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

this roughly translates into a 9hr break, which you say is unsafe

 

If everybody acted like "grown men, not children", we would not need HOS laws, or speed laws, or weight laws, etc.

While it is true that there are many many folks out here acting responsibly, there are always a number of "children" not even trying to be responsible. Therefore we have to set some limits.

 

but i thought you said you were an owner op, why would anyone push you more than you want

shucks, even if you are a company driver, why do you let anyone push you into doing things you dont want to do?

 

i dont see this as senseless bickering

as a matter of fact, this entire forum has been an education for me

whenever i was in a truckstop and i guy told me he was on elogs, i didnt ask him anything, i just shook my head and figured he was looney or gay

now, i am learning that there are actual drivers who LIKE elogs

guys i run with would never do elogs, not because they are outlaws, but because they own their trucks, many have their own authority and look at it as sissified to have a computer dictating what you can and cannot do, so i would never be able to ask them what i am learning from this forum

also, with the center-lane drivers, i have never been able to speak to one and ask him why on earth would he just sit in the middle lane, i know it was taught during the smith system classes, but i didnt believe anyone could actually justify being so inconsiderate and blocking the flow of traffic

on this forum, i get to discuss with both points of view, not that any of it changed my mind, but at least i can say i heard the other side

plus there are other bits of information that i have gathered

this place is a smorgasbord of information, i would hardly call it senseless bickering

 

so where do we stop with the nanny state? how can we accept the government telling us that we cannot do our jobs because someone in some high place said we all need 10hrs off per day? and mind you, that isnt perfect, next year they are gonna say 8, maybe after that 6, who knows? cameras in the truck monitoring the driver, minnesota telling you you cannot have a tv in the truck, cb is "distracted driving", the list goes on and on

you can always find some statistic to justify a new law, just depends on who is cooking up the numbers

 

Where do we stop with the nanny state? First place is the election booth. After that, it is hounding those that do get elected, day and night, to retreat on some of this nonsense. I am sure there are some here that will bug their hired help in DC occasionally, but if even a portion of all the drivers would take the time to send an email, letter, fax or whatever on a regular basis, things might actually improve. I have hounded my congressman so many times I could't begin to count, and he is definately in the NO EOBR camp now. He has proven it in debates on the House floor. So, it can make a difference. It really takes so little time to fire off a comment or concern to these folks. It is common knowledge that if they get only a handful of letters, emails, etc on an issue, they take notice. If they get a hundred, they start to sweat that they better listen and take heed. Truth be told, most elected officials get almost no public comments on issues. So they listen to voices that are bugging them.... the mega carriers and anti-trucking groups. Many congressman would truly like to hear what their constituents actually think on issues. The reason it seems that they are not listening to us, is that we aren't speaking up except in forums, truck stop lounges, CB's, etc. We need to quit shooting each other, and turn our guns on DC and focus all our outrage on them. Those that want to use EOBR's are free to use them (me for one), and everyone else who does not want them, should be free to go that route. Simple.

 

I've always found logbooks to be unconstitutional on a very basic level. Requiring a law abiding citizen to record his location and movement 24 hours a day. And I suspect if someone had the time and money to pursue it, the Supreme Court would agree.

The only logical alternative I have been able to come up with is for drivers to have a mandatory 8 hours off period every day. Stamp it right on their license. In other words driver "A" cannot work from 8 pm to 4 am. A cop pulls him over during that time period, looks at his license. BAM ! book him up. driver B cannot work from 3 pm to 11 pm. etc... Not only would this be a little more constitutional, rather than having a citizen tracking system in place. It would add 0 time and effort to our workday, just carry your license same as always. If we did it this way it would also help drivers to retain natural bio-rhythm by sleeping at the same time every day, which I believe is the real cause of driver fatigue. It's the napping during the day one day and sleeping at night the next.

 

This is not pointed at any one driver. This is just going out there towards the industry as a whole.

Okay I am going to say this regarding the E-logs (EOBRs).Throughout all of these pages of bickering back and forth the one thing I haveread over and over from the ones praising the E-logs is that they can park offof the property of a receiver and show they are taking their 10hr sleeper breakand then move the truck down the road to the said receiver and bump the dockand the computer never realizes they interrupted their HOS regulated sleeperberth break requirement. Therefore there are times you can legally violate theHOS regulations. If the computer allowsthis overlap then the whole system is unreliable. The E-log "GODS" on here atfirst was saying how it was all about "SAFETY" but since that argument wasproven to be unworthy now they are saying that they force drivers intocompliance. Well now it is proven that if you can move the truck after loggingto sleeper berth then the driver and truck are out of compliance... Thereforeit is now proven the push for E-logs or EOBRs has no ground to stand on and theargument should be moot. I think the real reason drivers like E-logs is that itallows them to be lazy and not think so much while logging. If you cannotfathom the thought of using a pen and paper than how can you be in control of an80,000 pound death trap? You have abrain for a reason so just because you enjoy being lazy, please don't argue infavor of the E-logs since they shouldn't be forced upon others that are not toolazy to use paper.

 

Let me just point out I am just saying that this industry forces drivers to think on a daily basis and if you cannot think long enough to fill out a paper log book than obviosly you cannot think long enough to drive or control a vehicle in this industry. Maybe time to look for employment elsewhere.

 

Now you "pithed me off"!

My only argument with that logic is........19 times you forgot to use the space bar!!!!!

Don't make me whip out my RED PENCIL on ya!!!!!