Thoughts?

Patrick, if they would do away with the 14, there's no need for a split sleeper provision.

You would still be required to take ten off after 11 driving regardless of the existence of a 14 hour rule.

Before they did away with the split sleeper birth option (other than 8/2), you could drive 5 sleep 5 drive 5 sleep 5 etc.

Patrick, if they would do away with the 14, there's no need for a split sleeper provision.

You would still be required to take ten off after 11 driving regardless of the existence of a 14 hour rule.

Before they did away with the split sleeper birth option (other than 8/2), you could drive 5 sleep 5 drive 5 sleep 5 etc.

Exactly. You weren't fighting a clock you have very little control over and you could manage your time and sleep more efficiently than some computer telling toy when you have to stop and when to go again. That's when time management was a real thing. Today's "time management" is the new version of cheating.

Robert B Dragon states

You weren't fighting a clock you have very little control over and you could manage your time and sleep more efficiently than some computer telling toy when you have to stop and when to go again

I drove OTR for just over a year, e-log exclusively. I always drove and slept when and as needed. The clock you "have no control over" is only the time p/u and deliveries.

Most non-reefer appointments are a several-hour window. I preferred to sleep 4pm to 2am, and almost never had to get up "early".

I see where you're coming from Errol but not being able to stop the clock when jammed up at a shipper for 5 or 6 hours while that clock ticks away on the 14 is unnerving. I have a good example of why paper is better, especially in regards to the 14 but I'll have to type it up in a bit.

Robert B Dragon states

You weren't fighting a clock you have very little control over and you could manage your time and sleep more efficiently than some computer telling toy when you have to stop and when to go again

I drove OTR for just over a year, e-log exclusively. I always drove and slept when and as needed. The clock you "have no control over" is only the time p/u and deliveries.

Most non-reefer appointments are a several-hour window. I preferred to sleep 4pm to 2am, and almost never had to get up "early".

Start early, drive 10.75h, end early. Best way to do it. You can drive as long as you are physically able to get to a truck stop 600+m away and have miles of space to safely back into a very wide spot without even coming close to another truck. 10h break, do it again the next day. Using this method, with properly timed loads, I pulled 3800 miles within my 70h clock legally on elogs.

I don't even remember the last time I've had to back in between 2 trucks at a truck stop; there's always an empty lot with plenty of straight back opportunities available using this method.

Robert B Dragon states

You weren't fighting a clock you have very little control over and you could manage your time and sleep more efficiently than some computer telling toy when you have to stop and when to go again

I drove OTR for just over a year, e-log exclusively. I always drove and slept when and as needed. The clock you "have no control over" is only the time p/u and deliveries.

Most non-reefer appointments are a several-hour window. I preferred to sleep 4pm to 2am, and almost never had to get up "early".

Start early, drive 10.75h, end early. Best way to do it. You can drive as long as you are physically able to get to a truck stop 600+m away and have miles of space to safely back into a very wide spot without even coming close to another truck. 10h break, do it again the next day. Using this method, with properly timed loads, I pulled 3800 miles within my 70h clock legally on elogs.

I don't even remember the last time I've had to back in between 2 trucks at a truck stop; there's always an empty lot with plenty of straight back opportunities available using this method.

Chaos, I like to run like you but as mentioned in my previous post. This really affects reefers and those going to ports.

Your start times mean nada when you're trapped at a dock watching your 14hr clock tick away.

***Not casting aspersions, but let's just say it was a lot easier to be creative with your start time on paper.

The rumor is.. Some drivers would park close to or at a customer.. Hit the dock, sit X amt of hrs, then go on duty when the dock was done.

It's good conversations like this that remind everyone that not everybody's schedule is the same. In flatbed and reefer , appointment times mean very little and when you unload and reload the same day while spending hours jammed up at each location, you'll burn that 14 long before you'll run out of drive time. If you didn't have the 14 in place, your clock would stop and you would still be able to get miles in rather than scampering and looking for somewhere to park.

There is a study out for changing up the sleeper berth differently. 7/3, 6-4, & 5-5 are all being looked at.

As I said in the post about how we would change the HOS. I think the 14 hr rule needs to be abolished. At the same time only tracking the drive time in a day would allow hourly guys to put in days that are towards being unsafe.

I personally think the best change would be to abolish the 14 hr rule, change 11hr driving to 12 hrs of on duty, change the sleeper to include 8/2, 7/3, & 6/4.

So after a driver accumulates 12hrs of on duty time they are required to take a 10 hr break. With using the sleeper berth provision, no one can complain they are being forced to run a certain way. There would be more than enough flexibility to suit a lot of different driving styles.

Definitely agree with ya Patrick regarding hourly drivers working to the point of being unsafe. I'm a local food service driver (still in training couple more weeks) and most days we put in 12 to 14 hours and only have maybe 2 to 3 hours driving. We're allowed to use the 16 hour extension once per week. Haven't had to use it yet and hoping I don't need to. Its hard enough concentrating after putting in 14. I'm sure if they did away with the 14 and only tracked drive time I would have alot more work thrown at me.

Start early, drive 10.75h, end early. Best way to do it. You can drive as long as you are physically able to get to a truck stop 600+m away and have miles of space to safely back into a very wide spot without even coming close to another truck. 10h break, do it again the next day. Using this method, with properly timed loads, I pulled 3800 miles within my 70h clock legally on elogs.

I don't even remember the last time I've had to back in between 2 trucks at a truck stop; there's always an empty lot with plenty of straight back opportunities available using this method.

Is there always a truck stop right there when you've finished your 10.75 hours of driving? Do you ever get slowed down by traffic congestion, road construction, etc. that keeps you from accomplishing as much as you'd hoped to in your 10 hour shift? Do you ever get held up at a shipper or receiver for several hours while your clock burns and get screwed out of half of your shift? You sound, to me, like the bureaucrats that come up with the regulations we have to live with. It sounds nice and easy to just drive 10.75 hours and go to sleep, but it doesn't work that way, at least for me. I like to find a truck stop so I can fuel, eat, shower & sleep on my break, then get up and get a cup of coffee for the road when I start another day. Of course, since my company uses TA/Petros to fuel, I have to find one of those if I hope to do everything I want to do on my break. I rarely find one when I've finished 10.75 hours. With elogs I'll either have to cut my driving time short, or violate my clock to make the next available truckstop. Either that or just pull over where ever I happen to be when my clock runs out, feel like crap for not taking a shower, not sleeping good, etc. How would we ever manage without the federal government managing our lives for us?

I totally agree with you

Serah, I think it is a silly argument at best. Nothing is changing about the rules - the regulations are still the same. In fact millions of drivers are using E-logs these days, and these imaginary problems that they discuss in this panel are virtually non-existent. The problem is that these folks want to keep cheating the system, and now they are not being allowed. So they want to claim that it is some sort of infringement of their liberties by Big Brother! It is a terrible thing (apparently) to have to play by the rules!

I am not real happy with the rules - In fact I think the fourteen hour rule is flat out dangerous, but I still must abide by it. They are just bitter because they will now have to abide by the rules. I love the way they choose their words. What should be called cheating and lying is called "catching up your log book!" That makes it sound really nice and legitimate, as if their legitimacy is being taken away from them by having to use E-logs. If they want to have a positive effect on the regulations, they should focus their efforts on changing the bad regulations, not on the way we are having to confirm that we are abiding by those rules. Our abuse of the log books is how we got ourselves into this problem in the first place. We brought this on ourselves, so now we want to cry foul? Shame on us!

Don't you just love the ending of the article. They let you know that those in attendance applauded - like that means it was a meaningful discussion, a bunch of truck drivers applauding!