Log books
The trip is coming to a close at last. Should be at the final in a few hours. Spoke with Uriah (dispatcher) yesterday. He said we’d done such a good job on the load, the customer service people wanted us to run another one. Talk about being torn.
On the one hand, doing this turn and burn business for another week didn’t sound all that appealing. I’ve about had enough of the east coast. On the other hand, money money money.
Yeah, money won. We said we’d do it again. Can’t turn down 5500 miles. However, we have to reset our log books first (we wouldn’t have the hours to run it, otherwise), so we won’t be heading out on Turn and Burn 2 until Monday. Yippee! Nearly two days off!
I can’t remember if we’ve described log books on the blog. Just in case –
We’re all legally required, by the feds, to maintain a log of duty. Each page of your log book is one day. There are four types of activities these log books track: off duty time, in the sleeper berth time, driving time, and on-duty not driving time (everything related to your job that is not driving, like pre-trip inspections, fueling, loading and unloading, etc.). Each hour is divided into 15 minute increments, so this means activities must be logged down to the 15 minute mark. You are required to keep your log book up-to-date to the last change-of-duty status. The log must be kept 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even when you are at home.
Basically, we are allowed to work up to 14 hours, then we must take a 10-hour break. Within this 14 hour window, we can drive up to 11 hours. On-duty not driving time counts toward the 14-hour total, as does any rest time you take in the sleeper or off duty, so this can eat into your drive time if you are left sitting too long at a shipper or receiver, or if you stop to take a nap. If you spent, for instance, four hours on-duty not driving, then drove for five hours, then took a two hour nap, then you would only have three hours left to drive that day, making only eight hours total driving for the day (4+5+2+3=14). You could do however much on-duty not driving stuff after the 14 hours as you want or need, but you cannot drive past the 14-hour mark.
The 10-hour break may be any combination of off duty and sleeper berth time, but it all has to add up to an unbroken 10 hours before you can drive again. There is also a split sleeper berth rule, but it’s so screwed up and ridiculous, I won’t go into it here. We don’t ever use it.
In addition to the 10- and 14-hour rules, there is the 70-hour rule. We are allowed 70 total hours of working (on-duty not driving) and driving in 8 days. We may not drive if we hit that total before the eight days are up. We keep a running count of the last eight days, so we always know how many of the 70 hours we have available to use on the current day.
There is an exception to this — the 34-hour restart rule. If you are off duty or in the sleeper berth (or any combination of the two) for 34 straight hours, then you can reset the running tally of hours in the past eight days to zero. This quickly gives you a fresh slate from which to pull hours.
Confused? Well, it’s hard to describe in words. Easier to get if you can see what a log page looks like. And it actually is ridiculously complicated, with far more to it than the basics I’ve laid out here. Remember that the feds came up with this system, so that really tells anyone all they need to know about its efficiency, reliability and usefulness.
Limiting how many hours a person can drive in a day is meant to improve safety by ensuring that drivers get proper rest to stay alert on the road. Okay, but here’s the problem. For one thing, people are different in their needs for rest, and the rules are too inflexible. There was an old set of rules which were much more flexible and I preferred them.
Most importantly, if you are the sort of person who will do your log book faithfully, and not cheat or fudge on it very often, then you are likely to be the sort of person who would not endanger your life or others by driving when you are too tired, log book or no log book. If you are the type of person who doesn’t care about your own or others’ safety, then you will simply turn your log book into a work of fiction, yet appear to be as legal and safe as your honest fellow driver. This makes log books pretty useless as a form of driver self-control.
However, it does prevent companies from forcing their employees to drive when they are out of hours. It was not uncommon, back in the days before log books, for a company to fire a driver for insisting he/she was too tired to take a load. These days, if a company does try to pressure a driver to go past his/her limits and cheat on their log books, and they are reported to the feds for it, they will find themselves knee deep in a whole lot of shit. Legitimate companies, when they hear “I am out of hours” from a driver, do not argue.
Here at TWMNBN, being out of hours gets you off the hook. If, however, you still have hours available, yet you have told them you are too tired to drive, you’ll get pressured to take the load anyway. You really have to stick to your guns to get them to leave you alone. This has been true at most every company where I’ve worked.
