How Shady Is The Industry Really? (Multiple Logbooks And Unplugging GPS Trackers?)

Ryan you are wasting an incredible amount of your time on this sycophantic relationship you have with bad research. Your becoming a pathetic dog. Give it up man.

Saddle up and ride!

Put your hard hat on and get to work.

You're not learning a damn thing from your living room. You need to get out here and find out whether this career is going to kick you in the cajones or whether you have what it takes.

I can't believe I ate my last bag of popcorn before this clown made another useless and negative post. You said exactly what I would have said Old School. Hats off brother....

All of the eLog systems have at least 2 GPS inputs, some companies use a 3rd or 4th depending on where they are. For grins let's say you disconnected all of them, you still have to deal with the inputs from the ECM, they are still reporting, and some of the newer trucks have GPS reporting off the ECM as a parameter. The problem with this scenario is, anytime it looses a parameter for n seconds (Most are set at 90 seconds when the ECM speed is not 0), it sets a flag, and if cellular is available it reports it immediately as an error, if not it waits until either cellular or WiFi is available. The system continues to report the error every 180 minutes (3 Hours). If you hook it back up, it starts reporting normally, but will set a flag in the system. The flag can only be cleared by someone who has the test/programming equipment for it, as well as the diagnostic password. The person doing it must have a valid login, and they have to state what they did to fix it. Let us add yet another scenario, it is permanently disconnected. The problem with this scenario is the unit will show up in the daily report as not-reporting, and it will send a request to have the paper logs inputed. There are escalation emails, so the longer the longer it does not report, the higher up the food chain gets a notification, until the default setting of Day 14. On Day 14 it will start sending emails every 8 hours of non-reporting, all I have seen are sent to the VP of Operations. During this time it also logs in the database who was notified and when. I am not buying the Indeed review, but then again, it is on the internet. I have some experience on the technical side of eLogs , there is more to them than just logging.

The reviewer depicts big business as I'm used to encountering it, so I'm prone to believing him. However, I'm attempting to delay my confirmation bias.

Please tell me this isn't true. :P

Friend, I know you think I was trying to make you mad the other day, but really I was just trying to help you see how skewed your point of view is by agreeing with you and amplifying what you were saying. It is called "ridicule." I don't think you are ridiculous; I think your views are ridiculous.

Now, people more patient than me have tried other techniques, and seem to have made some progress, so I won't do that again. What I would like to point out right now is that you have the kernel of truth in what you said above. You have a confirmation bias.

I'm not sure where or how that got started in your life, but I can say that the only cure for it is to do something to directly contradict it. It's risky, because if you were right all along and the trucking industry turns out to be a bunch of evil corporate powers who take in unsuspecting people to ensnare them in oppressive labor practices, then you will be one of those who are held captive. Worse, you might become one of the brainwashed sycophants and start posting positive things on trucking forums. I imagine it would be very hard to look yourself in the mirror if that happened.

On the other hand, if it's like what we are saying here, and you can actually make a decent living at trucking if you work hard and have a good attitude, you will be free of a confirmation bias, and you'll have a good start on a rewarding career.

Now, keep in mind, I don't think anyone here has said that trucking companies are pure as the driven snow and your best friend who will give you the shirt off their back just because. No, they're businesses, and they're in it to make money. If making a profit is unquestionably bad in any situation in your view, then I think you'd be better off putting on your black jeans and hoodie and Guy Fawkes mask or black bandanna so you can join your friends who are out blocking freeways and chanting. (But be careful! You might find out that their motives aren't always as pure as they advertise!)

But if you're willing to accept, even conditionally, that trucking companies are pretty much like other for-profit companies in America, and working for them is pretty much the same bargain as elsewhere, and your current situation could be improved by making the jump into it, then go for it.

And that is actually my serious question to you: What are you doing now that is both 1) making you think about becoming a truck driver, and 2) making you afraid to become a truck driver? If in your current situation you are making enough, or more than you need, and there's no downside to it, I think you should probably stay there. Trucking can be a difficult job, especially for the first year or two. And it's a business that is pretty unforgiving, so if you can't make the cut, you will be put on the bench or thrown out of the game, with no remorse or sympathy from the company who does it or the drivers around you.

But if you really think you can do it and want to do it, and that it could improve your current circumstances, then go for it. We're here to help. Just stop whining about how the man is keeping you down. Even if it's true, a) no one likes whining, and b) we've all managed to make a living in spite of the man, so we know it's not true.

Ryan in that review was some one trying to cheat the system, or saying they found a way around the system not a company trying to cheat the system but a individual. The think you really need to think about it the black box on the truck. This records all sorts of date this is how the NTSB can go back and find out if a driver applied brakes before a crash or how fast he was going. This info can also be used to tell how long the driver was driving for. So a lawyer can sue the ever living **** out of you, when you **** up. The driver is responsible for thier actions alone no one holds a gun to your head and tell you to do something unsafe. This is the driver that makes chooses that lead to problems.

