Stevens is going paperless

His answer to my question was the govt likes the 100 number. Can I find that in wikipedia? If you wish to make a point use the facts.

 

I don't currently run for Stevens but have ran with e-logs and to be honest I liked it. It definitely takes some of the guess work out of the whole log issue; and, quiet as kept if you already run legal it won't be that big an adjustment. Not to mention it actually optimizes your hours.

In my case when the truck was moving it would throw you on line three.....once it stops it automatically would default to line four. You just have to make sure you make the necessary adjustments so you don't eat up your 70. Your pre and post only have to be 5min and you have no choice but to show them. Not to mention you get few problems from DOT officers once you tell them you are on e-logs because alot of them have no clue how they work.

The only thing I didn't really appreciate was the situations when I would be running up on my 14 and be at a Walmart DC and then have to move the vehicle. If you move the truck more than a specific amount of feet you are screwed and will get a violation. It happens......just let dispatch know. It's absolutely nothing you can do when a shipper or receiver will not let you sleep on their property.

That's the biggest issue I have because you can't trip plan around grocery warehouses and receivers. That's where the trucking companies need to be a little more pro-active in regards to letting their customers know we need our trucks in and out of your facility. That means more miles for us the drivers (in a perfect and logistics minded world.) Makes drop and hook a real attractive option for refrigerated companies.

Alot of guys are losing their ever-loving mind over e-logs....hate to be the bearer of bad news but sorry guys if you haven't already got the memo CSA2010 is upon us and is about to over-haul the industry....maybe for the better. If I owned a company and knew I could go with a technology that could keep my drivers playing fair and DOT of my butt at the coops....then it's going in the truck. Now companies will have to start really appreciating the safe and productive drivers......bout #### time.

 

You'll find that with a little creativity, you can even spend up to eight hours, even at a Walmart. First, when you arrive, let the CTO people know exactly how much time you have left. Tell them the drop dead time minus 30 minutes before they will have to accommodate you're break. Get their permission and a note with their signature beforehand that you will be able to stay until your eight hour split (provided you didn't use all your 11 to get there.) Make sure that the CTO office calls security so that they are in on the plan. I've done this at Los Lunas NM where there is no legal off property parking within two miles of the receiver.

No shipper/receiver, let alone walmart may force you to violate federal regulations. If they threaten to involve the police, let it happen. You can not be arrested or charged with any crime unless you violate the hours of service. Stand your ground, but do so very politely.

I had done this in suffolk virginia. A shipper there requires that you be off the property at midnight. They had loaded me three times over gross. It's entirely their fault I'm there so late. So I stand my ground at midnight that I cannot drive. My eight hour split was due to be over at 2AM. I could have legally rolled to the truck stop then, but the gorilla at the guard shack decided to call the police. No arrest or charges could be filed against me since I was "invited" to the property for purposes of business. I had disclosed that my hours were to end by 6PM. The shipper insisted, the officer insisted. I asked the officer to write and sign a note stating that he was authorizing me to violate federal law and escort me and my truck off the property. He refused to do so and told me that I have to leave or I would be arrested. I called his bluff, sort of. I grabbed a change of clothes and started walking off the property, leaving the truck behind right where it was. The officer followed me of course wondering what I was doing. I was headed to a motel somewhere in town. He gave me a ride there, laughing all the way at my solution.

Here's a better solution though. If this shipper or any shipper doesn't have you ready 30 minutes before your drop dead 14 hour time AND you KNOW that without exception you CANNOT stay there, disconnect and bobtail out. Tell them you'll be back at the end of your ten hour break. If they won't let you leave, call the police. The shipper can be charged with false imprisonment. (Did this at a shipper of pharmaceuticals.) They can tow the trailer if they must. Of course make sure someone at Stevens knows what you're doing.

In the case of Los Lunas, if you cannot be there with at least three hours left in your 14 hours, send a running late messand and repower request in albuquerque. Someone else with hours will take it in on time. It's only 30 miles that you've lost, but both you and the other driver will avoid a bad situation with the load, with the customer, with the law and with Stevens.

 

Look your time management is not the shippers or receivers problem. Thats why its called time management. If you've ever delivered to a Wal-Mart DC you should know that you need to have plenty of time allocated . If your running short on time before you arrive you need to arrange a solution with your DM. It is not the shippers or receivers problem as to how to entertain drivers for there 10 hour break. Drivers have done there part on making it hard on you long before most have even thought about becoming a driver, peeing and pooping in the parking areas, thru trash amongst other things out the window right next to a trash can, etc... This is your problem not there's, so remember on the occasion they let you stay they are doing you a favor, first for being your customer, and second allowing you to spend your 10 there.

A thank you or I appreciate you alowing me to stay can go along way next time you need a parking spot.

 

Apparently you didn't read what you snipped. The latter part of what I wrote was proper planning. However sometimes, walmart misses the boat like any other shipper. I had a plan, walmart blew it.

Suffolk virginia also blew the plan out of the water and then asked me to violate federal law and leave the property. I was not going to do that. A plan was in place, a snafu had occurred that I couldn't avoid. The situation happens and when it does, stand your ground.

BTW.. Am I supposed to thank walmart and the suffolk plant for kicking me off the property or trying to? I don't think so.
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on a constructive note, a change to reflect this situation in the fmcsa hours of service rules to the 14 hour rule would essentially fix this problem. That is allowing a driver to move to the nearest available truck stop or rest area with parking up to one hour away. If the driver had less than eight hours of a ten hour break, the driver must be off duty (possibly in the sleeper) for eight hours prior to restarting his/her 14 hour clock. It's essentially the split sleeper provision in reverse.

 

So the 14 hour rule in the FMCSA would let you move to a trcuk stop or rest area up to 1 hour away even on the E-log? Would the E-log so that with the FMCSA HOS or not?

 

Paperless logs and being tracked are fine for those of you that need baby sitters etc but i however am a grown man and when i have some computer or eobr telling me when to stop and when im supposed to go to bed then im done trucking

 

Right now, the 14 hour rule is a drop dead time. You cannot drive after the 14 hours no matter what. What I mentioned isn't law, but just and idea that would fix the situation.

 

Children that don't need babysitters are the ones that can follow the rules on their own. Children that need babysitters, don't. I personally don't mind the qualcomm tracking. It's my truck, but it's not my trailer and not my freight. If the customer, stevens or the receiver/shipper want to take a peek at where their freight is, no problem.

As for the logs, paperless logs keep me legal at all times. It's a tool to prevent problems and I happen to like it. And if you do follow the law, they actually expand the time you can drive. But somehow I don't think you care about that.

 

Then you are done trucking, as soon it will be mandated by the FMSCA that all trucks will have EOBR's.

It is the attitude of drivers that do not want to stay within the laws, that has brought about the present increased rules and ways of tracking to see if the driver is in compliance.