logbook a confirmation of speeding?

[larrybadger]

I have a question, is it possible/legal for a motor carrier enforcement officer to issue a speeding citation based on logbook entries? For (hypothetical) example, let's say your last entry in your logbook was a pickup at 2PM, and you delivered your load at 6PM at a location 320 miles away. Can an officer look at your logbook and see that 320 miles divided by 4 hours exceeds the maximum speed limit in his/her state/jurisdiction? It's just a question I had pop into my head.

Larry Badger
Plainwell, Michigan

 

[redytrk]

Yes I have heard on other forums this speeding violation can be written from your logs.I have tried to tell my co-driver this when she just writes down the name of a town she sees on an exit sign.Some times the town can be 50 miles away.This can throw your logs way off.So far we have allways passed the inspections.

 

[NoProblem]

They sure can. In some states, they can give you a speeding ticket AND a hefty ticket for log book violation.

 

[geo]

even if you don't get a ticket from any of ones that can give a ticket
companies match log's up every day and check the speed by hours and number of miles you drove and if they are two fast will give you alot of noise so what i always did was check my miles and speed so they never went over the speed so was always 52 mph no matter if i was in a 70 mph or 55 mph state now i no longer have to worry about that in a van

 

[raceman]

NoProbelm is right. There are a number of things that can be put together if they happen to be checking that at a scalehouse inspection. Depending on where you are they match logbooks to scale houses distances and your company can match satelite and logbooks and BOLs. That normally just gets you some letters in the mail though. If you are running freepass they can check the logic on that too. It has been my experince that all of that stuff is rare unless you are running numbers that are tagged for inspections. The company matches it up daily as someone mentioned above. When I ran for TriState, I had more letters from safety to sign than I had log pages. Well it wasnt that bad but close.The Owner who once went by RACEMAN but due to the outcome of the Nextel Cup, am now just 6.

 

[RichM]

I doubt if a local cop would know what to do but a DOT guy could write you up,but you could fight it as most speeding violations have to be proven by radar guns,following you etc.You could easily claim that you put the wrong city in your logbook.
Out west they used to check trucks at the port of entry stations.If you entered say Utah at 1600,then entered Nevada at 1900 you could be cited.

 

[Glen Rice]

Years ago I sent in my log showing leaving Cleveland Ohio, and 10 hours later I was in Los Angeles Ca. I showed 570 miles and never recieved a log violation. I did this to check the system, and never heard a word from Safety. Go figure! I was leased to Lanstar at the time..LOL. Oh yeah, the answer to your comment is yes they can cite you for an illegal log, not speeding, as they would have to witness you in the act. Happy New Year!

 

[geo]

ez pass watch out for that as they are able to track your speed very close to and toll tickets so i alway take a pit stop to bring time and speed down to so becareful out there and don't feed the bear's to much
if in old days before they change rule when i was on a run that was cutting it close every two hours took a 7 minute break as to keep em off balance\\


now i run posted speed limit go slow and drive everybody nut's
as i'm driving for fuel milage
and for the ones that speed in town still get there to light same time
they do

avg traffic light in hampton roads area is 3.5 min to run thru
lights are set for 35 to 40 mph so time it just right and most days
don't hit to many red lights
more people should take the bus in town
and spend about 60 mins a day waitting at red lights and stop sign
300 mins a week ,1500 mins a month at red lights and stop signs
so most of my year was waitting for the light to change green
but home every night

 

[NoProblem]

Yes Rich, I have heard the same thing.

Ever see the DOT at the toll booths doing random inspections of trucks? Toll tickets are always time stamped and they can write you up if they want - shut you down till you're legal as well.

A bit OT here but.....

As far as scale houses go, they don't keep track of time/distances between coops even if you use PrePass - at least thats what the PrePass contract states.

Scale house inspections are generally random - just luck of the draw, unless they notice some violation like a missing mud flap, light out etc. as you are passing through.

Specific carriers don't normally get tagged for inspection, an exception might be if the carrier miserably failed a recent DOT audit due to flagrant violations - and those results were published in every coop in the USA.

More often than not, scale house inspections won't even happen unless there are inspectors there that day or theres some seriously obvious violation that warrants the scale master closing the scales to do an inspection.

Now, when I was pulling freight for Swift, Swift had so many flagrant violations that the DOT gave them something like 2 months to get their act together - well, 2 months later they got re-audited, and again failed miserably.

As a result, Swift's saftey dept. put out the memo to all drivers about a dozen times to be prepared for frequent random and coop DOT inspections - but I never got pulled in, neither did any other Swift driver I spoke with after that.....I think it was just a scare tactic - and it didn't work because the next year's audit was even worse.

Fueling is one thing that needs to be watched though, the fuel receipts never have a time stamp but they do have the date.

If DOT wants, they can check your actual fueling time to compare with log book times, but they do not normally go that deep without a reason - unless maybe if you are involved in an accident.

Happy New Year!

 

[raceman]

Just to finish up on this from a couple of things that happened to me personally and some recent info from some recent DOT interaction. I have been working on a safety program as a result of establishing DOT numbers and such as wekk as some things I have been working with a freind of mine in the IRP office. Out on 74 I was coming from Iowa to Cincinnati and I had a full inspection at the Ill/In line, I think that is where it was, the female officer there told me the inspections were pretty much random but they did have numbers to hit. On that stretch of highway there are a number of scales. There was a problem with my log in that I had moved from my drop off to a place to sleep without logging it. No big deal but in that converstion it was explained to me that in that situation if they need to they can figure the time between scales.That is a stretch to be sure but with a pass I am sure they can get you. As for the DOT guy the information I got is there are folks that are watched for and it is not always the big guys. Is this true? I have no idea. Just passing along what I was told.

The Owner who once went by RACEMAN but due to the outcome of the Nextel Cup, am now just 6.

 

[redytrk]

what i always did was check
>my miles and speed so they never went over the speed so was
>always 52 mph
Company log auditors also give greif if speed averages do not vary over a period of time. In my companys case they run up a red flag if your speed average in a five day period does not excede 1.5 MPH.
They claim the DOT views this a evidance that you sat down at the breakfast table and filled out your log.
Those co. audits are a pain in the butt,still I would rather learn from them than a DOT officer,with a fine too boot.

 

[Crazynuff]

I once drove for a company driving Midwest regional and was cited by the safety manager for speeding because my average m.p.h. was 66 . I told him all the states I drove in that day had a 70 m.p.h. limit . No matter . I wasn't to average over 65 m.p. h. . O.K. what about states with a 55 m.p.h. truck limit . What could I average there ? 65 ! O.K. . I did that often and never heard a word . In fact when I first started driving for that company and complained of difficulty making appointments in 55 m.p.h. states the owner told me " You don't actually drive just 55 do you ? Don't you get passed a lot ? You can drive at least 63 and they won't bother you ." I also once complained that a customer had overloaded me by 2,000 lbs. and refused to take any of the load off . Dispatch rattled off a route to miss scales . They obviously were pretty experienced at this . I didn't stay there long .

 

[nightcreacher]

its called log falsifacation