Running out of hrs at shippers-doesnt seem to be any solution

Run legal, if company wont let you go somewhere else, you cannot mess with that crap anymore! I get great miles on elogs now and it takes the stress (and company abuse) away. I get 3000-4000 more a month here than I did at my last company on paper logs. Better company, better planning, no worries. We don't have personal conveyance.

 

My pen does not have a fuse. Tell me again how great e logs are.....

 

If you have e-logs, there isn't much you can do. Unless you can creep out of there slowly enough not to trip it into drive mode. If you are on paper then you can show line 4 as soon as you got there flagged as dock/load and then immediately hit line 1 for post trip and start a 10. If you are looking at a long wait for a dock assignment, then more wait for loading to finish, then more wait for bills to print, it often is a lifesaver. For example: You have a 1400 Appt at Bob's Bumplug company. You arrive early with nothing to do at 1100. They don't have a dock available so they tell you to park to the side and wait while monitoring CB, cell phone, yard dog will come get you, etc. Then at 1400 they get you a dock door. You take your sweet time backing in, sliding tandems, chocking, pulling red line, etc. Then you crawl into the bunk. At about 1500, you feel the first thump of the forklift which continues sporadically for the next hour. By 1600 you are dozing and have gotten used to the occasional shaking. About 1700 you wake up and notice it being awfully quiet and no movement. You glance in the mirror and notice the red light is still lit. So you go back to sleep. About 1800, the yard dog operator is knocking on your door telling you your paperwork is ready. So you take your sweet time meandering up to the shipping office, while inside you go hit the restroom, take a poo, pop some zits, wash your face and hands, and then leave. On the way to the window, you notice a vending machine. You decide to get some M&Ms and a coke. After paying you start sauntering over to the window. Two other drivers come in and beat you too it, so you get at the end of the line. By the time you get to the window its now 1845. After telling the fat lady what door you are in, it takes her at least another 10-15 minutes to print out your bills, have you sign all 26 of them, and then make additional copies and explain how a trailer seal works. You take your stuff and leisureley walk across the pad back to your truck, taking the opportunity to have a smoke break en route. Then upon returning to your cab, you take another 15 minutes to send in all your Quallcomm messages, tidy up your paper work, and start your truck to let it air up. Now its 1930 by the time you are ready to pull off the dock. Then you can take your time securing your load with straps, bars, dunnage, whatever makes you happy and then go to set your tandems. Now you are almost ready to leave. You close your doors (or leave them open if the guard has to seal the load) and head for the guard shack. Try to let 1 or more other trucks cut in front of you so you are guaranteed another 15 minute wait. Now by the time you hit the gate its 1945. Try to strike up a conversation with the guard. Ask him how his kids are doing and if he looks confused just tell him you talked to him last time you were there 6 months ago. Try to drag it out. Now its 2000 and you are finally rolling out the gate. You now have roughly 1 to 1.5 more hours to kill, depending on when you showed docking. Now all you have to do is pull over as far as possible on the entrance road or find a side street close by. If you feel more comfortable, throw your 4 ways on. Even if it says "No Parking," don't worry, you aren't going to sleep. Just "marinating" to kill the last little bit of your time. If anybody questions what you are doing, just tell them that "dispatch is working on a relay and told you not to move until they send instructions." Most people are satisfied with that as long as you are in the front seat and not racked out in the sleeper. By 2100-2130, you have just completed a 10 hour break and are ready to roll. Its that simple. Plenty of ways to not run out of hours if you are creative and keep your cool.

PS - This works AWESOME in crowded grocery warehouses, especially when they give you a ridiculous unload appt like 1 in the morning. I also find it helps to find the head lumper and ask him what it would take to "take his time." I even slipped one a $10 one time that turned a 4 hour unload into 7.

 

I don't remember saying how great they are. What they do is keep DOT off your back, and keep your company from forcing you to drive 24/7. I didn't think I would like them, but over all they're fine. It's only the people who can't handle change that are afraid to try them. I like my company so I would work here whether they ran elogs or paper, that's what matters to me.

Sometimes it gets tight, and sometimes paper logs would be helpful, but being at a good company is much more important to me. There is leeway with going over your hours, you just have to know what you're doing.

 

Running out of hrs ? What is that I never run out of hrs. Iv ran out of fuel is that the same where the truck wont go no more?

 

im on elogs and i never run out of hours...oh wait im on eclipse i friggen love that program

 

Has any body ever had the cops pull you over and asked for your logs when you were running elogs? And if they did what did you do just hand them your computer?

 

One time we did get pulled over for 5 over in a construction zone, she just gave me a warning and asked to see the computer, all she did was look down the day log to see if there was any violations.

 

i just show em the laptop and tell them im on eclipse and every they time said ok have a nice day. i just go about my merry lil way and laugh only if they knew hehe

 

I read that as his company telling him to pull a fuse to disable the truck and tell the shipper that he couldn't drive the truck off the property because it was broke down...but that he's in contact with the company and they are working on getting someone out there to look at it. It would probably buy him SOME time...not sure if it'd work for a full 10, though. And when the truck suddenly started working again the next morning it might draw some suspicions, but by then he's rolling outta there.