On Wednesday I was offered a load picking up in Kentucky and delivering in South Carolina, 569 total miles. I quickly accepted.
At 1414 I was sent another message, “It’s a go”. So I started my clock with a pretrip inspection.
I made the pick up on time and drove straight through. I arrived at the delivery at 0218, three minutes before the original scheduled ETA of 0221.
When I got there a security guard told me I could not deliver, come back at 0600. I can’t do that I told him as my clock runs out at 0414.
I called dispatch and after about 45 minutes it was determined I would have to go to a nearby Walmart, do a 10 hour break and return at 1345 to make the delivery. I was sent a message with a new ETA of 1345. So, off to Walmart I go.
At 0815 I get a call wanting to know my exact location as they are sending a tow truck to take me back to the receiver. It turns out they wanted the freight at 0500. So, I explained that I would not have the hours to leave their property and I cannot stay on their property. I was told that the tow truck would take me back to Walmart, but I would have to pay them for the tow back.
Another truck was dispatched to take the load from me into the shipper. When the other truck arrived it was a two man team that had apparently just started. They watched in amazement as I used my pallet jack to transfer the freight, never once bothering to help.
It’s amazing to do everything right and to still have the company try and penalize me by telling me I have to pay for the tow back. I received no detention pay or pay for loading the other truck.
Note: My following comments are not intended as a slap but rather an observation from a legal standpoint. With that said:
Assuming that after receiving the "it a go" message at 14:14 hrs you logged your PTI from 14:15-14:30 hrs and down to the drive line immediately thereafter your 14hr rule shut you down for ten hours at 04:15hrs the following morning. Since you arrive at the delivery at 02:18hrs you had 1hr 57min left available on your 14hr rule. Based on an approximate time frame from when you first spoke with the guard, then dispatch 45 minutes later, and finally drove to a nearby Walmart parking lot, I would assume you logged into the sleeper berth at approximately 03:30hrs. After a ten hour break you would have legally been able to go back on duty at 13:30hrs. Correct?
Since the receiver now wanted the freight delivered at 05:00hrs and your carrier decided to transfer the load truck to truck, I assume this transfer occurred prior to 13:30hrs when you could legally be back on duty driving or not driving. Being that you were required to leave the sleeper berth, unlock and open your box, manually transfer the load from your truck to theirs as this two person team watched would you not by law be required to log that as "on duty not driving" or did you simply hide that? If you moved it your require by law to log it! How then were you able to show the freight transfer on your log as would be required to show change of custody of the freight and show your truck empty again for legal logging purposes? How does the carrier legally match the logging of both trucks and the custody of the freight from pickup to delivery if audited by DOT?
As a fellow driver and owner of a trucking business that operates according to the laws regulating the trucking business I must ask you the following:
1. Is your carrier in the business of breaking the law and asking their contractors (drivers) to do the same for the sake of servicing their customers? (I was once leased to them)
2. Are you in the habit at your carriers request of knowingly breaking the law to service their customers?
3. Is your carrier and/or their customer(s) worth risking the consequences of breaking the law to pickup or deliver a load?
Carriers do get audited and its these very types of situations that catch both the carrier and the driver(s) with their pants down which cost in the long run. The carrier's pockets are much deeper than yours when it comes to the fines. The carrier simply replaces you with another driver when you loose your business as a result of the fines or loose your CDL. You are expendable in their eyes and if you are willing to break the law for them, they will claim you made that choice not them if caught. Again are they or any carrier/customer worth it? Especially when you fulfilled the original contract agreement?
Although I'm sure done in total innocence, you have not only incriminated yourself but also your carrier, and possibly the other team by posting this information on a public forum read by everyone including law enforcement. I would not be suprised if it was reported to DOT/DMV. By providing such detail, days and times, DOT would have it easy auditing this run.
