'E' logs.

[Pat Hasler]

How many of you are using 'E'logs ?

I was worried about the company I work for starting us on them 2 years ago but 2 years has made me very for them in some ways and slightly against them in others. I had heard so many stories and old wives tales about them, most of which are just not true.

I thought I would just point out the good, the bad and the totally untrue.

1) "Elogs shut the truck off when you run out of hours" .....

2) When they had that bad weather in CT last month all the Elog trucks were stuck for hours"

All of these tales are total rubbish ! No way anywhere does an 'E'log shut down any truck, reduce the power of have any effect on the performance of any truck in any way. When you are 1 hour away from your 14 you get a 'BEEP' to warn you, another at 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 5 minutes and every minute counting down. If you run out of hours it just tells you that you are in violation and you still carry on untill you find a suitable parking place, you can then make a note to say why you ran over your time and as long as it is not a daily event nothing is usually reported. If you wanted to you can even log out of the log, carry on without anything happening but the later is ilegal. The main point is that no 'E'log on any truck will shut you down if you go over 14 hours.

Regional drivers will even get 2 extra hours added every 6 days if the log is set at 'short haul'

The bad side....

Once you log on duty you are committed to go and on a count down of 14 hours, you can't set out then change your mind and alter your log and start a new sheet but ! ..... My particular 'E'log is set to not change your mode if you drive less than 9/10th of a mile, if on sleeper or off duty it is infact possible to drive through a city stopping at traffic lights within 9/10ths of a mile without tripping the log to on duty and as you know it can take any amount of time to travel through built up areas and therefore you can actually save all that time (again ilegal) but I know those who do it.

The good side is DOT tend to leave you alone if they know you use 'E'logs, I suspect this is because most of them don't know how they actually work but know they can't be falsified (yeah right).

Another plus is that when you are out of time no matter how pushy your dispatcher is you are off duty and he can't argue with it.

My company insist we run legal even if loads are 10 hours late because you ran out of hours, the first thing any dispatcher or manager asks us is 'Do you have the hours ?' or 'Make sure you take the 10 hours off'

 

Split breaks .... If ever in the past you have used the split 2 and 8 hour rest system and messed up calculating when to have another break there is no worry with 'E'log ! ... it works it all out for you, you can have 2 hours, end the day with 8 hours and when you check your hours (can be done without logging on duty) it tells you how many hours you have before taking another 2 hours and then after that 2 hours your time is extended again.

 

Sorry if I bored you all but I hear so many fools spreading gossip about a really good system. I hope it set a few mind at ease about something that on day we will all have to use.

[Will McKelvie]

We use DDL, have also used Eclipse. You are only fooling yourselves if you support the mandate of these machines. Horror stories abound through the net as well as on the roads of these machines not allowing deliveries and pickups. That is less money folks, think about it real hard. Is supporting a machine that tells your EVERY move worth it, as the supporters of these machines will sell you on them?? They will tell you it is less paper, you do not have to do anything with them either, blah blah blah. All the while, it costs your company money to install them, money for the monthly service, money for your company to hire and train someone for their use and compliance, and will do nothing as to their original purpose. The original purpose was touted so that driver managers could not harass drivers, and neither could DOT. Well that summation is FALSE. We all hear the stories of the drivers are TIRED, and DM/FM/LP are pushing them to drive those hours left in the day. Driving tired is what all of us need to push against, HARD. Not support a machine that allows them to FORCE you to do just the opposite.

 

[KEVIN PHELPS]

I still like the 3 log book system. Course i don't drive anymore.

[Karl Menser]

I don't drive anymore, either (disabled) but I believe I would tend to agree with you.  I can't see me being watched over by a machine... and I used the 3 book system by choice... I ran when I wanted to, not when the boss wanted me to.

[robert w. bacon]

most of the time the ones i hav eheard say this are repeat offenders

 

 

[Pika]

I don't do that but I have been called or they send me a message if the clock has reset and I'm not moving yet. Sometimes. 

[Chris Rhodes]

I suppose there could be some truth to it. I would say it would depend on your company, the safety guy and the dispatcher. I have drove several miles in violation and never heard a word about it. However, a buddy of mine drives a pumpkin and even 1 minute will get there attention.

[AL Reigert]

The only way I would support any electronic device is, if the driver is getting paid hourly. The main excuse these companies used was, "we don't know what they do when they leave". With elogs this is not true, therefor lets have hourly pay (overtime after 40)  like the rest of the world does.

[dwayne clark]

we use peoples net in our trucks in 1 way there good. the dispatchers cant make you do anything past your time.on the other hand if your less then an hr from home or where your picking up or delivering they suck. and once you log in your clock is always running.i drive for cheeseman and they even have a truckers gps system built in and the moneys good but i think im going back to a small company where there is no electronic logs i just cant get use to them.

[Rhett Butler]

I used Peoplenet logs with a previous employer and they are great. If you get a dispatcher that shoves a broker load on you the broker doesn't argue when you tell them you run "push button" logs. I had one dispatcher that gave me a broker load out of Sacramento the day I arrived (Tues. afternoon) that loaded Friday for delivery in Chicago the following Tuesday. Told both dispatch & the broker no, have to take 34 off & deliver Wednesday. The broker called Saturday morning wondering if I had "squeezed" my book to get the load there on time. He promptly made a new delivery appointment when I told him I was in Ripon, CA taking my 34 off with my "push button" log book.

I actually made more money using a computerized log than paper. If it take 7 mins. to fuel the truck you don't log 15. If I could get within 5 miles of delivery before stopping for the night I didn't have to log in until I got there using the "same city" rule in the little green driver's handbook. Have to wait or take more than 15 mins to load/unload? Log off duty until ready to roll. Stuck in a traffic jam? Same thing. Sure there are ways around the system to save hours much like on paper logs but really there isn't a whole lot of need to do that as frequently as many "old school" drivers did on paper (I've been at this for 30+ years) by simply logging it as you do it, push the right buttons and let the computer do it's thing.

[Thomas Duguid]

we have been  using e logs in the uk for some time now, and to be honest with you i think it is a great thing

[Chris Rhodes]

I agree 100% driver. Once in a great while, they'll screw me up, but with decent trip planning you shouldn't ever really have a problem. As long as we don't abuse it, we also have line 5 capabilities (off duty driving). When we were first allowed to use it, dispatch said "go ahead and line 5 it", but safety put a stop to that one quick. If i'm heading home or on a 34, or even a 10 hour break, we can use line 5. As for DOT, they've asked to see my logbook and I hand them the qualcom. They look at it, look at me then back at the qualcom. Handing it back they say have a nice day. Me personaly? I like e-logs.

[chris kelley]

i still use the old lose leaf