Made A Costly Mistake

I made a costly mistake this morning. I moved my truck before I had completed my 8 hours in sleeper birth. So now I have to wait and complete another 10 hours reset. Since it's Monday I didn't expect to get into a door earlier than my scheduled appointment. But I checked in and they had an open door. I tried to move and keep my speed under 3 mph when I moved but the truck speed poped over 5mph and my ELD put me into drive mode and I was flagged for a HOS violation Dohhh. So now I'm sitting outside the distributor in northern Philadelphia not being able to to move until my clock resets again. My company just upgraded to the new EDL system and it's not as forgiving as the old one. I talked to our compliance manager and my fleet manager about it and they both told me that I'm not the first one to screw up. But lesson learned I'll make sure I plan better so I don't run into this problem again.

How far into the sleeper clock were you?

Don't sweat it, Chris. This will be a very common occurrence for the immediate time being.

5mph is painfully slowwwww.

If you are driving an automatic, it might help to put it in manual mode and keep it in first gear for driving slow.

What happens when you get a HOS violation? I got one last week for going over my 14. It happened five miles from where I was going to park. I then switched to PC to go park.

How far into the sleeper clock were you?

7hours and 37 minutes.... I was just parked down from the entrance to the distributor... Figured I could get in the lot before my EDL booted up. Fail!!!

7hours and 37 minutes

Ouch! So close lol.

before my EDL booted up.

Back when I started, we used to be able to gain several minutes each time the QC booted. Pull over, go off duty, reboot the qc, immediately roll again. Rinse repeat. Gain 5-7 minutes each time. Useful if you needed to stretch your clock just long enough to make it somewhere. Still illegal though.

They caught on to that though, and we can't do that anymore.

Chris, do you guys have PC (Personal Conveyance) available to you? I will use it to reposition my truck (if necessary) while "off duty." I can't vouch for the legality of it, but nobody gripes at me for doing it.

What happens when you get a HOS violation?

Nothing, if DOT doesn't check your logs in the next 8 days.

Your company however may give you a tongue lashing if this happens often.

I then switched to PC to go park.

That's an illegal use of PC, and they can nail you for it. It's better to take a ticket for an HOS violation on your 14 than one for falsifying logs.

Jim wants to know where HOS violations come from:

What happens when you get a HOS violation? I got one last week for going over my 14. It happened five miles from where I was going to park. I then switched to PC to go park.

Depends on the company. At Swift, you could have 2 violations in one month, then with number 3 you have a sit-down with the compliance person and a finger wag. You may also have to attend an HOS class.

I tried moving "s l o w l y" for three miles (flashers, curb lane, <3 mph, etc.). My Drive line also popped, and had to start the 10'er again.