Hello People, Help With Log Book
 

Ok Im not new to the driving thing, but it has been years, I have been a heavy equipment operator for about 5 years now. But I lost my Job last year, and now im back in a truck:hellno:

So my problum is that I hear from differant people, that you have to log 50 in the state of Ca, then others say you can only log 45, the company that I work for will not even give me a straight answer.

So what is legal to log in the state, can I log 55? I have been logging 53-54 just to make the book work. I run from Salinas Ca, to Yuma Az. It is a 573 mile trip, but loging it at 50 makes it a 11.46 hour drive, and so i can not do it in one sitting..... But I make it down there in around 9 1/2, 10 hours. I wish the company I work for would just let me have a day cab, and put me up in a motel every night, but no im interstate. :thumbsdown:

Anyway could someone please help me with a straight answer. Thanks Grande :cool:

you cant drive 11.46 straight without stopping? you're not a real truck driver.....HAHAHA...kidding.

I'm still 'green', and i am sure you still have more miles under your belt than me....but i would simply just log it legal in CA. why try to cheat it, and then get busted for cooking your logbook.

I dont drive straight for the 11.46 hours, I can make that trip in around 9 1/2 hours, and that I drive straight. Stopping at trucks stops, and rest areas waste time. :lol: I get my run over with then I do what I want..... :thumbsup:


What is Legal, 45-50-55 ?




Grande

usually the thought is 5mph under the speed limit for logging purposes, that is if you're not gonna log it like you do it :)

Log it as you drive it. If you're speeding (which you clearly are), then slow down. That trip should take a minimum of 11 hours, assuming you don't hit any L.A. or San Diego traffic. And we both know you are. So does DOT. Being in a day cab isn't going to change the fact that you have to log it legally. The trip will still take just as long, and you'll still have to show that 10 hour break.

Slow dow I have, but I still want to go down and back as fast as I can, more loads a week = more money :)


I dont hit any, I run the 5 to the 210 to indio and down, I run down at night, and back at night so its not that bad., I avarage 55, and that is 10 hours and some change, I log it at 11 hours, both ways, the same stops, everything looks good.


Everyday. :smokin: Im home every other night as well :clap:

If you are worried about what is often called a log book speeding ticket then do not log faster than 5 mph under the posted speed limit in any state.

By all rights though, as has basically been pointed out, you really are not suppose to log by speed, but by time.

If you are averaging 55, you are speeding.

You sound like you're from the "old school". Well, the "theory" says that if you drive the speed limit, there is not possible way you can average the posted speed limit. Going up a hill will slow you down, and when you have to get off the interstate, city speed limits slow you down even more. So, the posted speed in CA is 55, and if you set your cruise for that, at the end of the day, various things that slow you down brings your average down to about 52 mph. But, you might keep in mind, that DOT seems to have grown up a bit. They can check fueling times on the company's computer (unless you use cash), they can check your ATM transactions with your own card, and if you're stopped at a scale, that pins you down to a place and time. Your log book must match all of these things. Soooo...

The best thing to do, is when you change your duty status, DRAW A LINE. Dot doesn't seem to care if your watch is five minutes off, but they get a bit upset with an hour or more.

The sad thing is, it's because of mindsets like the OP has that they are attempting to introduce black boxes into trucks, which will log times for everything the truck does. At this point, it's not a matter of "if" it happens. It's a matter of "when".