Why CSA 2010 and E-Logs are a good thing.

I think the carriers are more to blame than anything,and your right they should have more penalties if caught suggesting,coaxing or whatever adjectives one wants to use when pushing driver's. They KNOW they can get away with pushing new driver's who do not really comprehend the penalties they face if the worst scenario where to happen...And similarly seasoned company driver's who have this misguided notion that more $$ will make them happier,make their life have more meaning,or maybe just their way of kissing their employer's ###..Hell I dunno....Where am I going with this..?

Well of course when only the truck is moving is when money is being made-there are going to be problems.I would list all I could think of,but of course I would be typing well into the night,perhaps even into tomorrow.I have run with both paper and e-log and while cheating can be done with e-log,it is of course nowhere NEAR what can be done with paper.Obviously. Very true on e-log one will take more chances with the weather;but I only buy that so far..

Having common sense is something which cannot be taught,to some degree it can be learned(referring to myself) and I do not think e-logs vs paper makes anyone safer out there.I do believe e-logs help the driver stay more honest though...Whether he/she is put together that way or not.

 

I fail to see how an elog "pushes" drivers any more than paper did? I have been on elogs for almost two years now and I have never had it yell at me to get driving, hit me up side the head, or flash lights in my eyes and tell me to keep driving. It sure doesn't start any clock for me until the truck rolls faster than 25 mph or farther than 1.2 miles. And then it kicks into line 3, that is unless I have already told it that I am "off duty driving" for personal use. In over 30 years, no carrier or someone in an office has been able to "push" me. Either as a company driver or owning my own truck. We should be all adults, and we will act like it or go our separate ways. No one is dragged, kicking and screaming, into driving a truck. There are laws on the books against slavery. So there is absolutely no reason for any driver to be "pushed". That is childish behavior to allow that. Somewhere, I heard or read there was a driver shortage. So grow up and act like it and take advantage of it and not let anyone push you around, drivers.

Since I started using the elog, I still drive the same 60-62 like I did before. Even though the truck tops out at around 135 mph. When I start a run, I determine the distance, weather, etc on the run, and I decide when it can be there safely. I communicate this with all parties involved so that they are on the same sheet of music. No one in an office pushes me. We have an understanding, they can buy the truck from me if they want it to run faster than I have decided to operate it or push me beyond what I feel safe in doing. I don't take a load, like some do, and wait till I am already most of the way before I tell someone that I will be late. It is an extremely rare situation, involving something unforeseen, that will cause me to have to inform them I will be late. I plan all my runs at 50-55 mph average speed, take HOS into account, have a look at weather along the run, etc, and then tell whomever needs to know, when I will be there before I start the run. No surprises. I did this when I was on paper, and I do it now using elogs. Nothing much has changed except it is easier now to keep track of everything and not make a stupid goof like forgetting to sign a log, put down the load or trailer number, etc. All of which will not help you if you are pulled into the scale and logs are checked.

Either way, complaining and whining about elogs instead of investing time to see how to make it work in your favor will just make it harder to get things together when it is finally mandated. If one wants to complain, by all means do it to people that actually might be able to make a difference.... congressmen, senators, etc. For the record... I am against all mandates regarding elogs, I agree it has nothing to do with safety, only compliance. So don't pigeon hole me as one of those that advocates their use. I am just saying, it is the world we will all be living in soon, so try and get your arms around how to make it work for your operation. Those of us who have are ahead of the game.

 

How will the E Logs work in a drivers favor?

Also I do not see where anyone is whining as you put it.

 

Guess you have been selective in your reading. It can work in a driver's favor. Obviously you have no experience with it to learn how or, if you do, then you have a myopic view on how to use it and how it can cover your bacon compared to paper. The elog is not as rigid as some believe. Sure, it has disadvantages, but it also has advantages. You just have to learn how to make it work in your favor. Been there, done that. As an example, my first full year using it, my net was up over 15% servicing the same customers as the year before. And I was still home each weekend, off on holidays, etc and NO, I am not on a dedicated run! Still irregular route, variable length of haul, multiple customer, dry box stuff.

 

I have plenty experience with tattle tales in trucks, first one was the paper disk, then the card that each driver had issued like a credit card.

A responsible driver will never have use for the black box, if I need a baby sitter then that is up to me.

 

Cowpie, I will say it again. Not everyone has the option of hooking to a trailer, loading it and getting 2-3 days to put in 1200-1400 miles.


Come to my neck of the woods and hook to one of our trailers and do what I do. For the most part I can log as I run but there are just times were I can't. I know I am not the only one but there is a plant that I run into that HAS to have the product we haul or it has to shut down. Shut downs cost big bucks for these types of plants. The load is very sensitive to temperature also and we CAN NOT haul the product in reefers since they have no way of unloading them. We use live bottom trailers. The only heat in them is a small radiator in the front of the trailer with a fan infront of it. The loads can't handle much more then 6 hours in the trailers or they start to turn into rocks.

You people can watch the weather channel and tune into the weather on your weather radios all you like but that is about as accurate as holding your wet finger in the air and saying it is going to rain. Well you can't trust any weather forecast in North Dakota anyway. I can drive clear across North Dakota and get out to the western part of the state and all of a sudden a system that was nto supposed to get pushed south, will end up south of the canadian border and dump 8+ inches of snow in a couple hours.

But then I am not scared of snow covered roads since I have lived them all my life. It is just a matter of backing down the speed and being more alert. Now on Elogs, there would be no backing down the speed. If you do then you will be stuck sitting over night more then 50 miles from the drop point and end up with a load of rocks (frozen Potatoes) and the plant would not take them because they can't process them into french fries or anything for that matter. Your boss would end up buying the load and since the pay is by percentage, you would have driven 700+ miles for nothing.

To me snow is nothing more then driving a little slower. Conditions that shut down many truckers these days are just normal every day life up here. Unless they close the highways then we are still running. And they don't close the highways in my area for a little snow,slush and ice.

 

In the short time we had them....I found 2 instances:

1. Fuel time is actually cut in half....8 minutes instead of a block 15.

2. It removes any "cipherin" from the drivers brain on split sleeper logging....it does it all by itself!!!

And with response to the earlier post regarding button pushing to get from Line 3 to any other line.....that will be a new habit the driver will need to master....I didn't, half the time I forgot to push the button....good thing we were still actually using paper....it was a very rare occasion the black box and my piece of paper agreed!!!!

 

as i've stated before.,

anyone who's income goes up with the box. was obviously making lousy pay to begin with.

we don't have the box. but there are plenty of apps to use. and my income will be taking me into bankruptcy. once the box is implemented.

only way i'll be able to keep up. is switching over to freight that operates 24/7

 

i'm whining. and it hasn't happened yet.

 

For real, without having the ability to hide your actions you'll go bankrupt?