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ABF | ELD traffic jams and other extended delays

Homesick

Homesick

Retired
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I'm just wondering what line we put longterm road delays on? I thought on the road, long delays were supposed to be logged on the driving line (accidents, road closures, traffic jams, etc). But then the ELD came out and it automatically put you on duty after about 3 minutes of the vehicle not moving (accidents, road closures, construction, etc). Then I was reading on the fmcsa website that the rule is still to log all time behind the steering wheel as driving. So how do we override the ELD when it puts us on duty while we are still in the tractor and still on the road but not moving for longer than 3 minutes?
 
I’ve brought this exact thing up to the safety man 2 or 3 times when he visited 222. All I got was “I’ll look into it”. I have a buddy at Fed Ex in Middletown, Pa, and supposedly PeopleNet will have a fix for this by the beginning of next year. I guess we will see....
 
What happens......legally and God Forbid.......when your ELD puts you as "on duty" while you're in a traffic jam,....and your vehicle is involved in an accident?
As in....: someone runs into you......

What if there's a fatality? I can see trial lawyers and ambulance-chasers dragging this out for years in a court........

As it has been since the creation of the DOT and Hours of Service,.......the LOG book and the ability to make ENTRIES are the provenance and property of the DRIVER.........NOT the employer.

Using a so-called software "glitch"......(..that they don't seem to be in a hurry to fix..).....to have the company control your ability to ACCURATELY record.....YOUR....Hours of Service........is an extremely volatile Safety issue......
Using this "glitch"...to aid and abet drivers who will "conveniently" forget to punch back to driving.....thereby allowing more driving hours than is legal.........will cause lawyers all across America to whoop with Joy.........

Another "solution" for the driver shortage?
 
My solution is, If the weather is that bad, Shut it down. Single axle, doubles. Were not real truck drivers.. LOL..
 
I'm kinda like brother Canary on this one..the lawyers would have a field day with this one.."texting on the hand held while driving..
texting is texting ..whether to your wife or to the dispatcher..since the company monitors this board, please take note and work on this...very serious matter at hand
 
nightowl said:
I’ve brought this exact thing up to the safety man 2 or 3 times when he visited 222. All I got was “I’ll look into it”. I have a buddy at Fed Ex in Middletown, Pa, and supposedly PeopleNet will have a fix for this by the beginning of next year. I guess we will see....
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Oh yeah...I’ve received that “I’ll look into it” thing from the Fleet Manager from my formal terminal too. Here’s an example of how ‘on top of it’ he is: He pulled me out of the break room one day to voluminously point out that the anti-freeze in my tractor was leaking and that I hadn’t noted it on my DVR. I pointed out that the drip was GREEN anti-freeze and the fluid in my tractor was ORANGE. We both had a pretty good laugh over that one.
 
Homesick said:
I'm just wondering what line we put longterm road delays on? I thought on the road, long delays were supposed to be logged on the driving line (accidents, road closures, traffic jams, etc). But then the ELD came out and it automatically put you on duty after about 3 minutes of the vehicle not moving (accidents, road closures, construction, etc). Then I was reading on the fmcsa website that the rule is still to log all time behind the steering wheel as driving. So how do we override the ELD when it puts us on duty while we are still in the tractor and still on the road but not moving for longer than 3 minutes?
Click to expand...
 
This is not a solution for the problem because I’ve had guys accused of stealing time when this happens but you can jot down what time it changed to on duty and what time it says would you like to change back to driving.Then the first time you get a chance, pull over, hit on duty,hit remarks icon and write making annotation, then make annotation by changing onduty time to driving time. Hit okay,then hit driving and continue.Do this 6 or 7 times a day and maybe they’ll see how useless these things are!!!!
 
DIRTFT30+ said:
This is not a solution for the problem because I’ve had guys accused of stealing time when this happens but you can jot down what time it changed to on duty and what time it says would you like to change back to driving.Then the first time you get a chance, pull over, hit on duty,hit remarks icon and write making annotation, then make annotation by changing onduty time to driving time. Hit okay,then hit driving and continue.Do this 6 or 7 times a day and maybe they’ll see how useless these things are!!!!
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It won't matter soon as the ones in the trucks now are not compliance and are on a waver till the end of the year.
 
DIRTFT30+ said:
This is not a solution for the problem because I’ve had guys accused of stealing time when this happens but you can jot down what time it changed to on duty and what time it says would you like to change back to driving.Then the first time you get a chance, pull over, hit on duty,hit remarks icon and write making annotation, then make annotation by changing onduty time to driving time. Hit okay,then hit driving and continue.Do this 6 or 7 times a day and maybe they’ll see how useless these things are!!!!
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You cant put anything on to driving using annotations. The only choices in annotations are on duty or off duty. Nothing else!!
 
What I do over here at OD is stop to let some space gather between myself and the vehicle in front of me. Then I begin accelerating. If you get the truck up over 10 mph (on our system, Peoplenet) it brings the screen back up as if you’re going normal highway speed. This resets the 3 minute clock and keeps you on the drive line. Not an exact science I know, and it won’t help you if traffic is completely stopped and the road is shut down, but in construction or balled up traffic because of an accident where you’re still moving it seems to work fine.
 
Songremainsthesame said:
What I do over here at OD is stop to let some space gather between myself and the vehicle in front of me. Then I begin accelerating. If you get the truck up over 10 mph (on our system, Peoplenet) it brings the screen back up as if you’re going normal highway speed. This resets the 3 minute clock and keeps you on the drive line. Not an exact science I know, and it won’t help you if traffic is completely stopped and the road is shut down, but in construction or balled up traffic because of an accident where you’re still moving it seems to work fine.
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Good home-made solution,.......But it's a shame that the computer makes the choice, and then the driver has to "adjust" it for the real world.

Technology will be the Death of the Civilized World........
 
canaryinthemine said:
Good home-made solution,.......But it's a shame that the computer makes the choice, and then the driver has to "adjust" it for the real world.

Technology will be the Death of the Civilized World........
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Very thankful I don't drive big ole trucks anymore, I would be lost with all this technology and need to learn driving all over again.
I still remember a few cuss words in traffic, how she wiggles when she walks and how fast them trucks can go.
 
Years ago when I was at Sefl, the first computer Eld’s they had had a lock button on the screen to lock it into drive mode for situations like that. It was before Peoplenet came along but it looked and ran similar, I can’t recall the name brand of that system.
 
I would prefer they just have driver make all change of duty status . Instead automatic. But I'm sure they are worried drivers will drive and keep not in driving mode to save hours. But it would show location that you are lying.
 
Why in the world do any of you give a rat's azz how many times the device goes from driving to on duty when you're in traffic? Who cares? The device is doing all the work. It's not like you're doing all that on paper. Aren't there better things to be concerned about?
 
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Triplex said:
Why in the world do any of you give a rat's azz how many times the device goes from driving to on duty when you're in traffic? Who cares? The device is doing all the work. It's not like you're doing all that on paper. Aren't there better things to be concerned about?
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Only one reason I give a rat's azz is because it is DOT illegal. As long as a DOT officer can give me a ticket, issue me a monetary fine, place points on my commercial drivers licence, and report this violation to my insurance company (possibly causing my insurance premiums to increase) I am a little concerned. What are your thoughts?
 
Homesick said:
Only one reason I give a rat's azz is because it is DOT illegal. As long as a DOT officer can give me a ticket, issue me a monetary fine, place points on my commercial drivers licence, and report this violation to my insurance company (possibly causing my insurance premiums to increase) I am a little concerned. What are your thoughts?
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You need a hobby!

PS - What do you think about the possibility of an asteroid striking earth?
 
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