Elogs Question

I am looking for a good elogs app that I can use for myself. The company I work for is not helpful in keeping up on the need for logs I am doing this for my own protection as I want to keep my license clean for when I get a commercial license. Any ideas for me?

Do you specifically need an e log? Paper logs aren't difficult to keep up with and once you get used to them don't take long to reconcile at the end of each day. With an e log app, you'll want to make sure it's accepted by DOT and I think when using the apps on a personal level, you still have to print out the reports and have the previous 8 days, just as with paper. I might be wrong about that but I could have sworn I read that somewhere in a similar discussion.

One of the companies I am looking at seems to do paper logs, so I looked into an e-log as well. The one I have focused on is the Big Road Logbook app. Here's what I know:

- E-logs keep your hours looking clean. There is no "human error" involved whether your lines are hard to decipher or pencil marks etc. Having clean logs (and clean cab for that matter) gives a better impression to the DOT Officer.

- Though the suggestion to DOT officers is to consider e-logs as legal, you must be able to present printed logs if asked for them. The officer also must give you a reasonable amount of time to print them off. This means you will need a working printer in your truck. To be on the safe side, it is recommended to print off the last days log every day in the morning if you go this route. Keep your printed logs orderly and able to present easily.

- Though this is debated, some people say you should use the elog on a device with GPS, and the GPS on will be favorable to some DOT officers because it should track the actual miles you have driven. Some truckers say this has limited the request to see paper printouts.

I guess you could transfer your elogs by hand to paper, but you will want to have clean logs on paper to truly be legal. -

Try Keep Truckin Electronic Logs

One thing to be careful about on paper logs, we're human and make mistakes. If you have an errant line and scratch it out and initial the mistake, you're fine. If your paper logs are so neat and tidy that they look as if they were done on a drafting table, they will look suspect and depending on the person reviewing them, you could open the door to more questions. My paper logs are proper and fairly neat but I do make the occasional mistake and it's expected. I actually had a DOT officer tell me don't worry about a mistake here or there unless obviously the mistake is a violation. He would rather see an occasional error rather than perfection because perfection seemed phony to him and as he would pry more, his instincts were right.

The company I work for has been trying out a tablet based e log that has been really problematic and will eventually be replaced with another one to try out. In the meantime, mine is doing all kinds of crazy things so I just run paper.

Try Keep Truckin Electronic Logs

Pretty decent looking app. No line 5 on it though (even though you wouldn't see "Line 5" in a company truck).

Rick

OK I hate to be the one to point this out but it's gotta be... elogs cant be perfect Cuz it's built by humans so there's always human error... Just like computers if there's a bug it's cuz a human made it and we all know that humans ain't perfect.... So I say try to make your paper log as good as you can and roll with it....

Try Keep Truckin Electronic Logs

The Keep Truckin app is my choice. It has a provision from your cell phone/tablet to email or fax copies for printing, supposedly to the DOT Officer's office of choice - no charge!

You may also access the logs form a regular computer and download & print as needed. If also includes lots of quotations from laws saying elogs are legal.

Hey, keep something in mind here too.......anything you have can potentially be used against you. If you're running for a company with paper logs and you decide to keep your own version of elogs to impress the officers, they're going to want to see both sets of logs if they're aware of them. If the two sets don't match, accidentally or otherwise, you could be in for a very long day. They could easily interpret that as falsifying your logs.

Back in the day a lot of drivers used to run two (or maybe three) sets of paper logs. It was the only way you could run 5,000 miles a week and show legal logs. Of course from time to time a driver would somehow get busted for this. But not usually. That's just how things were done back then.

But today they are deadly serious about this kinda thing so just be aware of the potential unintended consequences of keeping two separate sets of logs. In fact, let me go one step further and say don't do it. If your company is running paper logs, good for you. That's all you'll need. Don't mess with the elogs. And the same if you're on elogs - leave it at that. Don't make a separate paper version. Make sure you can print out the elogs on demand and you're good to go.

Now keep in mind.....I've never used elogs so I could be unfamiliar with a company policy or law regarding two sets of logs. If I'm missing something here let me know. Otherwise it seems prudent to keep only one set of logs. Don't try to mirror two sets.

Hey, keep something in mind here too.......anything you have can potentially be used against you. If you're running for a company with paper logs and you decide to keep your own version of elogs to impress the officers, they're going to want to see both sets of logs if they're aware of them. If the two sets don't match, accidentally or otherwise, you could be in for a very long day. They could easily interpret that as falsifying your logs.

Back in the day a lot of drivers used to run two (or maybe three) sets of paper logs. It was the only way you could run 5,000 miles a week and show legal logs. Of course from time to time a driver would somehow get busted for this. But not usually. That's just how things were done back then.

But today they are deadly serious about this kinda thing so just be aware of the potential unintended consequences of keeping two separate sets of logs. In fact, let me go one step further and say don't do it. If your company is running paper logs, good for you. That's all you'll need. Don't mess with the elogs. And the same if you're on elogs - leave it at that. Don't make a separate paper version. Make sure you can print out the elogs on demand and you're good to go.

Now keep in mind.....I've never used elogs so I could be unfamiliar with a company policy or law regarding two sets of logs. If I'm missing something here let me know. Otherwise it seems prudent to keep only one set of logs. Don't try to mirror two sets.

The only thing I'm aware of is that when switching from paper to e logs is that for the first 30 days, the log auditor with your company can send a paper with a driver stating that the driver is in training which allows for keeping a paper backup in case of a problem with the e log or legitimate training mistake might have been made. You're right though about multiple paper logs though, don't do it, it's a good way to geta hefty fine and possibly lose your job.