Log App On Phone

Hey ya'll I need a little help here please

My company runs paper logs. Straight forward enough. I resesrched and found an app called Keep Truckin. According to KT their app is considered a form of electronic log and is accepted by DOT. My company looked it over and approved me too use it instead of submitting paper. I have had 2 DOT officers ask to see my logs and I handed them my phone and they were good with it. I ran across an older guy that said it was illegal because its not tied into the truck.

The app has everything you need except being tied into the truck. I can email or fax straight from the app. You just have to manually input all information nothing is automatic like a few things on qualcom or peoplenet.

I love the app for convience but now I'm not sure if I should keep using it.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Hey ya'll I need a little help here please

My company runs paper logs. Straight forward enough. I resesrched and found an app called Keep Truckin. According to KT their app is considered a form of electronic log and is accepted by DOT. My company looked it over and approved me too use it instead of submitting paper. I have had 2 DOT officers ask to see my logs and I handed them my phone and they were good with it. I ran across an older guy that said it was illegal because its not tied into the truck.

The app has everything you need except being tied into the truck. I can email or fax straight from the app. You just have to manually input all information nothing is automatic like a few things on qualcom or peoplenet.

I love the app for convience but now I'm not sure if I should keep using it.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Hey PJ,

you are actually safe using that as a Log Book.. while I was driving local, my company ran paper logs as well. I didnt mind doing them, but because we often did slip seating, I would sometimes leave my book in my car or another truck by accident. I downloaded that same app set it up and away I went.. I was pulled over several times while using the app, every DOT officer I spoke with said its safe to use and most of them enjoyed using it as they could pull up 7 days with a click or press of a button and have a total of my work week. I have even taken it into weigh stations with no issues. Just remember to keep your paper book with you just incase your phone dies or heaven forbid, you lose your phone.

The app does follow all of our requied laws. I don't recall ever reading anything saying an electronic log has to be tied to a specific truck. I think that goes in play with companies wanting to make sure each truck has a unit and when they send messages to the qualcomm or peoplenet, they can give the units names or numbers to know whos sending messages....

and having those to officers being okay with you having it, doesnt mean every officer will be, but as long as your ducks are in a row, your good =D I wouldnt sweat it.

I'm familiar with Keep Truckn. I have it on my phone, as a backup for my Swift e-logs.

You are running into Driver Lounge stuff, things other drivers who tell you in slack moments.

Now, who's conclusion will affect your paycheck: your company's plus two DOT officers', or some "older guy" you just met and may never see again?

One problem I see with Keep Trucking, if you want to call it a problem, is that you can adjust your current logs and change your duty hours for the day. That's something you really can't do with pen & ink on paper logs.

One problem I see with Keep Trucking, if you want to call it a problem, is that you can adjust your current logs and change your duty hours for the day. That's something you really can't do with pen & ink on paper logs.

unless you rewrite them

PJ I have had 4 inspections sense going to logs on my phone. I run JJ Keller, with a box tied into my ECM. I have been asked once if it is tied into the truck, and got lectured for not having a printer on the truck because, the office did not have a printer in his car. My company says for us to be elog legal it needs to be tied into the ECM so it knows when we are driving, and not driving. We are playing with Qualcomm , JJ Keller, and Rand McNally. The company will not let us run KT because it can not tie into the ECM. That's all I can tell you, I don't know what the actual law says

I ran Keep Trucking with my previous company and never had a problem. It is easy to manipulate it though.

One problem I see with Keep Trucking, >> if you want to call it a problem <<, is that you can adjust your current logs and change your duty hours for the day. That's something you really can't do with pen & ink on paper logs.

unless you rewrite them

Note the highlighted section.

Also there are issues of keeping two sets of logs. You might have your "main" log and the KT one. Any bookkeeper will tell you that if you have two sets of books, something's fishy.

Yes it is easy to manipulate. They have a box you can tie into the truck but I don't have that. The older guy I spoke of was a Florida DOT inspector. Sorry for not making that clear. I was polite and explained that the loose leaf paper logs we run are not tied into the truck either. He said he didn't receive any training on that. He was just being difficult. Thanks for the feedback ya'll. I have an air printer I used to keep on the truck I'll put that back in just in case. I do have a batch of loose leaf logs in my briefcase just in case.

