Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Detour Number One (#1) Continues...

Hi, double yellow. Your chiming in is NOT a hijack. I'm referring to you by name here and in my book that's an invitation to respond, chime in, comment, make objection, etc.--if for no other reason than so I don't get too far off track. A hijack is where one or more readers chimes in to take the thread off-topic, ####-chat or otherwise interfere...

You can't interfere here, you've been specifically invited.

double yellow says that the 8/2 DOES start a new 14-hour timer (14-Hour Clock) so I've gone back to J. J. Keller for more information on split berth breaks and found this: http://www.jjkeller.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/content____bi-hoursofservice-faqs___

Well, there it is! J J Keller agrees with double yellow that "drivers... may accumulate the equivalent of 10 consecutive hours off duty..." Cool! J J Keller is not the FMCSA and in this case does not include a citation to the FMCSA. But we can probably find it before long, too. First, though, let's look at what J J Keller says (at the same link above) that the (civil and criminal) penalties are:

Those penalties ought to be enough to make the least FMCSA-compliant to take notice. "...civil penalties on the driver or carrier, ranging from $1,000 to $11,000..." as well as shut down, CSA hit, criminal penalties. Etc, etc, etc. Okay, fine. My attention has been officially captured by officialdom. I'm ready to get FMCSA religion.


Written August 19, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. With thanks to double yellow. All rights reserved by author.

 

Detour Number One (#1) Continues--8/2 Split Berth

This link that double yellow provides us from the FMCSA regs is a mile-long page of legalese, a bunch of paragraphs and subparts:

It takes a pretty well-trained reader to isolate what we need from all those paragraphs and subparts and double yellow did that for us. double yellow is no run-of-the-mill trucker!

I'm going to further separate out the parts that make the 8/2 Split equivalent to a solo driver's ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty break and where the operative word is 'calculation'--how to 're-' calculate for the 8/2 Split:

Calculation of New 14-Hour Clock

Now I've been calculating my 14-hour clock all along and so have you; but I didn't know it. Did you? I knew I needed ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty or in the sleeper or a combination of both in order to drive again. For a 'new' 14-Hour Clock'. I did an actual calculation there and didn't realize it.

So what's this 'calculation' all about? Well, where we had ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty/sleeper berth/combination, we 'calculate' our NEW 14-Hour Clock from the end of the ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty/sleeper berth... Right! Sure... But so what?

Well, the 'so what' is that double yellow says with the new July 2013 HOS there are advantages to using the 8/2 Split (to use it we need to know how to calculate it). Here's what double yellow says are advantages:

It seems like double yellow's been right so far so let's take a closer look...


Written August 20, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. With thanks to double yellow. BTW, Blu_Ogre is a graduate of Gordon who has his own truck now and this thread welcomes Gordon graduates like Blu_Oge to chime in, tell how and what they're doing post Gordon. All rights reserved by author.

 

Detour Number One (#1) Continues... The Advantages of the 8/2 Split

So, we're looking at the advantages under the new HOS of using the 8/2 Split (thanks to double yellow). Had I used the 8/2 Split coming back from Philly last week could I have arrived Indy two (2) hours sooner?

Before 6:45 am, I was up and awake in Philly and by 8:30 pm I had shut down at the first rest stop west bound inside West Virginia on I-70 on my way back to Indy. My log showed leaving Philly and started driving at 11:30 am. I took a shower-shave-and-refresh break from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Breezewood TA, Breezewood, PA.

By 5:00 am on Saturday I was up, alert and had to chill until 7:00 am to depart for Indy due to that darn ten (10) consecutive hour break. Or did I? I mean, that's what I did. But did I have to? We'll look at whether I had an advantage with the 8/2 Split there on this page and we'll dig into how to 're-calculate' your 14-Hour Clock next time.

I had a long break from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Had that been a 2-hour break until 6 pm and had I known how to calculate an 8/2 Split Berth, my 14-Hour Clock would have re-calculated from the end that 2-hour break, at 6 pm. When I got up from eight (8) hours in the sleeper at 5 am, would I have been good to go? Could I have arrived two (2) hours earlier in Indy and been home that much earlier? Well, no, not this time.

