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

Anytime you pay in order to use or do something it is not a privilege. We pay to drive on roadways when we purchase fuel or pay a toll. That is not a privilege. We paid for the RIGHT to drive on those roads. Driving is also not a privilege, contrary to what some politicians want us to believe. We EARNED the right to get that CDL or drivers license by proving proficiency with a written and road test. We also PAID for the license. You don't pay for something that is a privilege nor is it something in which you must prove proficiency. We have allowed politicians to twist things to the point where many actually believe them.

I think that most people feel that we are grossly over regulated. Someone many have experienced something negative from a driver and we now have a new regulation forced down our throats due to a single incident. PATT, CRASH, Teamsters and others continue to try to ram legislation through that is not in the best interests of drivers or the industry. We need some guidelines or regulations, but the shear number at the federal level is out of control. Factor in that each state also has their own regulations and it can be mind boggling.

 

You also shouldn't have to EARN or PAY for something that is a RIGHT. Just for arguments sake.

 

You know the other day I was driving thru Wy and they had the speed limit down to 35mph going across I80. Myself and a few more O/O's and a few company drivers were just riding along, gabbing on the CB that it was BS that the speed limit was this low just for a few and I mean a vary few slick spots and high winds. About half way thru the west bound drivers were telling us that in about 10 miles we would be back to 75mph. I was thinking that could not come soon enough. Not two mins after they said that here comes the big box bottom feeders blazing along at I would say better than 55mph. We were passed by Warner, Schindler, Pride, Prime, England, and 4 or 5 carriers that I didnt get the names of. In this little group I was running in not one took off with them. Not 15 miles after we got back into the 75mph zone we were passing all of them back.
Point of this is they all had qualcomm, e-logs, EBOR's AND slow trucks and to try and make up time they risked there CDL by trying to make up time in the slower speed zone. For me it was just an inconvenience at the time because I knew I could make up most of my time once I got back into the higher speed limit, they cant.
I had my "cowboy" days back when 55mph was the law of the land and got the tickets to prove it, now most of the states I run in the speed limit is now what I like to run at anyways and I havent gotten a ticket for speeding in years now.

Looks to me like E-logs + slow trucks= risking your CDL all over again.

 

Somebody mentioned in another thread that insurance companies have already noted a marked rise in speeding tickets and preventables at companies running all e-logs due to this very behavior. I see it every day in construction zones 45mph, 55mph with their "elog" sticker on the side of the truck blazing by at 62-65mph.

 

Well of course there is. I see it all the time actually. They are trying to make miles before their little box tells them they can't go anymore. They do what ever they can to make up time. they stay on the hammer till the very last second and them hammer the brakes when it comes time to stop. They are jamming gears as fast as they can to get back up to speed. They are roaring through 25 mph towns at 40 mph and rolling through stop lights.

Same thing happens with company drivers that have to drive excessively governed trucks.

We have a company locally that hauls sugar beets to the Crystal Sugar plants up and down the valley. Trans systems. Their trucks are governed to 58 mph while the majority of the speed limits are 65 to 75 mph through out ND. These guys roll through our town at 40 mph when the limit is 25. They don't even slow down for one of the stop lights and they just roll right through. They claim to have the best safety rating in the nation. I don't know how. I always see their trucks cracked up, in a ditch, tipped over etc. Seen one of their pup trailers that had come loose and went across the interstate, across the median and was in the far ditch.

 

Paper log drivers do the same thing and have been for years. These aren't eLog issues as much as they are untrained driver issues. Logging a violation isn't the end of the world. For that matter compliance and safety are not mutually inclusive.

 

I do also, construction zones and towns where the speed limit drops 3 week wonders in governed trucks just keep it to the floor... The same ones that are snatching gears through the truckstop...

 

Actually it's an industry issue where drivers are all underpaid. Paid by the mile then regulated by the hour. No amount of training in the world is going to change the mindset of some guy with a family to feed always fighting against a clock. I never would speed in construction zones or urban areas where it was 55mph even when I was paid to rack up big miles. I have found since I've switched from working for a flat mileage rate to getting paid on a percentage that I hardly ever go over the speed limit anywhere now. When I was all about racking up the miles, cause that's what the incentive was, I always felt self induced pressure to go, go, go. Drive a full 11 hours every day, or more... I hardly ever use my full 11 hours since that change. Working for better rates as opposed to more miles has taken so much stress out of my life.. Like I said, elogs compound these problems and make for lots of unsafe drivers out there...

 

I guess that they didn't take that into consideration when they pushed for these EOBR's.

 

I beg to differ with you. We started elogs and I noticed that we (I) run straight thru with out stopping, I cant' stop at mid day and take a nap, if you do it kills your 14 hour. And the fact that the computer runs the ACTUAL AVERAGE sped of the truck. If there is one traffic tie up your screwed. Plus the fact that you cannot break up your day.
The problem is that we are being broad brushed by people in Washington that have NEVER driven or owned a truck. There is no way I could have hauled chicken and produce coast to coast with elogs. And I never got a ticket and never fell asleep at the wheel. If I'm tired I stop. And I never ran two log books. I would just keep the left door closed and ran 5-8 mph over the limit while on the interstate. But I could stop when I wanted to and could sit at a table and eat.
I see no benefit with elogs unless your a local driver or you have a dedicated run.