Personal use over 14 hour clock

That was our company policy, we are not allowed to use the company truck if drivers don't have the hos... thanks

 

what makes sense is only under very limited circumstances, and it has to be round trip... ie, you left drop yard to go get subway...after subway you go back to drop yard before anything else.

the dot doesnt even check elogs from what ive seen,every time ive been inspected they wont look at them. BUT, they will be, and when they do, there is no fudging it, whats on the computer sticks.

 

If your company owns the equipment, they get to dictate how it's used. They don't have to let you use it for personal use. Not to say logging off-duty driving wouldn't be legal,... by doing so would violate company policy about use of their equipment.

As for Off-Duty Driving. I've had many discussions with my former company's logs dept. Mostly after switching to electronic logs. Mostly once they knew I understood the rules, they backed off from their stance.

For instance:

If you deliver in Philadelphia at 8am. While sitting at the dock, you're given a load picking up in Newark going to Chicago. You must log Line 3 to leave the customer. Your deadhead is for some business purpose. Now, let's say you get to the customer in Newark and are told at 2pm that 'we can't load you until tomorrow morning'. Even with the trailer, you can now off-duty drive for food, a place to park or sleep, etc. In the morning, you can off-duty drive back to your point-of-origin (and only your point-of-origin, if you drive elsewhere, it must be on-duty and must have a pre-trip done and be legal on your HOS).

The reason is: personal use is for personal use. Redundant, yes. But, it's why it's there. Anything that is not entirely just for the driver's own comfort or wellbeing doesn't count.

The biggest issue with off-duty driving is it's not clearly defined in practice. If you get pulled over while off-duty driving it is entirely up to you explaining your case to the officer. It is then his judgement if you're off-duty driving legally or not. You must be able to explain to him what the law allows and explain that you are entirely within your right to do what you're doing.

So, the issue is: only do it if you absolutely know for sure what you're doing is legal and you have the brain cells capable of explaining it to an officer.

If you don't or can't, do not log off-duty driving. It will save you a lot of grief.

 

FMCSA disclaimer

Question 26: If a driver is permitted to use a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for personal reasons, how must the driving time be recorded?


Guidance: When a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver's home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver's terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver's en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time. The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver's home, from the driver's home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier's Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.
A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.