i drive a cargo van for an owner why would they require me to keep logs if its not manditory to keep them in this state if i do keep a log how can i legally keep one when the rules for vans are different than straight trucks and semis. was told if i fail to submit logs to the owner i would be terminated
logs
- Thread starter wagner555
- Start date
Maybe the owner wants to have a safety margin. In case of an accident you have the logs to show your a compliant commercial driver. As an expediter you'll likely be crossing state lines and a log will come into play in some states. Rules are different in different places and in this business most get to visit almost all jurisdictions. So cover ur butt and follow the rules.
Rob
Rob
The logs also help document the mileage in each state which might come in handy for accounting purposes as well as proving time on the road for per diem reasons. As mentioned, it also might provide protection in the event of an incident. Logs are very very little work as long as they are kept up continuously so it shouldn't be much of a hardship.
log book
my owner has me keep a log book i drive an expedited van the way we run how can you keep a legal log sometimes i have 2 short hauls and a long one in one day if i turn one down my owner gets upset she says then logs are to make sure im getting enough sleep she knows im not so what is the reason she has to have these logs she says i can fudge them and not sign them as long as i turn them i i just dont understand
my owner has me keep a log book i drive an expedited van the way we run how can you keep a legal log sometimes i have 2 short hauls and a long one in one day if i turn one down my owner gets upset she says then logs are to make sure im getting enough sleep she knows im not so what is the reason she has to have these logs she says i can fudge them and not sign them as long as i turn them i i just dont understand
PyleDriver
Not a Member
Why ask here ?
Why not just call the person who pays you, owns the vehicle....ya know..... the guy who hired you.
Seems like that would be the most sensible thing to do.
Why not just call the person who pays you, owns the vehicle....ya know..... the guy who hired you.
Seems like that would be the most sensible thing to do.
Re: log book
"In case of an accident you have the logs to show your a compliant commercial driver."
I dunno. Van drivers aren't CMV drivers, and since the vehicle nor the driver are regulated, "compliant" doesn't enter into it. There's nothing to be compliant with insofar as HoS is concerned. If the owner wants logs, to somehow cover the owner's butt in case of an accident, that's a fallacy because it won't. If anything, it could make the owner complicit in an accident.
"The logs also help document the mileage in each state which might come in handy for accounting purposes as well as proving time on the road for per diem reasons."
The number of miles an unregulated cargo van spends in each state is irrelevant for accounting purposes, as there is no fuel tax levied on non-commercial vehicles. The BOLs provide more than enough proof for the per diem.
I have a feeling that the owner wants you to log "just because", and for no other reason. There is simply no valid reason to require an unregulated driver to log. If she wants you to log in order to keep tabs on your sleep or you daily activities, that comes perilously close to the "ways and means" of doing your job, and puts you in the category of an employee, and all of the things that come with it that the owner would likely not wish to get in to.
"was told if i fail to submit logs to the owner i would be terminated"
Oh, well, then you are an employee. Do they pay you and treat you as an employee, or do they try to tell you that you are an independent contractor? If they pay you by the mile, then what you are doing when not driving or not under a load is none of their business, and you shouldn't have to account for it by logging. The only reason to log your hours of service is to satisfy the regulated requirements of the FMCSA, of which you are not subject to, or because someone wants to keep tabs on what you are doing both while you are driving and while you are on your own time.
"she says i can fudge them and not sign them as long as i turn them i i just dont understand"
Exactly. If there is a valid reason for doing it, there should be no problem in explaining in such a manner that you could understand. If I drove for an owner who wanted me to log, since it would then apparently be a requirement of the job, I'd want a full accounting of why the logs are necessary. "Because I said so" would have me walking in a heartbeat. You can't properly do you job if you don't know the reasons behind what you are being asked to do, especially if you are an independent contractor being asked to comply with things outside the scope of an independent contractor.
"In case of an accident you have the logs to show your a compliant commercial driver."
I dunno. Van drivers aren't CMV drivers, and since the vehicle nor the driver are regulated, "compliant" doesn't enter into it. There's nothing to be compliant with insofar as HoS is concerned. If the owner wants logs, to somehow cover the owner's butt in case of an accident, that's a fallacy because it won't. If anything, it could make the owner complicit in an accident.
"The logs also help document the mileage in each state which might come in handy for accounting purposes as well as proving time on the road for per diem reasons."
The number of miles an unregulated cargo van spends in each state is irrelevant for accounting purposes, as there is no fuel tax levied on non-commercial vehicles. The BOLs provide more than enough proof for the per diem.
I have a feeling that the owner wants you to log "just because", and for no other reason. There is simply no valid reason to require an unregulated driver to log. If she wants you to log in order to keep tabs on your sleep or you daily activities, that comes perilously close to the "ways and means" of doing your job, and puts you in the category of an employee, and all of the things that come with it that the owner would likely not wish to get in to.
"was told if i fail to submit logs to the owner i would be terminated"
Oh, well, then you are an employee. Do they pay you and treat you as an employee, or do they try to tell you that you are an independent contractor? If they pay you by the mile, then what you are doing when not driving or not under a load is none of their business, and you shouldn't have to account for it by logging. The only reason to log your hours of service is to satisfy the regulated requirements of the FMCSA, of which you are not subject to, or because someone wants to keep tabs on what you are doing both while you are driving and while you are on your own time.
"she says i can fudge them and not sign them as long as i turn them i i just dont understand"
Exactly. If there is a valid reason for doing it, there should be no problem in explaining in such a manner that you could understand. If I drove for an owner who wanted me to log, since it would then apparently be a requirement of the job, I'd want a full accounting of why the logs are necessary. "Because I said so" would have me walking in a heartbeat. You can't properly do you job if you don't know the reasons behind what you are being asked to do, especially if you are an independent contractor being asked to comply with things outside the scope of an independent contractor.
guido4475
Not a Member
Re: log book
I was the first actual van my company leased.Their insurance company wants me to keep logs, not them. I think in a van, running hard, it could get someone in trouble. But as I learned in the previous post to this thread, I will not be signing on the like anymore.
I was the first actual van my company leased.Their insurance company wants me to keep logs, not them. I think in a van, running hard, it could get someone in trouble. But as I learned in the previous post to this thread, I will not be signing on the like anymore.