Can you figure my hours available on my 14 and 11 at 5:00 am? You will shortly. And you'll know why it's a 're-calculation' rather than a calculation. But not on this page. Shucks! It's okay. Just follow along.

Like magic, when I got up at 5 am using the 8/2, I would have had eight and a half (8-1/2) hours left on my 11 driving hours because I used only 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm on my re-calculated 14-Hour Clock. Right? Hey! Looks like I'm good to go, uh-huh? Umm, not quite. We still need some clock and we've been down for 8, right? And we used up 2-1/2 before that driving.

So I've used up 10-1/2 hours of a 'possible' new 14-Hour Clock using the 8/2. I've got over 300 miles to go to make Indy and 3-1/2 hours to do it in. Nah-gonna-happen. So I wait two (2) more hours until 7:00 am for a new 14-Hour Clock that calculates from the end of my ten (10) consecutive hour break and get another full 11-Hours-Driving. No cigar this time for the 8/2 Split.

double yellow says the 8/2 Split has advantages with the new July 2013 HOS. And we have faith in double yellow, right? Had I been going to Cincy 234 miles away, I'd of had a shot with my 70 mph truck. Or no problem to places in between, like Columbus. But not Indy. Indy's too far. I cannot make 300 miles in 3-1/2 hours. Can't. Do. It.

More to follow...


Written August 22, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. All rights reserved by author.

 

Hi, LoboSolo!

The idea of starting my clock earlier is intriguing, of course, because that's what 'log it like you run it' calls for. It took all of about 15 min to drive over from a nearby drop yard, put the trailer to the dock and take care of paperwork. So by 7:15 am, I finished 15-minutes on-duty and, yes, would have gone back off-duty/sleeper berth for at least a qualifying 2-hour break. As it was, I didn't leave until 11:30 am.

Keep in mind that if I drive and then do 8 in the sleeper after this 7:15-11:30 am break (qualifying it as the 2 side of 8/2), my 'new' 14 doesn't start at the end of my 8 in the sleeper! It starts at the end of my '2-hour' break (however long it is). If I show going off break as of 11:30 am Friday, that's the start of my 14 once I finish my 8 in the sleeper. That is, if I use that morning break as part of an 8/2 Split, I have to re-calculate 14 from 11:30 am Friday--and my 'new' 're-calculated' 14 ends at 1:30 am.

When you use an 'equivalent' of 10 consecutive hours off duty/sleeper berth with an 8/2 Split, your 14 starts at the end of the first of your two breaks... That's the big difference between 10-consecutive and two breaks 'equivalent' to 10-consecutive. After 10 consecutive, your new 14-hour clock starts. Not so with the 8/2 equivalent. The end of 10 consecutive starts a new 14, the end of the first break on an 8/2 starts a new 14. Big difference.

Since I'm part-time, there's no load before and no load after. This load pays over $500 with extras for breakdown time and unloading/loading and that's it for the week for me. On an audit, any discrepancies between my trip sheets and logs could result in problems both me and for my company. I should review my trip sheets!

BTW, when some drivers claim 60 mph average with a 61/63 mph truck, it just doesn't wash with me. My GPS did show 50 plus mph. This is hilly terrain with tunnels through mountains. There were two big delays, one for probably 40 miles before Columbus for a wide-load caravan that the business end in the middle looked like a centipede it had so many axles. There was another about 30 miles out from Indy with 2-3 mph and sometimes stopped parking lot all the way into Indy. Never saw why. Did not break up until after I-465.

With my 14 starting at 7:00 am on Friday, it ends at 9 pm on Friday if not re-calculated with an 8/2. Starting 11:30 am driving to 9 pm less a 30 min break plus fuel and PTI leaves about 8 hrs available for driving until 9 pm. Still can't make Indy without a 10. Now, could I show 9 pm to 11 pm as an off-duty break and start driving at 11 pm, then show going into sleeper in Indy six or so hours later to complete an 8/2 Split? No. I need a new clock, not a future new clock. I'd be in violation.

Don't think I'd like to get pulled over and try tell the DOT, it's okay, I'm taking a break in about an hour... when my new clock goes back to...


Written August 23, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. (And still being written and edited at this time!) All rights reserved by author.