So while the log books don’t much help with an individual driver’s decision making, they do help keep the companies off our backs, for the most part.
One company, Werner, has what are called EOBR’s, electronic on-board recorders. I don’t know how they work, but somehow it keeps an electronic log book of the driver’s activity. This is clearly meant to keep drivers from cheating on their written log books, what with not having a written log book with an EOBR. There has been, for some time, a contingent which wants to make EOBR’s a requirement for all commercial vehicles. There are plenty of arguments for and against this move. I think it would be a waste of money, because people who are going to cheat and break the rules, will find always find a way to do so. EOBR’s can’t solve what it is meant to solve: human nature.
And there you have it — more than you ever wanted to know about log books. And now you know what I meant when I said Hedon and I would have to reset our log books if we are to do Turn and Burn 2.
I can’t help but find it more than a bit ridiculous that we truck drivers are legally required to track our days down to 15 minute increments to ensure the safety of others on the road, yet doctors can work three days straight, no questions asked. It has always seemed this way to us drivers. We think that if it has been scientifically determined that working longer than 14 hours will seriously affect our decision making and mechanical skills, among other things, then how is it that an ER doctor can work 48 hours straight and still be capable of making the correct determination as to whether those chest pains of yours are caused by a heart attack or merely indigestion?
It’s probably just because we’re dumb truck drivers and doctors are them smart edjicated folks and all.
Ummhmm.
yeah, well doc’s never run 2 sets of log books, not that anyone else does that, of course
)
For those who don’t know, I found this on the internet showing what the paper log books look like: Sample Log Page
Since we do ours on the computer (we use Drivers Daily Log), it looks more like this: Salena and Eddie’s fancy-pants high tech log page
I agree with you that different people need different amounts of sleep and it would be nice if we could split our sleeper time (as a team) like they used to. I think that made more sense.
But you’re right – if you’re going to cheat, it doesn’t really matter what your log book looks like if it’s a big lie – you’re not going to be safe. And that’s just not smart – not only for the safety of other people’s lives, but for the safety of yours!
This was a very easy to follow post regarding logs – seems a lot of new drivers are completely confused by them. I had Ed helping me, so it was easy!
That’s weird – why does my post look like that? I no like.
Enjoy the downtime, and may Fernando and the mouse family not intrude on it.
Superdumb question: do you take your truck home with you, even though it’s a company truck? Or do you leave a car at a nearby terminal while you are driving?
Asking because it seems Gigi and earlier Jason (the schoolteacher who drove for Swift then returned to teaching) are always talking about loved ones picking them up on their return.
Salena: since you’re OOs, do you and Eddie park your gorgeous truck at your home, or do you have to leave it nearby?
Just curious about whether commuting would cut into your rest time further.
Salena,
How does your post look?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Belledog,
When we’re at home we take the truck home because we aren’t close to a terminal, but this weekend we are shut down in Indiana. We dropped the trailer at the shipper where we are picking up Monday so we could cruise around town bobtail-style.
We’ve already hit Outback last night and are getting ready to pop over to Buffalo Wild Wings. For a weekend that includes finishing up the taxes it’s not turning out to be too bad.
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Punxxi,
Nobody that I ever heard of anyway…
Have fun with those Hoosiers. We used to live in Fort Wayne, Indiana (my parents’ hometown and the bane of my existence as a child; long road trips from somewhere more interesting to visit relatives) …. as an adult, love the farmlands and enjoyed Rte 20 (??) at top of state through Mennonite country.
Salena,
I figured out what was wrong on your comment, but the only way I know of to fix it is by changing them to links. It’s a weird glitch.
Hedon and Stace: an article for you, and maybe for the Driver’s Lounge:
With Dog as My Co-Pilot. A woman takes a beagle cross country, twice, in 18 months. Four wheeler, memorable trip.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031301235.html?hpid=smartliving
Hedon,
Thanks for fixing my glitch – it looks WAY better this way.
