I dont run Elogs and have no idea how you folks change duty status under different conditions. I completly understand the statement about false entrys so here is my Q's.
Once your stopped, brakes are set,nothing is moving in front or behind you. You lossened up your belt buckle and settle in to wait it out,,You go into a not driving status correct? What stops you from going up to line 1 for that time periord? At this point you are legally parked correct? Does the software on the QC change the duty status for you or do you do it manually?
I would think going into line 1 at this point would be the thing to do wheter it borders on legal or being legally illegally. The tracking device will show you stopped and thats all they will look for I would imagine.
We're on paper logs yet but no matter. Either way, if stopped in a traffic jam, like when the freeway is closed for an hour or more and nothing moves, I will log myself as driving because that's what I am doing, or as on-duty because that is what I am.
Yes, the brakes may be set. Yes, the truck may be motionless for an hour or more. Yes, the engine may even be turned off. But the reality is, I am in the driver's seat waiting for the traffic to start moving again and I have no idea when that may be. I am not off duty. I am not in the sleeper. I am at the controls, operating the vehicle. It's not about what the truck is doing, it's about what you are doing.
The EOBR we once had in our truck would automatically switch your duty status to on duty when the truck is stopped, and it would do so in a traffic jam. The driver has the ability to change that duty to status to sleeper or off duty, but the issue is the same. The truth is, the driver is in the seat, on duty or driving.
As a team driver, it would be easy to adapt to stalled traffic like this. The clock continues to tick but as it does, it ticks toward the next driver's shift.
----------------------
On a related topic, this stalled traffic scenario raises a question to which I do not know the answer.
There is in the HOS rules an "Adverse Driving Conditions" exception that drivers may use. I have never used it and am unfamiliar, but from what I hear, drivers use it when a traffic jam costs them time and they end up running out of hours because of it. I trust drivers who have used it can explain it better.
My question is, can the "Adverse Driving Conditions" exception be used concerning the 30 minute break or the beginning hour of a 34 hour restart?
Say that I am required to take a 30 minute break but it becomes impossible to do so because the truck is frozen in traffic. Can the Adverse Driving Conditions exception be applied such that I do not do a break at all but instead end my shift and turn the truck over to my co-driver when her normal start time comes?
Say that due to frozen traffic, I end up later parking the truck at 1:15 a.m., missing the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. window by just 15 minutes. Can I use the Adverse Driving Conditions exception to do a 1:15 a.m. to 5:15 a.m. period for restart purposes?
Just a bit more on this to round out the example:
I have been driving for six hours and plan to take a 30 minute break at the next rest area up the road. But a serious accident occurs up the road and the troopers close the freeway, stranding the truck in traffic while the wreck is cleared and investigation is completed.
An hour goes by, then two, then thirty minutes more. At that point, I have been driving or on duty for eight hours and 30 munutes and the required break has not been taken. It has not been taken because adverse driving conditions made it impossible to do so.
In such a case, can the Adverse Driving Conditions exception be applied? Did the rule makers allow for this when they mandated the 30 minute break?
As I read the rules, the Adverse Driving Conditions exception does not seem to apply to the 30 minute break and 34-hour restart. I may be wrong about this. As I said, I am unfamiliar with this HOS exception.
But if my reading of the rules is not incorrect, the truck-frozen-in-traffic scenario leaves the driver with two choices; (a) log it as you drive it and risk being fined up to $2,750 (driver) and up to $11,000 (carrier) for the violation if a scale cop discovers it in your next inspection; or (b) commit a felony and falsify one's log book to show that a 30 minute break was taken.
If there is a third option, I'd love to know what it is. The first two are not appealing at all.
EDIT: Thinking about this a bit more, the lesser evil might be to work your way onto the shoulder and park the truck and take your 30 minute break. That puts you at risk for a parking violation (unless you are with Landstar, in which case you would be fired instantly under their sitting duck policy -- no parking on shoulders or ramps). A parking violation is not a felony and is not penalized with fines of up to $2,750 (driver) and $11,000 (carrier).
