-200. And for "reliability" (or whatever their stupid reason was), its on a windows XP platform. ugh.

    Anywho...it takes sometime getting used to as I have to log into the computer (unless I didn't log out)...let it update my logs...go chage my status and mark a pretrip; and thats basically all I do. I do make a note for my trailer number.

    However, after that, I pretty much don't touch the thing at all for the rest of the day during my driving. It automatically notes the location where the truck is when Im on duty, and it automatically has me go to line 4 when i pull the brakes. Before, I never did that as I have quick stops so I would just stay on line 3...but now its pulling me to line 4 all the time which saves me driving time.

    When I stop driving for the day, I make a note along with adding a note for the post drip and I send in a macro message for a post trip inspection as well.

    Altogether, I dont have a problem with it so far. there are some glitches in the computer itself, but on the few times where it froze up and restarted itself, it still had the correct log marks and such on there. I also dont have to physically send in my logs via trip pak anymore...all I do now is just review it and approve them and they are automatically sent in via satellite.

    In the end, Id say compared to how I used to log...this might actually be giving me more driving time at the end of the day since it logs PER minute, instead of rounding to the 15 minute mark; as well as it logs everything I do, where I didn't, lol. For example...in the afternoons, I simply would just go to line 3 driving for 7 straight hours because thats how long it took. Now, this thing has me going to line 4 each time i stop and make my short afternoon stops and my quick breaks on the way home...it probably gives me an extra 30-45 minutes of line 3 time each day.

    Im trying to think of anything else. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Mike_MD

    Mike_MD Medium Load Member

    352
    240
    Feb 4, 2009
    O-Zone
    0
    Paperless logs are not infallable. The safety checks will be used as a tool to positively identify a driver's location at a particular moment.

    I would hope any good investigator would be able to see issues associated with drivers logging off-duty in one loecation and reappearing at another. The violation may not be noticed during a roadside inspection as the in cab display is only required to indicate the time switch for each change of duty status. However, the records at the PPO have to display city, state and show any editing.

    Edited electronic logs have to be signed by the driver as being true and correct.

    Be safe.
     
  4. socal

    socal Medium Load Member

    574
    348
    Feb 18, 2008
    Los Angeles CA
    0
    I think it is a joke to believe that all carriers will be required to go paperless. In my opinion this will not happen anytime soon if at all.

    Are they going to require owner op. with 1 truck to get set up with computer?

    There is no way they will get every commercial vehicle on the road set up to go paperless if 1 company does not have to then they all don't.

    Paperless is basically a way to cut down on the office staff personnel by eliminating jobs and Micro managing the drivers.

    I love loose leaf logs and 90% of the cops that look at them are not wise enough to figure out what I really did anyway.
     
    Rocks Thanks this.
  5. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

    12,812
    6,135
    Jul 22, 2008
    Owensboro , KY
    0
    But no matter how many loose leaf pages you make you can only turn in one a day to your carrier to hold for six months . If there's an audit the FMCSA inspector will show you he's a little wiser than you like .
     
    bamanation Thanks this.
  6. phroziac

    phroziac Road Train Member

    3,138
    502
    Jun 16, 2009
    Gary, IN
    0
    True, but what he does with the extras are up to him. I'm going to be going back to paper logs in a month and I'll do the same thing. Just like i did before. Except I run a lot closer to legal than he sounds like he does. I've only ever went totally outlaw one time and that was technically not even needed now that i know about the personal conveyance thing. I made sure they went straight to the nearest dumpster after ripping them up. Pretty soon i imagine truck stops and warehouses will have "special" garbage trucks that come to them where all the trash is gone through and all log pages are checked over. LOL. I could really see it :p

    Its a total joke. I decided I am 100% done with paperless. The system shows i went on duty 30 minutes before i did this morning, which is wrong, because i forgot to send a message. Now come on, my (very good and like-able) dispatcher forgets EVERYthing, whats one message every once in a while? I called logs about it and had the pleasure of speaking to the biggest B*** ive ever met. Worse than anyone i've ever met at a grocery warehouse. I had to talk to dispatch, who said i would only need a 2 hour break (but last time i used ALL my hours after an 8 hr, it wasnt good enough, so WTF?)

    BUT....I put myself on line 1 an hour before this, because the consignee was really close to the highway, and i just did it on the ramp. But i got lost and it took me about an hour to get turned around, because of poor directions (and my GPS was no help either way), and since the road heads straight to BFE after the small village the consigne is in......

    THE SYSTEM SHOWED i was on line 1 for a whole hour and a half already. Did not log being lost. So by that time i only needed another 30 minutes, which the consignee gave me....

    I ran 100% legal today. didnt even TRY to cheat the system, had no reason to. Therefore, for me to have to cheat the system is just stupid. I should only have to cheat if im breaking the HOS regulations. Right? The system, as implemented here is a total joke. It all works off qualcomm positioning, which is a total joke. It can log you on as driving because the wind shook your truck, or it can let you drive around for hours without logging it. It's because it uses a grid to determine location. I have learned several places not to park because it is on the lines of these grids. :)

    However, i am going to orientation for a paper log carrier in a few weeks (wait that sounded wrong, i did not mean they haul paper logs), and when I no longer have the ability to work for someone who uses paper logs, I will no longer drive a truck.

