Not an expert but crashes seem way more common and horrific after ELD was implemented. Drivers seem way more hurried.
I worked under both sets of rules. Paper logs allowed any driver to drive as many hours as he wanted. Driving tired was far more common back then among the drivers I was around than with ELDs. If you flood any population with careless, poorly trained newbies ELDs are not gonna make them careful or attentive. There'll always be rules. They will never make drivers happy. Drivers were complaining with paper logs. Drivers complaining isn't proof of poor regs. It's what they/us do.
That regulation was actually a GOOD one that should never have been changed. It basically forced companies to give drivers a real weekend off. About 48 hours instead of just a 34. It also stated only 1one 34 hr reset per week. Allowing multiple resets a week is nuts. But only truck drivers would whine and want to work more for less though so they changed the reg and obliged them lol. Also when that reg was in place and before it was even a reg you could always easily book last minute high dollar long haul weekend runs on a friday off the spot market. Haven't been able to do that for many years. I always said removing that stipulation on the 34 hr reset rule was one of the reasons those good paying weekend loads disappeared.
Yea, I have to agree there were way more sleeping drivers at the wheel with the paperlog. I find the ELD helps me resist dispatchers with unreal delivery goals. One thing I do have to say about Heartland, they do not try to force drivers into driving when not physically fit to do so, if anything they give you too much time on the loads.
Nobody did a thing when they announced an ELD mandate back in 2012. Everyone sat around waiting for someone else to take care of it. Livestock haulers got other lobbying groups to fight for them meanwhile OOIDA found out just how little power and influence they actually have in DC. Fighting the original mandate was the absolute dumbest thing OOIDA has done. When the mandate came around the second time and it was going to be for all of us FMCSA had addressed and covered their bases on everything OOIDA cried about with the first mandate. Possibly the only other thing on the same level of stupidity was OOIDA having drivers write letters that resulted in the mandatory 30 minute break. As far as the old restart rules I can see how they could be beneficial for someone without their own freight who doesn’t care if they’re home on the weekend or not but for some of us the provision sucked and I was glad to see it go. If we didn’t make it back to the yard before midnight on Friday night for whatever reason, chaining or and accident or the pass was closed for a while because some retard didn’t chain, then instead of leaving Sunday night like normal we’d end up leaving Monday morning. That would put us behind and we’d basically miss a load the following week and would likely be done early on Friday. When you’re home at the end of the week as well as through the house during the week I don’t really need 48+ hours sitting there on the weekend. Sorry that your occasional good weekend load got taken away from you.
34 is too long for me. 24 hrs should be plenty. I’m on the road to make money. We waste a lot of time as it is.
No it didn’t, are you buying the safety lube? ELDs were necessary because we’re living in a digital world. It benefited the shippers, brokers and us too IF the HOS were better. I’m glad I don’t have to do paper logs, and I wouldn’t want to run OTR with them now. Give me more exemptions, add more hours etc. im very happy with an ELD just hate the HOS.
I’m not against enforcement. I am pro freedom. I al being tracked, worse than an ancle monitor on a fellon, and I have to be subject to these outdated HOS. what’s wrong with asking for freedom? I’m liable for all of my time while operating a CMV, let me live, work how I choose. some days its hard to even drive 6 hours, other days you’re upset that the 11 are up. Some days you wish you had an extra 2 hours to drive away from a major hub to find parking and avoid morning rush hour… etc. Let me be freee! If I crash because of unsafe driving, use the “guidelines” to make your ruling…