I'm caught up in a dilema that I'm not sure how to get out of concerning dispatch and HOS.
Our dispatch has a problem about basically ignoring the drivers HOS regulations. They don't technically force drivers to run illegal, but they do push them to. As an example, a couple of months ago I had a dispatch that gave me a total of 16 hours to drive approximately 850 miles. This 16 hours was to get the load from the pickup time of 2pm with the delivery at 8am the next morning. This is pretty much the normal operating procedures where I work. This week I stayed out over the weekend for a long run. Yesterday, when I had 2hrs remaining on my 70hr clock and picking up 5 hours at midnight, they tried quite a few times for me to take a 700 mile run that delivered this morning at 7am.
I'm fairly content driving here. Even though the equipment isn't the best, I'm happy with my hometime (every weekend) and the fact that I know everyone that works for my company.
Now is where it gets rough. Who do I talk to about this? Our safety manager is also the vice-president of the company. So, if I go to him and complain, it'll end up getting back to dispatch who will in turn cut my loads. . I've seen it happen here a number of times in the past 3 years I've been driving for them. They've laid people off within a week or so of them complaining, with the excuse being not enough freight, even though every other one of our drivers are running nonstop. He's got a good reason to do it - if the drivers aren't pulling as much freight because they're running legal. If the company isn't making as much money, then he'll probably have to wait 2 years to buy his new Escalade instead of getting a new one next year. I've seen it happen here a number of times in the past 3 years I've been driving for them. They've laid people off within a week or so of them complaining, with the excuse being not enough freight, even though every other one of our drivers are running nonstop.
If I go to the DOT, I then have to worry about them going in and doing audits. It'll not only screw me with my doctored logs, but with every other one of our drivers. There's been many, many times where I talked to other drivers here and they've all said that their logs are pretty much a 100% lie.
I'm just wanting opinions on what other drivers would do in this situation.