personal conveyance thread

companies that require you to be bobtail and / or be going round trip to use PC do so to cover their own butt or prevent employees from using their fuel for personal travel. Do not interpret this to be the law. It is merely company policy.

I work regional and go home on Fridays. I only use PC when I don't have the hours to drive on duty to get home. I have driven nearly 150 miles on PC before and it has not been a problem. And I am never bobtail when I go home. Our company policy is to take an empty with us when at all possible. And I park my truck at home every weekend, I never park at the terminal because I live too far away. I go by the letter of what is written. When I go home on PC I am unladen and not under dispatch. When I leave out on monday I am under dispatch and on on duty driving, which is exactly how it is written. No round trip!

 

You are absolutely correct. "Short distance" pertains to travel to a restaurant "in the vicinity" of en route lodgings. "Vicinity", in the dictionary, means: "A nearby, surrounding, or adjoining region; a neighborhood". A very short distance, indeed.

Regarding terminal/home operation, FMCSA issued an opinion in January of 2011 which stated:

So, even though FMCSA has not put a mileage limit on it, they have stated that operating PC would NOT be "hundreds of miles."

 

One might say that since the company wants you to take a M/T you are under dispatch. There are just to many variables about this and it all depends on how that LEO that is pulling you over or doing the inspection interprets it
I basically do what you do, I B/T home often under P/C than log driving time to go back and pick up trailer. I have to go thru a scale going both ways and have been pulled in going both ways and have never had an issue with what I do.

 

If while using a cmv as PC you are dispatched, you go on duty at that time. The guidance specifically states that this is true when dispatched from home, so I do not see it as a stretch for this to be true at anytime you are dispatched while using the cmv as pc.

You are allowed to log certain off duty use of a CMV as off duty and while doing so you have certain privliges, but you are not exempt from the FMCSR's while doing so. In fact the required logging of the off duty time shows you are not exempt.

Best regards

 

Can I get a link to this!

 

Actually it appears they did not draw a hard line in the sand, but left a little wiggle room when they stated "generally".

 

I read every post. My head hurts.

 

This is all too easy. I own the truck, and I have instructed the driver (me) that he can use the truck for personal conveyance while not doing anything related to interstate commerce or for the business and there is no distance limit.

If the DOT official wants confirmation on this, I will give them my cell phone number that they can call the company (me) to confirm that the company has given the driver (me) permission to use the truck.

If any carrier I am leased to wants to limit my use of my equipment for personal conveyance when I am not doing anything for the carrier, I will give my son (an IRS field agent) a call and file a claim that the carrier is in violation of contractor classification and the IRS needs to investigate that the O/O at the carrier should be classified as employees because the classification of contractor is not being met by the carrier.

Straight forward, simple, and to the point.

 

Our dispatch never dispatches us from home . They tell us if we come by the terminal they will. Probably have a load for us. When we show up we are dispatched.
I don't have time at the moment to look up the FAQ regarding alcohol in the truck while off duty but it states it is permitted because off duty drivers are exempt from FMCSR.

 

What you are referring to is guidance on 392.5:

Question 3: Does the prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in §392.5 apply to a driver who uses a company vehicle, for personal reasons, while off-duty?
Guidance: No. For example, an owner-operator using his/her own vehicle in an off-duty status, or a driver using a company truck or tractor for transportation to a motel, restaurant, or home, would normally be outside the scope of this section.


Outside the scope of this section, meaning the section on alcohol prohibition (392.5) not all regulations in the FMCSR's. In other words possession of alcoholic beverages in a cmv within the confines of using it as personal vehicle is not prohibited, but the remainder of 392.5 and the other regs still apply.


Best regards