Today is Tuesday, I think... yes, I just glanced at the calendar, and it is Tuesday indeed. You know I honestly do lose track of the days out here on the road at times. My schedule gets so crazy at times switching things around from driving all night to driving all day just so you can legally and safely meet the customers needs. Plus there's no such thing as a routine or schedule - a truck driver works seven days a week putting in long hours and having to keep a log of every hour of his life. Are you aware that a truck driver has to be able to show proof of how he has spent every hour of his life for the previous seven days when he is pulled over by an officer of the law? Yes! That is one of the many onerous government regulations that today's modern truck driver works under.
I'm getting side-tracked as I write this, but I'm reminded of a funny little story that happened to me at a weigh station one time. I believe I was in New Mexico, but the location isn't important. One of the law enforcement officers chose my truck as a random selection to go through an inspection, so he motioned me over to the side and informed me that he would be doing a "level 2" inspection on my vehicle and that he wanted me to get my bills of lading and my permit book along with my license, medical card, and proof of registration and insurance together so that he could look it all over. Then after that he wanted to see my past seven days of log book records, and then he did a thorough inspection of my truck to make sure all my lights, tires, brakes, air horn, windshield wipers, and safety triangles were all in good working order. I passed the inspection, by the way, but I was a little nervous about it because just the previous day I had gone over on my legal driving time by about fifteen minutes, and it was all recorded on my log records. It was not a blatant thumbing of my nose at the law, but it was just one of those days where I needed to get in so many miles so that I could reach my destination by the deadline on the next day, and if I were to have any unexpected delays, like this crazy random inspection, then I just might not make it on time. So, I set my goal to get to a certain truck stop knowing the timing of it could be tough, but when I got there I had gone over by about fifteen minutes.
Our log book records are recorded electronically on a satellite communication device in the truck called a "Qualcomm". When I handed the officer my unit it appeared that he didn't quite know how to operate this particular model, and he commented that it was older than the ones he was accustomed to. I could see the screen as he began punching around on the keyboard, and it became very obvious that not only did he not know what he was doing, but he also didn't want to have to admit it to me. I kept prudently silent as he unsuccessfully pecked away at the keys in a vain effort at locating my log records. He finally ended up over on a page that shows my performance measurements in things like fuel mileage and maximum RPMs recorded on any given day. It was at that point that I was thinking "well, I guess I'm going to have to show this guy where I went over on my legal driving hours", when he abruptly announced "looks like everything is in order to me." So, there's my totally off the subject sidetrack story.
Back to this boring day I'm having. I started at five this morning and made it into the plant at Delhi at seven. I dropped my trailer and rolled on over to a nearby truck stop and set my logs to off duty at 7:15 this morning. I have been on that log status all day now, and it is 9:00 at night as I'm writing this. I let my dispatcher know that I was available for a load, but that I had also for the most part used up my legal seventy hours in an eight day period. Once you've reached that benchmark you are not allowed to drive. So technically I only had about five hours of legal driving hours left for today, and I would have roughly around four hours tomorrow which would come back to me on another crazy government rule called my "re-cap" hours. The way to get around all this hogwash is to take what is called a "reset", which is a 34 hour break which will recreate a clean record of my logs giving me a fresh set of seventy hours that I can work on during the next eight days. So, together, my dispatcher and I made the decision to take the reset which allows me to be off duty for 34 hours straight. Fortunately this new Republican majority in Congress has already removed one of the particularly onerous rules we have been under which was the fact that when we are doing a 34 hour reset it also had to include two time periods between 1 am and 5 am.
So here I sit, confined to my little cubicle by this cold weather, waiting patiently so that I can get back to work tomorrow afternoon. But for me, boring is blissful! I'm not dealing with those ridiculous wind chill factors blowing in to town off of the shores of Lake Michigan that I just left up in Chicago, and I'm not having to figure out how to get my huge truck into some impossible contortion so that I can maneuver it through the little narrow streets of a city that was built long before we ever had trucks like this. Yes, today I kind of like boring,, but by the end of tomorrow I will be ready to face some more of those challenging situations that make this job one new adventure everyday you are at it.
Ok, you've given me a good segue to ask this question... I asked it of Brett in an email, but he didn't respond... I'm going to copy & paste it from his email... it's rather lengthy...
ReplyDelete"(I’m sorry for sending another email), but I have questions about something I read in your online book, Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving, and I don’t feel comfortable bringing it up in the Trucker’s Forum. Firstly, thank you for writing the book; everything you’ve put onto your site, the book, the forum, the reviews, tips/advice, and of course The High Road Training Program has all been so beneficial I’ve pretty much stopped looking anywhere else for information. Why waste my time? I can find everything I need right on TruckingTruth.com. And from your site I’ve become a follower of Old School’s (Dale McClure) blog, “Life As A Road Warrior,” which has also been giving me tremendous insight into this industry. So, to my question… when I begin trucking I am not going to fool around; at my age (47) I don’t have a great deal of time left to make my mark, financially speaking, so I’m going to push myself hard, because that’s what I do anyway, and I know managing my log book and hours will go a long way towards that. After reading Ch. 10, The DOT, this is what I’m wondering: will manipulating my log book, (I am presuming an ‘e-log’ book) to maximize my earning potential, and thusly that of my company, will it ever be in conflict with any devices tracking my truck? I could see how working your paper logs would be much easier to manage, the only way of getting caught might be ‘redhanded,’ but if hours are entered on an e-log, won’t Big Brother or your company know if the truck is moving down the highway, when you’ve just recorded an entry that says you were in the sleeper bunk or off duty?
