Weigh Station Cameras

On paper, they wouldn't know. When I turned it down, I got message after message asking why I couldn't when I had the hours. On paper, a driver could've just said "I don't have the hours", and left it at that. They wouldn't have bothered.

The problem is, the big name outfit is starving so many people out (I was an O/O that did pretty well given the circumstances), that they feel pressured into running it. Because if they turn it down, they're at the back of the line waiting for a reload. If there's 50 other trucks in the area, that means waiting until tomorrow, again. Or later.

Plus, by turning down a load you have hours for, you don't get layover.

The problem is lack of good pay, lack of loads when you are trying to run, and then screwy schedules pressures drivers living from cash-advance to cash-advance to run it for fear of not having enough money that week.

That's the problem. So, they high tail it out of there. Speed in ramps, curves, parking lots, etc because that clock is ticking. Run whenever that clock says they can, even if it's not safe.

And the other problem is the '11 in 14' means crap. They expect 11 followed by 10 followed by 11. Why? Because the computer says you can. When they can see exactly what hours you're using and what is available when, they will pressure you to use them. Before, on paper, they'd just know how hard you drove, but wouldn't know exactly what your available schedule would be until later in the week. So, they'd have to space things out with more time.

 

If you delivered in the morning, and it was now 5PM, e-log or not, the company would have known that a 10 hour break had been completed.

 

What if I did on-duty work? They wouldn't know?

On the old paper logs, I'd have driven Line 3 to the truck stop, which would've messed up the logs (I hung out at the delivery a few hours before deciding I wasn't getting a load and wanted a shower and food). On paperless, it's Off-Duty Driving, so it doesn't interrupt your break.

 

Well good for you....Most drivers don't have "Option B".....

 

I lost ya on this whole topic.Must of went right over my head..

 

Now, if only there was a way for Anne Ferro to acknowledge this and get off her high horse ...

 

The big problem I see with elogs is this. Many times a driver is not paid for sitting at a dock. The regulators want us to never falsify our logs, I understand where they are coming from on that. Why has nobody ever asked the driver, "Driver, why did you falsify your logs?" His response would be "because why should I be legally ON DUTY AT WORK, and not be paid for it?"

When a driver has to sit at a dock for excessive time he is eventually going to demand to be paid for it. That money will have to come from somewhere. Shipper will now most likely choose the carrier with enough trailers they can drop it in the door and shipper no longer has to pay for the driver waiting there as their overpaid union workers take their entire shift to load one truck. How does this end well for the small carrier that doesn't have scads of trailers?

The rules themselves need to be re-written. This marathon 14 hour deal just plain sucks. Perhaps if some saw the way we do it north of the 49th, it may be a better option ...

 

Please tell us......I have never checked out the differences...Mainly because my rig is too long to run in the Western Provinces....So I never bothered to obtain authority to run in Canada.....

 

I have posted this before.
I-10 Westbound @ Banning has all of this before you even get to the window where the officer can look at your face:

Weigh in motion
Brake temp sensors
Tire temp sensors (to see if one is under inflated)
Opacity viewing (looks at how dark your smoke is coming out of your stacks)
Thermal imaging (to see if there is anything with a heartbeat in your trailer)
Nuke sensors (to see if you're a terrorist)
Cameras that read and communicate your license plate, DOT, and VIN.
Software that communicates with EOBC's to give information about your freight (usually only Haz-Mat loads).


And a few other "undisclosed" items. None of these things are grounds for arrest or citation (not allowed by the ninth circus court), but they are all used by officers to determine if they should conduct a search, or inspection.

Side note, that last one gets a lot of HAZ-MAT drivers when you drive in the scale with placards but did not enter your BOL number or gallons on a fuel load etc. the camera recognizes the placard but the EOBC says you have no HAZ-MAT on board, thats an automatic red light.

 

Is your signature on your CDL?