EOBR for Solo Drivers

[layoutshooter]

Why thank the DOT? If the company has instituted the EOBR, then it is the company, not the DOT.

BUT here is something from a solo without line 5, it takes a lot of planning to get it right. Turn down the load, adjust the times for the delivery (have done this a bit) or move.

If the DOT was not pushing this so hard it would go away. If I remember correctly they now REQUIRE around 10% of all carriers to have these things and soon all will be required. Many carriers are installing this out of fear. Some to control their drivers.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I thought they were after companies 50 trucks or more? the cheaters will have to go to smaller carriers...

How would say transporter comply? a one man pony show...

 

[truckblue]

As a solo driver I am having alot of issues with the new EOBR. I first thought this is great, no more pens and rulers. But after three months this thing is causing me to lose money. Just wondering who else is having issues with EOBR. Just one example to get this started: I had a load that was to load at 16:30. It was 2 two hours to pickup.(start 14 hr.clock) Got held up at shipper. Got out at 19:30. Got to delevery at 3:30 a.m. Had to turn down a load that that picked up 30 min. away because I was out of hours and was waiting till for the reset. This is just one example. I have dozens.

I left a big company with elogs driving solo straight truck. I had a couple of times that I got to a delivery, no one could unload me 'till the morning. Meanwhile, my 14 hr clock ran out. Try moving truck 100' to loading dock....as soon as wheels turn, I'm in violation. Line 5 only ok after 10 hr break, and not under load or pre dispatched.

 

[greg334]

Well Layout, it is a company thing. FedEx made the move to better allocate resources and reduce costs. What better way than to have logs transmitted at the end of the work day into the database while having a tighter control over where the trucks are and how many hours they have. It, for all intent and purpose is a great move for the company but some seem to think they need to have 'freedoms' to do the vacation thing or play camper.

 

[layoutshooter]

Well Layout, it is a company thing. FedEx made the move to better allocate resources and reduce costs. What better way than to have logs transmitted at the end of the work day into the database while having a tighter control over where the trucks are and how many hours they have. It, for all intent and purpose is a great move for the company but some seem to think they need to have 'freedoms' to do the vacation thing or play camper.

They know where I am at with the clink. My logs are almost always 100% Only the odd 1 or 2 mistakes a year. They may look at it as the "vacation" thing, I look at it as big brother not trusting a darn thing I do in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. I am capable of managing my hours. I am capable of managing my logs. I have NO need of an electronic babysitter. I grew up YEARS ago. All this does is tick of law abiding citizens. I am a big boy and expect to be treated as such. Treat me with disrespect and treat me like a kid and that is EXACTLY what you get. I ALWAYS respond in kind.

 

[greg334]

But Layout, it really doesn't matter how you are with record keeping or how professional you are.

The problem is not with just FedEx (even though they are bad enough), it is a problem with a lot of companies that have this attitude that you are all children and they know better - all the time.

When was the last time you got a dispatcher telling you "no we won't do that for you? Didn't you have one tell you something about a safe haven?

Normally that should be handled by firing the person who told you anything about not providing info on a safe haven, no exceptions but how often does that happen?

You know I had a dispatcher tell me I can't take an hour rest on a 800 mile load and she never even got a reprimand for her comment.

How many companies hire from the contractor's pool?

Not many but this is their best asset, the contractor who can help them deal with these issues and understand Out of Hours means the driver can't move for 10 hours.

How many hire people off the street?

How poorly trained are these people to begin with?

You see what I am getting at?

Big brother is more like Big Father with a ruler.

 

[layoutshooter]

Well, then they are going to have another "problem child". I will react as I am treated. Show me that I am not trusted, I don't trust in return. Simple. The real problem is that they are just plain scared of the government and lack the stones to say no. SO, they treat us like little kids.

 

[AMonger]

They know where I am at with the clink. My logs are almost always 100% Only the odd 1 or 2 mistakes a year. They may look at it as the "vacation" thing, I look at it as big brother not trusting a darn thing I do in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. I am capable of managing my hours. I am capable of managing my logs. I have NO need of an electronic babysitter. I grew up YEARS ago. All this does is tick of law abiding citizens. I am a big boy and expect to be treated as such. Treat me with disrespect and treat me like a kid and that is EXACTLY what you get. I ALWAYS respond in kind.

How is that different than any other law, say, gun laws in particular? You might be completely responsible, but others aren't, so guess what happens... Society is always lowered to the lowest common denominator.

 

[ozoner]

I wonder what the mandatory requirement from a carrier that requires an owner/operator to have an EOBR in the truck would do to the issue of whether an expediter is truly an independent operator or might instead be considered an employee? If the carrier can exert control over how and when the owner/operator can move his truck any distance, what would the lawyers and courts have to say? Would that be enough additional justification to the courts to decide that an independent owner/operator is technically an employee?

 

[LDB]

Technically they don't have control over how/when the truck can be moved. They do have immediate notification by satellite if/when it's moved of course but the guy with the keys in his hands still controls the movement.

 

[greg334]

The employee/contractor thing has nothing to do with the movement of the truck or EOBRs. Even line 5/personal use does not even come into play.

As Leo pointed out, technically "they don't have control over how/when the truck can be moved" but they do have control over how they can use you and actually can tell you to relocate if they need you or not to move out of an area. Their argument can simply be that you are not being contracted to make business decisions but to provide a service to generate revenue, so telling you to go to point B instead of point A or telling you to stick around point C is justified.

 

[geo]

i guest this all started when wrener ask dot to let them go with paperless logs and that started about 10 years ago
when new rules were getting ready to come into effect about 6 , month before i try running on 14 hour rules to see how it would effect a goverment contract we were working on and found out that we would have to have one truck come in 2 hours later as not to run over 14 hour rules

so that is when decide to get out of my western star and go with a sprinter van and could not be happier

 

[roadeyes]

The reason we will all soon have EOBR's is the same reason we now have a speed limiter law in Ontario. To level the playing field, plain and simple. It was the trucking companies, not the government that pushed for this to a) save fuel (b) limit the damage to their CVOR's due to speeding infractions and (C) get discounts from their insurance companies.
Many fleets had already voluntarily limited the speeds on their trucks for a number of years and when they saw the savings, decided that everyone should be regulated so as no one company could provide "faster service" so to speak and gain an edge.

If everyone drives at the same speed, and eveyone runs legal with EOBR's, then the big trucking companies which pay their respective associations to lobby the government for them will have put an end to the small independant operator or small fleets who can run more efficiently (albeit possibly unlawfully) than they can.

Not saying it's right or wrong, it just is.

Layout and others, you can whine and cry and stamp your feet all you want to about it, but I'm sure you can see the day when it will be mandatory for everyone and the playing field will be level once again. And once again this will end up being mandatory due to the big players taking the initiative to install the EOBR's and then when they see how well it works for them, will lobby to make it law so no one company will have the advantage.

Yes it will be the government that will finally make it law but
these restrictions have come about not because of the government not trusting us, but due to the fact that the trucking companies don't trust each other!