Time on pretrip?

there's the big difference between hourly and miles. I try and catch anything wrong on my post trip, because while it is being worked on by a mechanic I can be off duty (not burning up my 14), if I catch it on the pretrip it's better than breakdown, but it still eats at my 14.

 

There sure is a lot of debate on this issue, lol.

I have my own rules, which I can do because they are stricter than any ever required by any regulation (state, federal, Canada, whatever).

I simply log it as it happens. Typically, it takes me about 24 minutes to do a thorough pre/post trip inspection (8 minutes if bobtailed). It's exact on most e-Logs, 30 minutes on the old paper ones. If I have a HazMat load and stop somewhere, I do my tire check. That gets flagged on the old paper system, exact time on the e-Logs (unless I find a problem, at which point actual time to the nearest quarter hour gets logged).

I always assume that Deputy Barney Fife is watching and waiting to pounce if I do it any other way. I also always assume that, if involved in an accident, some lawyer is going to expect me to demonstrate how exactly I did my inspection, with the judge, jury, and my employer present. Since 1995, I've always used a checklist for my VI's, assuming the grayer my hair gets, the more I'm apt to miss if I don't.

It keeps my money in my pocket, so I'll stick with it.

Oh, btw, a friend of mine got popped for falsifying his logs with regards to a morning pre-trip. Seems he jumped out of the sleeper, took a 3 minute walk around his rig, spent another minute under the hood, and then showed 15 minutes doing the inspection on his paper logs. Not only did he miss the missing tire, he missed the cop watching him in the rest area. He had to take out a second mortgage on his home to pay the fines.

Yep, I'll learn from the mistakes of others, thank you, and do it my way.

 

transam says log 15 minutes on your pretrip if i take 30 i just pretend i slept thru 15 of it

 

The way I was told by safety was this: If you put down 15 minutes in any of the last 7 days and get in an accident, you had better be able to do that 100+ point inspection in 15 minutes in front of a judge. Kinda puts in in prospective in my mind.

-Steven

 

The moment you log a on-duty status, that 14 hour clock starts ticking, and it doesn't stop until you log a sleeper provision or a 10 hour break. Also, according to the regs you are supposed to be on line 4 while the truck is getting serviced, unless you have been relieved from the truck and sent to a hotel.

*EDIT*

How much time you log depends on what state you're in. Each state has different criteria on what to log for pre and post trip inspections. To be on the safe side, log at least a 15 minute VI (Vehicle Inspection) at the start of a drive shift and a 15 minute PTI (Post Trip Inspection) at the end of a shift. Also, do what you log and log what you do. A good VI/PTI will take at least 20 minutes, so logging 15 minutes for each one, each time will seem too perfect in the eyes of the DOT officer reviewing your log book.

 

Maybe I have been out of the "log book biz" for too long but I dont think hotels really come into play, you just have to be relieved from duty. I also dont think states set the criteria for what you log or dont log. If it's so I will stand corrected.

 

For pre and post trips, it's a state by state basis. There aren't any federal regs regarding how much time you need to log a VI or PTI.

 

Yes, the feds don't have a time limit regarding inspections but I would like to see the laws of some states that do

 

Just because you do a proper pretrip before you start driving does'nt mean something can't happen while you're driving.You should also do an inspection while you're fueling up even as much as a tire check(TC) then log it,DOT likes to see that.

 

Google is your friend.