I have been running electronic logs for over a year now after many years using loose leaf paper logs. I would certainly go back to paper if given the choice, thou E logs are easy to signoff at the end of the day. Plus, I have been inspected several times and inspectors weren't interested in even reviewing my ELD.

But, I am not here to sell anyone on this mandated Big Brother Box. I have found over this time many issues that conflicts with me getting my work done and going home. I thought I would share with others on this board several incidents and get your feedback.

First, I just got home from Southern California with a load of bottle water(go figure!). It is 1065 miles from the shipper to my company's yard near Portland, Oregon. After loading on Friday, I drove 440 miles to truckstop south of Sacramento. I had left 1.5 hours on my 11 hour clock but only 35 minutes on my 14, and the next safe(and legal) place was 60 miles north.

This left me 625 miles to drive Saturday. As most know, I-5 in California and Oregon is 55mph for trucks plus there many hills between Redding, CA and Roseburg, OR. So, if you do the math 11 hours and 55mph is 605 miles. I set my cruise control to 58mph and roll out some downhills to 62mph(several downhills require 45-50mph to safety descend). All said, I covered 611 miles in 11 driving hours, leaving me 14 miles short of home. I went 24 minutes over getting to the yard(there were lights and side streets on those last 14 miles).

I could have stop at a truckstop or rest area that about 40 miles short of my home and not violate HOS. But, a home cooked meal, a hot shower and my bed were the priority.

Second, several weeks ago I had a delivery at a grocery warehouse in the Seattle Area that was for Sunday at 10:30pm. I drove 3 hours arriving at the customer's facility at 10pm. After checking in(with 20 other drivers :-( ) and being assigned a door, I was backed up to a dock and in the sleeper at 11:30pm. The unloading was finished and I received my signed BOL at 3:30am. They don't allow you to park on site and finish your 10 hour break. But, my reload was 8 miles away(and in a different town). I logged off the ELD, drove over to my other customer, and went back to bed for another 5 hours. I logged back into the Box, loaded and left the shipper at 10:30am.

My log didn't show a HOS violation, but there is 8 miles missing. Where my break starts and finishes shows 2 different locations.

So those who use an ELD, what experiences have you encountered? How have you handle this? What was your company's or DOT's response?

Perhaps it is time for me to retire!?

I'm not saying it's right, but in the second scenario some drivers would've gone "off duty driving" and drove that 8 miles then back to the sleeper while being loaded. After your 10 hr break then they would drive (again" ODD") back to where they they started and then go on duty. This can work but IS NOT LEGAL, but happens.
I know the lure of a home cooked meal and I also know what it's like to shut down 30 miles from home sucks but either obey the law, break it or change it.

If i am not mistaken logs only have to be accurate within 30 minutes by law. Correct me if I am wrong. So while the box may say you are 2 minutes in violation, the law is not that stringent. Yes, you could be cited for being over hours, but if theory you could get out of it.
The details of the 'safe harbor' provision are a mystery to me also.
The law states that loading/unloading time be logged as on duty, but the intent was to ensure drivers were not actually performing work while off duty or logged in the sleeper, so I am rigid on my assertion that If I am not physically working, or actually in the sleeper, I can log it the way I want. The issue however becomes If the BOL is time stamped when you sign it. Receiving the bills is a work function in my eyes. Therefore I ask for it to not be stamped if possible.

Where in the FMSCR Part 395 does it state logs have to be accurate within 30 minutes? When I used paper logs and time line was divided into 15 minute sections, I would round off at 7.5 minutes.

I don't believe there is a formal(aka legal) 'safe harbor' provision, but I am going to drive my truck to the first safe and legal parking area even if it violates my HOS. There has been a couple times in LA and SF Bay Area where I was delayed by the shipper and it more than an hour without traffic to a safe parking spot.

To me a safe and legal parking area is a truck stop, rest area, business parking lot(that I know is okay with my truck)or side street that I don't have to worry about crime or traffic. I will not park at the off-ramp or side of the road, and only the on-ramp briefly to correct an issue.

I don't want what happened to his driver happening to me.

Indiana trucker, 72, recovering after being shot in Oakland, nearly losing his life - San Jose Mercury News

Late night I met up with a friend at a truck stop who I hadn't seen in months. We were talking about ELD's and company policies(I drove for his company years ago).

He related a story where he was getting off the interstate to enter a truckstop to take his 30 minute mandatory break. Upon exiting the highway, his ELD report he was out of hours and had a HOS violation. It took him about 5 minutes more circling the parking lot to find an empty space. His safety director called him on the phone a day or two later and gave him a verbal warning for the violation. When he asked what his options were to prevent a future violation, his safety director stated he should have parked on the off-ramp and waited there for the required 30 minutes.

So, his company policy which came from the "SAFETY" department is to illegal park in an unsafe location rather than seek a spot that is both safe and legal and where he can truly take a 30 minute BREAK.

Is the above your company's policy when using ELD's and HOS? Who driving the truck today? You or the ELD?

Both are wrong.. the driver was wrong for waiting till the last second to find parking when there is a 6-8 hour window to do so. The safety dude should have known better to say something as stupid as "park on the ramp" unless of course, the driver was in a state that allows it.

Regardless what state it is legal to park on the ramp, how is it safe? Second, why should anyone be required to park in one location when within sight there is place that taking a true restful break?

Thou I don't know all the details about why he failed to reach the truckstop in time to avoid an HOS violation, there could be any number of reasons to prevent this. I can relate an instance once that happened to me. I planned to stop at a rest area. About a mile before the rest area there was an accident and traffic was backed up 5 miles. It took more than 30 minutes get through the backup to the rest area. Should I planned for this? I didn't have to violate HOS in my instance, but if I did should I have parked on the shoulder for 30minutes(or 8-10 hours, maybe even 34 hours) to avoid the ELD flagging a HOS violation?

So I have to assume that you believe the ELD drives the truck and the person(aka biological organism) just should hold on to the wheel until it directed to stop the truck.

Safe is relative.. depends on which ramp and where. Planning goes a hell of a long way in this world. I've seen all sorts of dopes park in all sorts of dumb places. This like so many topics regarding truck drivers, if they want to.. they should be able to regardless of regs and the laws.. if they don't want to.. they spin so many asinine stories and conspiracies that it makes discussing it pointless. within sight? Really? So either you have no idea how the systems work, or you playing the old "what if" scenario game.

No, your friend/you, should run as you can and get to the parking / safe haven if of course you have a REAL provable reason to be over your hours by a few minutes.. just as stupid as the paper log magic and always turning in legal logs as if everything always happens in 15 minute increments.. expecting to satisfy all the regs 100% of the time is just silly. Running over time a few minutes a YEAR will not get anyone into hot water.. of course the "nudge nudge" lets run illegal all the time nonsense is the other side of the coin..

No drivers, drive the trucks or used to.. I have found that electronics have made the drivers even dumber or more ignorant than they were before them.. they don't even TRY to understand the HOS rules at all. Its hard to follow the regs when they are as foreign as soap and water to some of these people.

It sais nothing in the regulations about how accurate a log has to be from what i cant tell. Logic would dictate that if a paper log is legal to use and it is in 15 minute increments without any mention in the regs as to how to round up or down minutes that I can start driving at 13:01 while rounding to 13:15 and showing shut down at 22:15 while actually setting my brake at 22:29. Arguably that can be done for any event and minutes shaved off legally.

As a rule of thumb, you round off to the nearest 15 miinutes. For instance, if you are at 8 minutes or more you round up to the next 15 minutes. If you are at 7 minutes or less, you round down.