Sorry guys - got to this party a little late.

KeepTruckin ELD FMCSA Compliance Announcement

Without digging through all the pages of the ELD rules, the upshot is - that in order to be COMPLIANT - it has to "talk to" the trucks ECM.

Here's the rub though - MANDATORY FULL COMPLIANCE IS NOT REQUIRED until 12/18/2017. So using the app as a substitute for paper logs, without the ECM Connector Module, is STILL LEGAL until then.

From KeepTruckin's FAQ: What is the difference between the KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App and the KeepTruckin ELD?

The KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App, when used alone, is a fully editable electronic log that is a replacement for paper logs. The standalone KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App is compliant with USDOT / FMCSA rule 395.8 regarding a driver's record of duty status and Canada's commercial vehicle drivers hours of service Regulations.

The KeepTruckin ELD is a hardware device that connects to the diagnostic port (ECM) of a vehicle. When used in combination with the KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App, the KeepTruckin ELD automatically records driving time in compliance with USDOT / FMCSA rule 395.15 regarding automatic on-board recording devices and the recently-released final ELD rule requiring drivers to use in-cab ELDs by 2017. FMCSA List of Approved ELD's

If you are a SUBSCRIBER - you should have to facility in the app, to email a copy of your logs to the inspector. If you can SIGN THE LOGS ELECTRONICALLY - you do not have to PRINT THEM TO SIGN THEM.

E-Signing was made OK with this FMCSA notice in the Federal Register https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-07-10/pdf/2014-15951.pdf (PJ - might want to PRINT THIS OUT - this pretty much authorizes paperless log apps).

Again - for right now - the LOGGING PROGRAM ALONE - is a "legal substitute" for paper logs.

OOIDA had an action to delay the mandatory implementation of ELD's for everyone, thrown out of court recently - so 12/2017 is still the date the everyone must have COMPLAINT ELD's - that is - LOGGING DEVICES THAT CONNECT TO THE TRUCKS ENGINE. Apps with an ECM connection (like KeepTruckin with the ELD Dongle) will be fully compliant.

The regs are pretty clear that plain non-connected log apps are OK until 12/17 - when everything must be connected. Most Qualcomms, PeopleNet, etc., were called by the "old name" AOBRD. All those guys are going to have to update their technology (most of the newer boxes already are) in order to be complaint. Once they are - they will be listed in the FMCSA Approved ELD Registry (that I linked to above). Companies that are using old-tech AOBRD's will be required to update them to ELD-class devices by 12/16/2019 - two years after the mandatory E-Logs compliance date.

Rick

As already noted above, the app on its own is a legal form of logging and falls into the "logging software" category as noted here: FMCSA Methods of Recordkeeping.

However, part of the information from KeepTruckin is not true, note the highlighted portion...

The KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App, when used alone, is a fully editable electronic log that is a replacement for paper logs. The standalone KeepTruckin Electronic Logbook App is compliant with USDOT / FMCSA rule 395.8 regarding a driver's record of duty status and Canada's commercial vehicle drivers hours of service Regulations.

Any standalone app or computer logging program (meaning it is not tied to the truck's ECM) is not legal in Canada as an "Electronic Recording Device".

83 A driver may use an electronic recording device for recording their duty status if:

(e) the device automatically records when it is disconnected and reconnected and keeps a record of the time and date of these occurrences;

- Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313): Section 83 - Use of Electronic Recording Devices

In practise, many officers are accepting such forms of logging if only because it makes logs easier to read and tends to keep drivers more compliant (or at least gives the illusion of compliance).

Personally, I would not use such an app/software alone for a few reasons; among them are 1) I don't want anyone, especially enforcement of any stripe, handling my personal electronic device(s) and, 2) it isn't strictly legal and therefore the driver is subject to the officer's discretion as to whether they accept it or not. I would use the app/software to help keep paper logs compliant if you felt it necessary, especially if you are an infrequent cross-border driver and are not fully familiar with the Canadian HOS.

Canada is in the process of ratifying its own updated regulations regarding ELDs, but the sum total of the current regulations are contained in Section 83.