Belledog – we take our truck home. We park it right in the driveway. Our neighborhood doesn’t really allow that (if you had to track down the zoning laws like we did when we were househunting) but we’re going on our fifth year parking the truck in the driveway and we haven’t heard a peep out of anyone. Well, except for the curmudgeon next door – and he only complained cause Ed was parked temporarily in the cul-de-sac we live on and was blocking the garbage man from getting to his house. He even called the police! They came out but even THEY didn’t know what the zoning law was – they just asked us to park so we didn’t block the other guy.
I also think we don’t have a problem because we drive a flatbed. It’s not that noticeable among the bushes and trees – I think if we had a van trailer it would stand out like a sore thumb!
I needed to get caught up here – I actually ran a trip last week and got behind on my reading and enjoying.
I drove for Werner and did the paperless logs. It took awhile, but I soon figured out how to make it work for me, basically so I didn’t have to drive in the middle of the night. I just stayed on duty until I ran my clock out and could then sleep. I split my breaks when I drove with my trainer (the new laws had just been passed) and that worked for teaming, though I just ended up disoriented after a few days. Any time they pressed me to take a load I didn’t want and couldn’t complete because I was running out of hours without a reset I would just invite them to send me that message on the QualComm so I had it in “writing” and they would back down. Idjits.
Now I have to keep a log book manually, but since there usually isn’t a deadline for me I just do my own thing.
This really brings back the memories of OTR driving. And, when taking my tractor home with me of the stuck up rich people in the neighborhood who would call the cops every time I parked it on their street. Thanks. Of course the little tiny dump we lived in didn’t have any parking at all – street or off street – so I had to park on another street. The cops were nice about it though. I had a route into the neighborhood without any “No Trucks” signs and they have no idea that the tractor was over the weight limits and would just tell the neighbors that I was only trying to do my job.
Hey there, Decorina. Wondered where you’d gone to. Hope the load went well.
When we’re home, we have to drop our empty trailer (If they make us take one home, and they usually do) at a little truck stop/cafe in a nearby town. The owner of the place lets all us local truckers leave our trailers there when we’re home. She’s a nice gal.
We take our tractor home and park it in the driveway. The neighbors have never complained, as far as I know. I think half of them have asked if they could drive it (not happening) or look in it (okay, fine). In a dirt poor small town, truckers have a bit of cache. LOL.
But I mean honestly… they ask if they can drive it!!
Like it’s a Dodge Ram or something and you can just get in and go with no experience whatsoever.
Sigh.
Hello Ladies,
but anyway this blog about log books helped out a lot with my research thanks a lot
My name is Amanda Johns i’m 17 and I am currently doing a project on the history,cdl,economics,and so on about trucking. My dad has been a truck driver since before i was born and i have been going in the pete with him since i was potty trained
Glad to be of some help. Good luck with your project.
Hi
I think logbooks should be outlawed,nobody in a car or pick-up has to run them,These god damn safety oriented idiots need a kick in the head.I will drive as many hrs straight as I god damn well feel fit,they can go to hell altogether.
Thanks Aaron
Do bobtail and “in-Transit” miles have to be logged? Can’s find anything in the safety reg handbook on either one. Anybody know?
It depends on why you are bobtailing or in transit. For instance, if you are driving home for home time after delivering a load, and your company considers you off duty, you may go to line one in your logbook, and not log the miles, then just flag the time when you got home. When you are heading out from home time to pick up a load, you should log those miles normally.
As for other movement, the first question is, are you currently under a load, or in transit to pick up a load? If so, you probably have to log it. Also, if you are driving your bobtail to a destination that is job-oriented in any way, such as driving to the shop to have service done, or driving to get a drug screen or a physical, you need to log drive time on line 3. Even if you are driving, say, a rental car to pick up a new truck at a terminal or something, you need to log it on line 4, on duty not driving (nonsensical, I know, but that’s the feds for ya).
Let’s say you deliver a load, and do not have another load waiting for you anywhere. You decide to drive 10 miles to the nearest theater to watch a movie. My understanding is you can log all of that as off duty, line one.
There’s lots of situations that are just dicey, so we just go ahead and log regularly if we are unsure. As a team, though, we have lots of hours we can burn, unlike the solos.