Ive been deiving for about 8 months and i got a log question just because im curious. I work for a mega company and log everyday and i can buy 15-30 min here and there if needed, but here on the site theres alopt of talk of legal and illegal. If i understand what i read here do the smaller companies not care about the fed laws putting unrealistic time goals on the drivers? Or is it the drivers just wasting time until they have to lie on the logs. Working for the company i work for i cant see why i would have to lie on the logs. as i write this im thinking maybe it is to save time on your 70?? thanks for the help BJS

 

Well, often hot logging is a result of wasted time. But it generally isn't a matter of drivers goofing off. Probably the single biggest impetus for hot logs is the shipper. Shipper says that 500 mile run has to be delivered AM tomorrow, then decides to take 8 hours to load you. And the driver already had a 150 mile deadhead that morning to get to the shipper. So, with a few quick flicks of the magic pencil, that 8 hour load time becomes a 10 hour break and it's on down the road.

The other major incidence is a matter of time management on paper. A lot of the small companies I've worked for dispatch on a 5-600 mile a day average. If you want to hit that target and not trash your 11 or 70, you pretty much have to log on the speed limit regardless of how many hours you actually drove. Log based on speed limits and all of those traffic jams, construction zones, rest breaks, toll booths and such mysteriously disappear.

Another common event is the percentage driver angle. When you get paid on percentage, the quicker you turn the load the better. If you can jack the books a bit and deliver early, thats more money in your pocket. This works for CPM drivers as well, but is generally more profitable in the percentage world. Especially in the case of a bum load. Getting cheap freight off of the wagon is always priority one, and the sooner the better. In the CPM world, who cares, you get paid the same regardless of the linehaul rate.

On the other hand, if you want to talk full tilt outlaw, well then you are looking at trying to hit impossible delivery times, takes a lot of overheating the log books, and I do mean books as you'll have more than one. There are brokers out there that will sell loads at 8-900 miles a day average, and there are companies that will run them. What it comes down to is solo drivers running team loads. It's crazy at best, and not nearly as common as it once was. But it still occurs, especially in the produce business. What generally happens is a driver runs the snot out of the load, pushing pretty much nonstop, BS's the books just enough to get past DOT in an emergency, and when he hits the delivery he rolls up to a truckstop and sits until "his books catch up with him."

 

Who really does it "BY THE BOOK"? I try to as close as I can but I have gone back a day and redid it to get another half hour or hour. We don;t have a problem getting loads and backhauls delivered in the allotted time but I have run a out of hours 90 miles from home. Who is gonna sit and wait for that? Not me.

 

I can't speak first hand, as my motto was always "I run a legal log, I turn in a legal log, sometimes they are even the same piece of paper."

But from reading this board, it would seem that there are a few companies where you can do nothing but run legal. Companies that appear to be checking logs against the Qualcomm and fuel receipts. I've seen guys speak of instances where they had to move off of a dock, 100 yards to a parking area at the shipper and had to log it as driving or they would be busted on their logs. Seems a bit extreme to me, but if you check out some of the company threads (Crete/Shaffer come to mind) you'll see what I am talking about.

 

The answer to your question(s) is: Yes, sometimes.

There are many reason why drivers lie on their log books. Anything and everything from poor time management, unrealistic schedules, unforeseen delays, greed, misc personal reasons, etc.

There are companies of all sizes that care about running legal and likewise there are those who only pay it lip service.

 

Well I drove for Swift, the most mega of the mega carriers, and even with qualcomm, commdata, receipts, and what have yous, the computer is only going to look at the actual hours log that it is legal, and your fueling times. Can they match it to your qualcomm, sure, but they usually will not unless you send up some sort of red flag. Now often I would try to run as legal as possible anyway, but in reality just about every day I technically was not. Very rare though did I ever log anything extreme. Companies like Werner however with their all electronic logging, you cannot get away with nothing. For the sake of legality, you should log legally, but at the same time you will not make as much money if you do log legally. The reality of it is the current system is setup to punish you if you do it legal, and reward you if you do it illegally.

I would have to say, if you do not currently use or understand the 8 and 2 split, you should really get to learn and understand it, as though it is not perfect, it can really help you out alot with your log books if you are going up against a crunch. I used it quite often.

 

Bingo. :sad:

 

i usually log it as i do it.
however, say i have a day ahead of me, and i know i have time to get home with the miles ahead of me, say 680.
i basically won't start my log until i get home.
i keep notes on my times, and i don't go over my alotted miles. but i may have to stretch teh 14 a bit if i decide to stop to do some business.
I have no intention of taking my 10 within 30 miles of my house :/

 

Most if not all trucking companies keep their fingers

crossed that and accident does'nt occur out here...

Yet they also float about in a cloud

of plausible denial should an accident occur and 'Rules' are

brought into question.

They know very well how life out here is.

Its up to the driver to keep the truck profitable for himself

and not kill somebody on the road.

 

Failing to log "legally" and actually as you are doing it....is to leave yourself open to "financial and personal disaster". No, you may not make as much money running legally as you might make running hot, or illegally. So what?

If you cannot make sufficient money running legally, then you need to do one of two things...find an employer who will compensate you well enough to satisfy you financially for running legal, or find another career field. If your mindset is geared to "getting over on, or beating the system"....then you are in the stages of beginning to take the long walk off the short pier and wearing concrete overshoes.

If you think you are getting away with anything...please permit me to dispel that notion. Right this very minute there are probably more than just a couple of "former drivers" sitting in prison or at home shaking their heads in wonder or sadness....their lives and their families lives have been destroyed financially....all because the driver "couldn't make enough running legal". So, the driver cheats on the book. Has an accident, complete log audits are done for the past 180 days, per the law...the company audits, but then the other side employs the auditor, and depending on the circumstances...the DOT does also....and if examples of cheating appear...that can be sold to the jury in a courtroom, be it a criminal or civil issue....its all done but the crying.

If you have an accident, and there is a fatality, and its found that you have cheated on your logbook...you are more than likely going to prison for vehicular homicide, and you will also find yourself looking at liens and judgments for the rest of your life. Bankruptcy will not make them go away.

Go ahead....cheat on the logs for a few extra pennies....at some point it will come back to bite you on the ass. If you can't satisfy your financial needs doing it legally....find another employer or career field.