Daily log book for iphone
- Thread starter bigshow345
- Start date
bigshow345
Seasoned Expediter
I just wonder if it would be legal ya know what I mean
No software program log book is a legal substitute for a hand written log. You can use one as a logbook but to make it legal you must still be able to print out a copy at the end of each day and hand sign it (your signature is what makes it a legal document). Same for the inspection reports.
The only legal electronic log is the EOBR as installed by your carrier, and even then in order to make it truly legal I believe you must have the ability to present printed, faxed or emailed copies to any enforcement authority upon request.
The only legal electronic log is the EOBR as installed by your carrier, and even then in order to make it truly legal I believe you must have the ability to present printed, faxed or emailed copies to any enforcement authority upon request.
bigshow345
Seasoned Expediter
I did some more digging on the app and you can email it to an address and you can print it off and sign it. Pretty sweet I might have to get a printer for my truck (Thermal paper printer)
Nice , but it doesn't give info on truck movement like EOBR's do . When EOBR's are made mandatory this app will lose its usefulness . For those of you not aware of it the EOBR requirement will probably come from a passing of a Highway Bill before the FMCSA will require it. 5 trucking companies back EOBR legislation | Trucking Magazine Covering Business News, Fleet Management, Technology, and Equipment . I have to laugh when I see U.S. Xpress and Schneider pushing for it . Wait until they see how much time they lose when their trucks slow down and comply with 55 and 60 m.p.h. speed limits . Their drivers egos are really going to suffer when they lose their only opportunity to pass anybody .
CharlesD
Expert Expediter
What are those kinds of requirements going to mean for small companies like us? I don't think the government is going to be giving away those devices and we're watching every dime to try to keep overhead at an absolute minimum so we can still pay drivers a halfway decent rate and still make a profit. My main competitive edge against the larger carriers is lower overhead and the fact that my owner/operators don't have all the deductions that people at the larger companies have. If EOBRs are mandated and I'm not exactly carrying a huge reserve of money for purchasing unnecessary equipment like that, I have to pass that cost on to the owner operators and I don't exactly like that option that much either. The larger carriers will be a bit better positioned to comply with this than smaller carriers. I'm trying to build up a big enough reserve to eventually get off of factoring and then things like this start coming down the pike.
BigRed32771
Expert Expediter
If you know, or go back and study, the history of the "Great Depression" you will recognize a familiar pattern. The government "partners" with big businesses to develop rules for their particular industries, rules which invariably benefit the big companies and hurt the smaller ones because of the costs or difficulty of compliance. It is an old game which, in the name of fairness and level playing fields, destroys competition and ultimately drives up prices for consumers while eliminating the small businesses which are supposed to be helped. Someone of a suspicious mind might think that a government bent on control of all aspects of a society and its economy would have a vested interest in pushing all the players into as few organizations as possible for ease of control.
Your analysis of this dynamic is correct but you need to include labor unions too. It's not just big business that uses its influence in government to make rules that benefit it. Any organization that has the power to shape policy does the same. Notice just one union example that is in play right now in the ports in California. The Teamsters are doing everything in their power to make it illegal for self-employed people to haul freight in and out of the ports. And this is a safety or environmental thing? I don't think so.
I would agree that these things are politically driven. The larger carriers will get subsidized by the government and everyone else will have to buy their own and pay for their large competitors through taxes.
Like the others have said, this has gone on for quite some time in a variety of industries.
Like the others have said, this has gone on for quite some time in a variety of industries.
True but no administration has cut the throats of union supporters like the Obama administration .
USPS workers are made up of several unions but it didn't take Obama long to say $9 billion could be saved by cutting their benefits . His "Buy American " campaign promises didn't last long once he was in office . New UAW workers now get a starting pay half what the former starting pay was .
Speaking of the Teamsters , their over $2 million in political contributions to key Democrats was the main reason HOS was " reviewed " However , I doubt the Teamsters get their 10 hour driving limit and elimination of the 34 hour restart .
greg334
Veteran Expediter
The app may not be all lost, there are things that are in the EOBR regs that are easily covered with simple technology use in conjunction with a phone app that allows compliance to happen a lot easier.
The problem is mis-information by the companies who are actually pushing the technology onto the industry are the ones who have a hand in writing the regulations through back door channels.
Remember that this is just like other DOT technical issue, there has been no real approval system setup to approve an EOBR, it is a self-certified system.
The DOT has also issued a policy change to the expand the use of records to track drivers, which include phones and phone records.
I don't doubt that the small carriers will see an inexpensive solution some time soon as the same for those who are using vehicles that can't be retrofitted with the communications system to use the present systems.
The problem is mis-information by the companies who are actually pushing the technology onto the industry are the ones who have a hand in writing the regulations through back door channels.
Remember that this is just like other DOT technical issue, there has been no real approval system setup to approve an EOBR, it is a self-certified system.
The DOT has also issued a policy change to the expand the use of records to track drivers, which include phones and phone records.
I don't doubt that the small carriers will see an inexpensive solution some time soon as the same for those who are using vehicles that can't be retrofitted with the communications system to use the present systems.
I agree 100%!
Far as I know, the FMCSA wants to implement it in the carriers with a 10% violation of HOS regulations, and not all carriers across the board. But the Bill from Congress would make it universal. The five companies in the supporting coalition (J.B. Hunt, Knight, Maverick, Schneider and U.S. Xpress Enterprise) all say the right feel-good things about safety and all that, but the follow-up question to them is never asked, that of, "Why don't you have this in all of your trucks already? Why wait for legislation to tell you to do it?"
It's somewhat similar to the so far 111 companies exempted from Obamacare because it's too expensive. The favorites will get and the rest will get taken.
jrcarroll
Expert Expediter
Now go and look who is and who is not a member of ATA!
These changes are brought up by members of the ATA and other groups. Big brother always listens to the ones who
gives the most to their (govment) causes......
