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

I think you're giving Werner far too much credit!

They didn't come up with the idea/concept...they were forced into being the Guinea Pig because of their "most excellent" HOS and accident performance!

 

And that's exactly how these things will end up mandatory for all

 

Yes, they would. They also often force me to stop as much as 100 miles early on a driving shift because the the next truckstop en route would put me slightly over my 11 hrs! Thus, I consistently mt out with less time available for my next load.

 

I've been on elogs for 2 different companies in a 3 year span. Cargo Transporters put them in the trucks 2 years before I came to Tyson. I have no issues getting rest and all I do now is reefer loads. I get more rest now than I ever did and run more miles. I will top $60,000 this year all on elogs and running legal.

I do split break often because I may not need a full 10 so I can run to the next place and still rest.

I've never been one to stop at every truckstop I come to like most do. One thing I have noticed is less people playing the gambling machines in the truckstops now.

 

Sorry, but RickG had if right in the post you reference with this comment. The regs state that a reset cannot be started until 168 hours AFTER THE START of the last reset. Not 168 hours since the end of the last reset. FMCSA wanted drivers only using 1 reset in a 7 day period (168 hrs). 168 hrs AFTER THE START of the last reset is a full 7 days, so then another reset can be started, thus the requirement that only one reset occur in 168 hrs (7 days) is met. Don't try to read too much into the final rule and go off on some armageddon scenario.

Day 1 Reset started at 2000.
Day 2 Reset continues.
Day 3 Can start driving at 0600. 34 hrs met. The requirement that the reset include two 0100-0500 blocks is met.
Day 4 Drive
Day 5 Drive
Day 6 Drive
Day 7 Drive.
Day 8 Drive, and eligible to start another reset anytime after 2000.

If day one was a Friday, then Day 8 would also be a Friday. A driver could take a reset each and every weekend if they wanted to, depending on how their schedule worked. From this example if day 1 was Friday, they could start driving Sunday morning at 0600 and work clear thru Friday till 2000 when they could do another reset.

This gives you 6 full days to drive and rack up 70 hrs avail. That is almost 11 and 3/4 full hours a day average to do what you need to do. Then you can start another reset. is it really that big a deal? Most drivers do not use a full 11 and 3/4 hrs a day, each and every day. Even those hamstrung with an Elog.

And there is no requirement to ever use the reset provision!!! Yep, you can just use the recap and work every day if you so choose to. Sure, to do that, you would not use a full 11 driving every day, but the point is that there is no requirement to ever use the reset provision. It is an option. And there was no reset provision from 1939 to 2004. Man, how did truckers deal with it for over 60 years not having a reset option? RECAP!!!

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/hos/logbook.pdf

 

How? I am on Elog. I have had a couple of times that my 70 ran out when I was not quite home, once up to 2 hrs away from the house. I dropped the trailer, went to OFF DUTY DRIVING, and drove on home. After spending time at home, I went to OFF DUTY DRIVING, and returned to the trailer, and then started my week with a pre-trip and headed on down the road. All perfectly legal per the FMCSA regulations, same thing that can be done with a paper log without having to "clean up" the log later. I was not doing anything related to interstate commerce after I dropped the trailer, I was not heading to pick up or deliver a load, and in returning to the trailer, I was only returning to the last place I went off duty from. All of this is legal and personal conveyance use of the power unit. No difference than if I dropped the trailer somewhere and bobtailed to go get a bite to eat. There is NO mileage limitation in the regulations regarding personal conveyance.

Of course that is because I own the truck. A company driver might have a limit placed on them by their company. But put that blame where it lies... on the company not the FMCSA. It is the company that is not "flexible". Not the Elog or the FMCSA. Then you have to decide if staying with that company is worth while.

 

Not quite right. If you were only slightly over your 11, and still within the 14 hrs total, you are allowed to go over in order to locate a safe place to park. No one is expected to slam on the brakes and pull to the side of the road. It is called the "safe haven" provision in the regulations. It is only if you exceed the 14 hrs along with exceeding the 11 hrs driving that warrants serious violation.

Part of reading the regulations is not just so you know what you HAVE to do, but also to know what you CAN do. I realize that reading the FMCSA regulations can be a tedious process, but there are little "nuggets" in there that can mean a lot. Unfortunately, you have to wade thru a lot of junk to find them.

 

that's what i thought too. but that's not what the callers and hosts keep saying on the radio.

 

Yes, but it cost you the extra money in fuel to bobtail home and then back to the trailer!

 

Perhaps you can point us to this so called "Safe Haven" provision? Unless you are delayed, on a run that could be done in the allotted time, you can't go past the 11.