With all the hype about mandatory E-Logs how many of you drivers will leave the industry?

How do you get to court with a log violation and especially get a jury trial?

 

This doesn't have to do with drivers but small companies and a thing called "regulatory creep".
I have a different perspective; I used to own a small crane service (3 cranes, 2 HH trucks), never had a DOT or L&I violation, no accidents or injuries and I made good money and paid my people well. From day one I had to comply with all DOT/CDL rules- inspections, drug testing, etc., not too bad there. Then the new "crane rule" was phased in around 2007- operators need to be certified through NCCCO (what a scam, but that's another story) at around $3k/ea, no "grandfathering" so everyone has to go- a lot of good operators DID leave "I've been doing this for xx years, f them I quit". Then it was the crane has to be inspected yearly through "certified" vendors, certification jumps 10x over what it was before. Then later the riggers have to be certified.... It made it so I and many others couldn't compete with big outfits that have "in-house" inspectors & trainers that did, of course, lobby an exemption from the gov't regs- much like mega "trainers". I loved what I did but made the decision to sell & do what I'm doing now.

The moral to this story is: there are very few small crane outfits now (at least where I'm at), only the big players. Is the industry safer? No, accidents and injuries haven't gone down at all.

I've seen this movie before and know how it ends.

 

Any time you are written a citation, you have the ability to fight it in a court of law...and when you fight the citation in court, you have the right to ask for a jury trial.

 

Physicals

Drug Test

E logs

None of those things will keep a driver from working,

if he has the "want".................

Merry Christmas...

 

Folks talk about what they will do 5 or 10 minutes from home and running out of driving time. I have been on e-logs for 4 years, and I just go on home. I make a notation on the log why I went over, and leave it at that. Have not been chastised at all. If I am going to be an hour or more away, I have a number of locations I have arranged to either leave the entire truck and have the wife come and get me, or leave the trailer and bobtail on home using Off Duty. Simple as pie. The ELD cannot make you drive, nor can it stop you from driving. It is just a dumb box recording stuff. And nothing has changed regarding HOS. Anytime there is a questionable recording of anything, I make a notation to put along with it as to the reason why. No one is going to expect anyone to stop along side the road 10 minutes from home an do a 10 hr break. And I have had my e-logs audited and no one really gave a darn as long as I made a note why I went over the 11.

 

A common misunderstanding of the court system. A log violation is a civil offense, not a criminal one. No jury trials for civil violations. Civil juries are used for lawsuits.

 

I will switch to flatbed and run states that have enough parking

 

Might be a good way to go. One has to do what one has to do.

 

I recently started with Penske doing all local work, never further than 60 miles from my home and starting location. We are on e-logs and I definitely prefer them for this type of work. I'm one of those guys that love paper logs for the "flexibility" when doing OTR. I did run for one company that had e-logs and it wasn't too bad as long as you planned properly. Sure there were times it presented a problem, especially considering we were based out of the NJ area and our backhauls often went into the 5 boroughs.

My biggest gripe with them was that with paper logs it was illegal if any entries were in a hand other than my own. However, with the e-logs I've used, I can't edit a #### thing, so now when I verify my logs I either can't start the next day if I made a mistake, or I have to verify (illegally) an incorrect log, or get someone else to change it for me. *shrug*

 

Why would you prefer elogs while doing local work? If you're inside the 100 air-mile radius, start & end @ the same place every day, and don't work past the 12th hour, the only thing you have to "show" is the time you start, the time you finish, total up the hours worked, write your name & the date and you're done. As a local driver, you are exempt from having to show each and every change of duty status.