    I have no problem with logs being electronic. I would love to have a computer program on my laptop that lets me electronically log, just like on a paper log, with more features. I'd click to make lines and type in the flags, and it would calculate the hours properly based on the lines i input. I would print it out to have a copy for the company and dot man. In fact, such a thing exists, but it is expensive and I suspect I would not like it!

    However, i have a problem with a computer making a poor attempt to log everything for me, and doing things like, if i get lost, logging the entire event and keeping me from making money, or simply logging inaccurately and causing me log violations, etc. I also have a problem with the fact that i have to call the logs department somewhat frequently, and talk to that B***.
     
  7. socal

    socal Medium Load Member

    574
    348
    Feb 18, 2008
    Los Angeles CA
    0
    Lets just say there are some drivers that I know Not Me...That after they are out of hours and on there 34 hour reset in XYZ City the same time They just came off a long Layover in XYZ city.
    Where they have been waiting for days for a load.
    Then they run out to a far away city and on the way back through XYZ City there previously logged 34 hour reset is done and on there Way. Then the log out and back gets lost and the company does not care.... Kapish!

    This is just Hypothetical and I would not do it I'm a very safe driver and do not condone these practices.
     
  8. knighton5

    knighton5 Heavy Load Member

    960
    125
    Nov 19, 2006
    Rose City
    0
    No matter what, its gonna be REQUIRED. Dont fight it, learn it the best you can to your advantage! Everyone cryed about the hours of service rules a few years ago, and we all lived through it and SURVIVED. I'm sure we will do the same with this Paperless garbage, loop holes will be found and shared. Freight will need to be delivered no matter what, so stay positive!
     
  9. U2Exit

    U2Exit Road Train Member

    2,353
    1,050
    Feb 22, 2008
    WA and VA
    0
    Just by reading some of these comments not all paperless systems are the same. Some appear to be better than others. Here are some of the parameters of our system

    Our system parameters just changed to give us a 2 mile drive distance before auto-kicking over to the drive line. When we started the test phase our company had it set for only 7/10 of a mile.

    Dont know about any grid system... no messages have to be sent.

    Any log entry can be changed time wise (not location) by the driver except the drive line.

    Approve your log entries daily or it will remind you to do so. Once you approve you cant change the entries on the driver end of the QC

    The computer locks you out of the log controls for the driver on duty if the truck is moving (co-driver can access his log controls while the other is driving)... It locks you out with a Drive time countdown clock.

    come to a stop (dont have to pull the parking brake) and driver again has access and can change status. The computer automatically switches you to On Duty if you pull the brake AND shut the truck off... so you have to manually change status for anything else other than on duty.

    If you stay under the two mile limit and park for 5 minutes, you can get another 2 mile window without changing status BUT direction and distance or even location CAN change (depending on how you use it)which will show a difference between the stop location and the start location of the next duty change.... Helpfull if driving around a truck stop looking for a spot and have to go nearby to another truck stop that is close. Trick is you can save yourself some drive clock by changing your status at the off ramp stop sign, or nearby traffic light... drive in to truck stop and park or fuel etc.

    Line 5 is Driving Off Duty and is for Bobtail and not under dispatch... Its impossible to drive the truck on line 1... the computer will kick you to the drive line... thus line 5
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2010
  10. Skunk_Truck_2590

    Skunk_Truck_2590 Road Train Member

    2,093
    683
    Feb 16, 2007
    Stonewall, LA.
    0

    I had the same version MCP-200 mounted on the dash in the truck I had at F.F.E. It was a brand new truck but had two QC's in it. At the time they only had 20 of these as test unit's. The old style and the new one but the new one was not only the QC, it was the HOS, internet, GPS, and a bunch of other thing's on like 3 main screen's all with different options. Touch screen. Only has the light display dark/light/off, sound on/off and the scroll and select key's. Mine was screwed up when I got the truck. It pissed me off a lot. It would turn on and off going down the road then wouldn't be able to do anything with it. Bright as hell and was like riding in a cop car with their fugitive computers on.

    Safety called me chewing my ### when I was in KC saying I had been hard braking 6 times within an hour. Well I had dropped my trailer at the drop yard and bob tailed to the Sam's DC next to the rail yard. Got a phone call getting my ### chewed about it and said it had just started sprinkling out and my forward drive axle was locking up coming to light's and stop sign's and I wasn't hitting the brakes that hard. Then was asked if I was doing my log's? WTF do you mean? You have one of the new log book's don't you? Yea but it wasn't working even when I got the truck. Why didn't you get it fixed before you left? I did but the QC menchanic told me not to worry about it because they decided againest using them so he hooked up the old one and sent me on my way and I said ok.

    Personally I can live without the garbage. Hopefully in the future I can buy my own truck and do my own thing and just stick to paper because the government I doubt will pay for one to put in every O/O truck that can't afford it. Those system's are hella expensive even for one truck.
     
  11. ziggystyles

    ziggystyles Road Train Member

    Thats the same set up I have as well...slide out keyboard...etc. I too have issues with it restarting going down the road...can't figure that out. My boss also has been asking if we are approving our logs daily, which we are...so I odnt know what the problem is on the other end. I know the old QC's were set up to rat us out when we did hardbraking as well.

    The brightness is very annoying. I like how it has like five levels, along with off...but even the dimmest is too bright so i often turn it off at night so i can see the road better. I mean...thats a huge screen, and it puts out a lot of light.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.