Do trainers provide this kind of help? I don’t want to get in trouble with a new company right off the bat because I’ve asked the wrong guy the wrong question! Also, is this better a discussion had over the phone? Or once I begin training and then on my own, will it be super obvious how to keep those wheels turning, without running out of hours? I’m going to be that guy dispatch loves because they know they can rely on me."
Also, do you keep paper logs simultaneously with elogs?
****If this is a question best answered privately, my email is stoppete1@gmail.com.
Glad to help you Pete. Here's the deal... The whole reason we are required to use e-logs now is because we didn't regulate ourselves properly, we (truck drivers collectively) were cheaters, and liars. Now we are forced to use electronic logging devices so that we can't cheat!
ReplyDeleteThere really is no manipulating of your logs anymore. You must work within the system that is connected into your truck electronically.
There still are a few little tricks one can do to maximize their available driving hours, but you have got to be careful here and make sure that you are getting the necessary rest so that you can operate both efficiently and safely. The only real area that you can manipulate is your off duty time (that would be either "off duty" or "sleeper berth") The way that you can manipulate those lines on your logs is to actually be doing some physical work during the time that you are logged as off duty or sleeper. Like for example I may spend an hour tarping a load while I have my clock set on the sleeper berth line. Then when I am done I will get in the sleeper and read a little and then sleep until my ten hour break is over. Then I am ready to roll without having to log an hour of on duty time to tarp my load. I think you can see why I say to be careful with that. Do you remember that recent case where a Wal-Mart driver hit a famous celebrity causing a lot of physical damage? They found that he had been in the casino for ten hours (or something like that - I don't remember the details) instead of sleeping, and then he hit the road without the rest he needed to drive safely.
You will learn about all of this stuff while in training, and you will figure out how to maximize your hours after you've been solo for a while. You can't drive the truck without it knowing that you are driving, and when you stop the truck if you do not set your logs on the line you want to be on it will automatically select on duty for you after a few minutes.
Every rookie struggles with the management of his hours at first. The whole system is a little confusing, but after you've been at it for a while you will begin to get the hang of how it all works. We can still make some good money and work within the parameters the regulators have set for us. You don't have to cheat to make a good living at this. The most problematic rule to me is the fourteen hour rule. that one requires us to try and get everything done, as far as driving goes, within that fourteen hour window. Because of that rule if we are tired we can't really stop and take a nap without probably losing some of our eleven hours of drive time. That rule rushes people and makes it so that some drivers are out here on the road when they are too tired to be here. That one rule makes it really hard on us some days.
I hope you are using the High Road Training program on Trucking Truth.com, and especially the section in there about logs. If you can master that section it will help you tremendously out here on the road when it comes to understanding how to do things so that you are maximizing your earnings potential.
Thank you very much for the reply, Dale! I have worked through the High Road Training Program, and as you suggested, spent more time on the Logbook section than any other, taking and re-taking the tests from that section. I feel I already have a good understanding of utilizing my hours that will best benefit me and thusly, my company. I've made myself particularly familiar with the Split Sleeper Berth rule (8/2 or 2/8); that seems like a nice way to maximize your earning potential, if you know how to work it properly. Sounds like most people don't. I must have missed the part about the 'recap' hours; I've learned about them from your blog, but don't remember reading about them in the High Road program.
DeleteI am familiar with the truck accident involving Tracy Morgan, though I didn't know the specifics; he won millions of dollars in his civil case against Wal*Mart. I was not aware the truck driver had been abusing his hours in a casino that way. Similar to the ex-driver in your company who somehow managed to drive 900 miles, illegally, and then get into an accident? No, that will never be me.
My study plan between now and CDL school at the end of March includes finishing your blog, reviewing the High Road tests two or three more times, memorizing the pre-trip inspection procedure, and if there is still time, reading through Daniel's blog entries on the TT website; you've spoken so highly of him, and Brett made him a moderator, I am sure I can learn from him as well.
Your blog is just fantastic! While Brett's book and the High Road program may go into a bit more detail and offer more specifics, esp. the HRTP, your blog is a wonderful compliment in that it imparts more the philosophy and mindset of how to be a successful truck driver, and that is just as invaluable in my opinion as what I'm learning from the High Road.
Thank you for replying to my questions, I'll do my best to keep them to a minimum! You're a great help and credit to the trucking industry!
Pete