That's funny because I was thinking the same exact thing this morning. This is really beginning to look like nothing more than a smokescreen of excuses from someone who isn't ready to get out there and do it for real.

I think the time for having debates and reading reviews is looooong over with. You're not trying to learn anything new reading reviews on Glassdoor and trivial baloney about cutting into truck computers. You're stalling.

Call the schools and get signed up.

^^^^

Seems like almost every post, is looking for reasons to talk yourself out of this career.

Are you IN OR OUT?

Rick

Rick, not to be rude; but, When are we going to see you bouncing down the highway? As much effort you have put into learning the ins and outs of this industry, don't you want to put it to practical use?

As much as you exude venom towards your current business, why don't you take that leap of faith you yearn for?

Just trying to give you another nudge.

Rick, not to be rude; but, When are we going to see you bouncing down the highway? As much effort you have put into learning the ins and outs of this industry, don't you want to put it to practical use?

As much as you exude venom towards your current business, why don't you take that leap of faith you yearn for?

Just trying to give you another nudge.

Easier said than done, my rude friend (LOL).

And the daily frustration I walk around with every day, only makes it that much more frustrating.

Learning and keeping current, doesn't really take that much effort - it's the way my head is wired to absorb and retain the info (and to SHARE IT).

Appreciate the nudge though...

Rick

You sit down at the poker table everyday. Instead of checking the pile all day then fold; just go all in and call.

ChosenOne,

It sounds like you know what you're talking about. Thanks for a useful reply in here. :P

Everyone else,

Please. It's not stalling so much as the fact that, if I was more careful and looked into things more, I wouldn't have gone to the school I did. I'm going to be much more careful now. I mean, I even did apply to work for Prime and was rejected so it's hardly like I'm not willing to pull the trigger when something good stands out. I am in no rush, however.

It's not that there isn't heaps of useful information on the internet about trucking, but it's sometimes hard for a noob to tell what's legit and what isn't. Obviously, this topic was one of those times. The person that wrote the review that concerned me is very well spoken, and managed to say some very specific things about the company that have even been said here. He "appears" very legit on the surface. I dug into it more... while there are some ways people cheat e-logs, it certainly doesn't sound like it's the norm, or even sustainable.

Oh yeah, and the trite popcorn, "jokes" that are plastered all over various trucking forums are seriously inane.

Ryan, the days of running multiple PAPER logs are quickly coming to an end. Their days are numbered. That day is this December. Yes there are a plethora of grey areas you can use and abuse even on e-logs. I can edit my logs as much as I want (more or less) except for 2 things. The drive line and those logs I have already approved.

So now you KNOW. You can't screw with the GPS, unless you want fired, and you won't be running multiple logs with your task masters of a trucking company cracking the whip.

So what other myths do you need dispelled? Granted the best lies are those with roots in truth. Are there little mom n pop truck operations out there that expect to their drivers to cheat their logs so they can run more miles. Yes, there are. But if that is what they have to do to keep the doors open, it will all come to a screeching halt this December. Can you unplug the main GPS sitting on top of your truck? Very easily. But only if you don't want to stay employed.

Ryan, I think you don't realize that your posts all seem negative. And I'm not sure you mean it. But they stab into the very way we live and provide for ourselves.

"Prime rejected me for holes in my work history cause I can save money and don't need to work" (paraphrased here) kinda translates to readers as "that stupid company doesn't realize how good I am and they are idiots and everyone working there must be idiots too"

The thread about "will drivers be obsolete with self driving trucks" translates into "all you people who love your job and make a good living at it are.morons for staying in a changing industry"

Now this "how widespread is this" comes across as "truckers are a bunch of criminals who tamper with private property and violate federal laws".

So people are reading your posts and you sound SO hateful towards a. Industry you tend to know nothing about. We try on this site to give actual experience and accounts of what to expect in trucking and how to succeed. I started posting " Game" threads cause I thought I was a cool way to see different drivers REAL experiences over various topics of road life and give tips to newbies.

Errol posts the backing tips and exercises, anchorman posts news threads, Rick will recite the entire regulation book verbatim and that's in addition to the great advice from Brett. GTown Old School and all the others who have either done this for decades or just started like me (18 mos is still a newbie in this industry cause you needs gonads...real determination to do this job).

I think the point is that you are too worried about the wrong things. Start threads about companies you have interest in to compare them.. Ask about time management or other things that if you learn now, life on the road will be so much easier. It seems you just post accusations about something we all love or we wouldn't be here. And that is like starting an argument about religion or politics. Lol