Negativity In Trucking

I just want to say thank you to each and every member of this site today. I joined a Facebook group a while back and came across something very Disturbing. I would like to share the experience with you guys, as well as pose the question to field a few answers from the wonderful knowledge bank we have (talking about all you wonderful drivers out here).

So a young man posts:

Howdy folks. I'm at a shipper and ran out my clock for the day 15 minutes ago. Getting loaded as I type. What is required for log book entry?

Pretty simple question, and I am sure that the nice folks here would offer some encouraging advice on this subject. The driver went on in the comments to say he is a new driver and hasn't ran across this issue yet.

Some of the responses were:

this is pathetic that a grown person cant get out of this situation on their own, im sorry. we all been there when we were new and probably 100 times since, this isnt rocket science theres plenty of options. trial by fire haha

Or:

Just unplug the Qualcomm go somewhere and replug it back in

And a Myriad of other smart ass comments. So my friends, if this situation were to arise how would you handle it? What steps or measures would/could/should you take to prevent something like this? I know the details surrounding the situation are missing (what time did you get to the shipper? How long have you been in the door? Other things like that.) I know this crew is going to have some much better answers than "chuck your Qualcomm out the window and buy 70 more hours at the nearest truck stop" (buy a paper log book).

Thank you in advance for your time and advice.

Well....hopefully that shipper allows parking somewhere on their lot or maybe on the road they are on so that this person can take their required break. If not, I know that Prime will allow us to drive up to 5 miles to park in that situation, and then our log person fixes it for us. Other than that, there really aren't any options that I am aware of without violating HOS.

Was also going to say that while Prime does that, other companies may have a different policy...

Lunchbox saw this question somewhere else:

Howdy folks. I'm at a shipper and ran out my clock for the day 15 minutes ago. Getting loaded as I type. What is required for log book entry?

My answer: First this a little light on details. Was your "clock" the 11 hour driving/duty clock? Also were you "On Duty Not Driving" while you were waiting to be loaded? Assuming we're talking 11 hours, you should know your time situation going in. Then once you back into the dock, you are waiting with nothing much to do. Off Duty it is. Be sure you plan a stopping place you can get to, even if you must park on the street outside.

Technically - it is an HOS violation to move the truck.

We get questions like this - more along the lines of "my clock ran out, and the shipper/reciever is demanding I leave the property or they'll call the cops".

We get varied responses to this - mine is usually - call the cop yourself, explain that you would be in violation of the law if you move the vehicle. Ask him to escort you to a safe place to park for your 10 hour break, get the case/response number for the call. Call logs/safety in the AM and explain what went down.

LEGALLY - NO ONE CAN ORDER YOU (coercion) to violate HOS regs. But a COP can order you to move your vehicle and escort you. It's still a log violation - but one that can be easily excused by having to "violate under the direct instruction of a LEO".

That would be MY BEST REMEDY for a solution for the scenario I outlined.

Some companies allow you a certain amount of miles to run POV. Technically - the scenario of leaving a shipper out of hours to go to a break location doesn't qualify for this. But if you are empty - you can get away with it.

We had a driver a few months ago, that got tagged for a "log falsification", because he was doing just that - running Off Duty/POV (referred to as "Line 5") to get from a drop to a truck stop. Line 5 would be used to go from a truck stop to a restaurant, store or the like and RETURN TO the truck stop.

Sad that other places on the interwebs can't be a little more helpful - especially when a guy says he's a newbie.

The BEST ADVICE is to manage your time - so you can avoid these situations entirely. But as the old saying goes: feces occurs...

Rick