Unless you're running an older model truck with a mechanical fuel pump (some drivers don't even know what that is), your truck has a computer, and every computer uses some type of memory.  That memory can be downloaded, and an insurance company that is suing you is not going to hesitate to get a court order to download that information to use against you in court, and the court is going to let them do it. You have NO reasonable or legal argument to prevent it.

While the computer in your truck may not tell as much about your activity as a Qualcom or Pre Pass, even the most basic information will tell when the truck was moving versus sitting still based on the engines RPM and speed (which can be calculated based on your drivetrain specs), and how long it was running at an RPM above idle.  In other words, if you drove more than 11 hours one day, or you only shut down or idle your engine for 9 hours instead of 10 one night, and you are involved in an accident two days later, the computer that runs your truck's engine has a record of you driving longer than 11 hours, and has a record of how long the truck was shut off or how long it idled, and how long it didn't.

If you don't think this kind of information is already stored in your truck's CPU, just pull into a dealer's service department some day and ask one of the technicians what kind of information he can get from your truck's CPU.  While some techs may not have a clue what's there, the ones that are computer literate and know what they're doing can get enough information to prove whether or not you've been running legal for the last seven days... and that's enough to hang you in court even if you're not at fault in an accident.

Why? Because the way the law looks at it, if you had been running legal, your truck wouldn't have been in the location it was at when the accident occurred, and therefore the accident wouldn't have happened.

So, since YOU'RE a trucker, and YOU'RE subject to HOS regulations, if someone hits your truck for any reason, even if your truck is stopped (and possibly even parked in a parking lot), that accident becomes YOUR fault for for just being there when you weren't legally supposed to be.

Still want to do it by yourself and keep ignoring the fact we need to stand together?

Saying throw out the log books and let drivers set their own hours based on how they like to drive isn't going to work either. If we did that, loads would be shipped on a 24 hour clock and only the drivers that were stupid enough to run them self into the ground would get the load, whether they were an owner operator or a company driver. Our goal is to make this industry better, not worse, and throwing the log book out the window and making it a 'free for all' isn't better.

What most drivers do seem to agree on is that the 14 hour day is fine, but the 10 consecutive hour break is too long. While I have met a few drivers that say 11 hours is too long to drive, most drivers that have been driving for a few years feel it's not enough, and they want the option of driving 14 hours rather than the 11 hours driving and 3 hours on duty. Whether the majority of drivers want more or less driving time each day is something we'll have to see based on the emails we get here, but for now, I'll go with what the majority on the C.B. have said and suggest some changes to increase our driving time without cutting our own throats and not getting time to rest, shower, eat, or just relax each day.

We all know the 'On Duty' line on the log book is something we avoid like the plague. Who wants to log 6 hours sitting at a dock while they're being loaded when they could use three of those hours as driving time once they're rolling? Unless you're being paid to sit at a dock, you're costing yourself money by burning up your hours by logging over three hours on duty each day, and even then you're using up your 70 hours when you do log three hours on duty.

With a mandatory detention pay in place (See the section titled "Mandatory Detention Pay"), one possible solution that seems to satisfy most drivers I've spoken to is the following:

Some of the newer drivers don't understand this because they weren't driving before the 34 hour restart went into effect. The way we use to do it with the 10 on 8 off rule, and the way they want to make it again by eliminating the restart, you are constantly subject to going back seven days to update your log book, even if you do go home for the weekend. The only way to recoup your 70 hours is to take seven consecutive days off (maybe now some of you can see why we use to run at least 2 or 3 log books a month in the old days).

I'm not sure why this rule was created in the first place, but this rule never has made any sense, and if I had to guess, I'd say it was designed to prevent companies from forcing drivers to push themselves to the point of exhaustion.

While I support that idea, I still can't see how limiting a driver to 70 hours in eight days is suppose to accomplish it. If I push myself and I'm tired one day, once I shut down and take a break or get some sleep, I'm no longer tired and I'm ready to go again the next day. It doesn't take me seven days to recover from a hard day, and it has always seemed ridiculous to me to have to stop driving after 3 or 4 hours one day because that's all I can pick up from seven days ago, especially when I might pick up 11 hours or more tomorrow, so now I have to push myself again tomorrow because I couldn't work a full day today.

Like I said, it never has made any sense to me. Why not just abolish it altogether and start each day fresh after eight hours of rest? This would also eliminate the need for a 34 hour restart since there would no longer be a time limit on the previous seven days you worked.

A few people have raised the issue that the 70 hour rule forces companies to get drivers home more. I guess if you work regional it might, but I haven't met any long haul drivers yet that want to be home 34 hours every 70 hours they're out. If you run coast to coast, those 70 hours are used up pretty quick, and even if you're running out and  back, you can easily end up being stuck 300 miles from home and be out of hours for the day, or for two or three days. I guess some drivers will sit for 34 hours 300 miles from their front door, but I'm not one of them... and I haven't met any of them personally.

By demanding a mandatory detention pay (paid by every shipper/receiver so BOTH owner operators and company drivers have a level playing field at the docks), both the mandatory breaks during the day and the consecutive 8 hour break at night are compromises that will allow us all to try and reach a happy medium with the Hours Of Service rules that we can live with. By abolishing the 70 hour rule, you start each day fresh and don't have to worry about what you did last week.

As far as home time, if you're a company driver and your letting a company force you to run six or seven weeks without letting you go home, or only letting you stay home for 34 hours, I guess if you're afraid to tell your company a week or two in advance that you are going home and how long you're staying, then I don't know what to suggest to you other than find another company or re-think whether or not driving a truck is what you really want to do.

Like the old saying goes, "Truckin' ain't for sissys."  This may sound a little harsh, but if you can't stand up for yourself on your own home time issues and tell whoever you're driving for that you are a human being, and you have a life outside of that truck, then I doubt you'll really be willing to stand up and refuse to haul a particular shipper's freight, or park your truck if it's asked of you to help improve the industry.

You're suppose to be an adult, so act like one and stand up for yourself!  If your a company driver, and your company tries to force you to stay on the road 6 or 8 weeks against your will, or tells you that you can't stay home any longer than one or two days, then I suggest you either stand up for yourself and tell them 'No' or find another company. You'll be amazed how good you feel about yourself, and how much easier it will be to take a stand on other issues and help change this industry!

If you have a better solution than the ones presented here, write in and let me know what you would like to see changed. If you don't care, and you're going to run any way you want no matter what, I will remind you that even though the requirement for a 'Black Box' to be put in every truck has been put on hold for now, the technology already exists that can track your driving time and your break times, and it's already in most trucks.

It ain't like the old days folks, and it's going to get harder to beat the system,
so we might as well try to come up with a system we can all try to live with.

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