I've just completed my 5th week otr by myself. My 1st week I ran a legit log book and I found myself running out of hrs and it just was not working out.

My 2nd week I began running an open log, but by the end of the day I had a hard time thinking and making up places and times.

My 3rd and 4th week I began keeping 2 logs. The 2nd log was so untrue but it was made to cover my back.

This past week I went back to keeping one legit log. I'm worried that if something happens while driving and DOT knows that my log is false I worry about the consequences (heavy $fine$/put out of service/ if something serious occurrs possible jail time).

Can anyone share a story or give good advice for a ROOKIE DRIVER on this topic.

 

yea.......don't cheat on your logs.....never worth it, I don't give a dam what anyone says. Tell dispatch "sorry, can't make it with the time you gave me" and run legal

 

Best advice, run legal, or make it look legal on paper. We had a driver last year, doing nothing wrong, 2 women left a bar in Starke, Fl, on 301, went south in the north bound lanes. Hit our driver head on, car exploded, 2 women killed, our driven not injured seriously. Dot pulled up EVERYTHING!!!! We sign in/out at the terminal with our dispatches. They pulled the sign out sheets for the last 6 months and matched them to his logs, toll receipts, fuel, everything. Good thing this driver was smart. They had nothing on him. The main point of the story is, you can be doing everything right, legal, plenty of rest, and still have some idiot almost put your butt in a sling. What about the Crete driver in Fla a year or 2 ago, he killed 4 people i think and hadn't shown sleeper in 2 days. I think his log was still 3-4 states away. How much jail time is this clown looking at?

I know how hard it is to keep hours for driving and everything. I did it my first year of driving OTR. I didn't know what a legal log was. Now i am doing LTL and there is no tolerance for illegal logs. You get 1 warning if it was an accident. Then you are gone. If they know you were illegal on purpose, it is automatic out the door. Kind of hard to run illegal though, since we go hub to hub.

I'm sure there will be times if you cheat your log, you can get another load for the weekend and not be sitting for 2 days waiting on Monday to reopen the receiver, but just remember however you decide to run, IF SOME IDIOT HITS YOU, AND YOU ARE OVER YOUR TIME OR ILLEGAL, IT IS YOUR FAULT, and you will be held accountable. Funny thing to is, i had a level 1 inspection last week in Ms, with hazmat on. When you are legal DOT inspections are nothing more than a chance to stretch your legs.

 

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Templedawg about said it all.

I worked for a company in WI some years ago. One of the drivers was on his way to a truckstop just north of Milwaukee and got caught in construction. When he finally got north of town on 41, a pick-up crossed the median and slammed into his trailer tandems. The pick-up spun around and hit the car that was behind the truck. The passenger in the car was killed. It happened FIVE MINUTES AWAY FROM THE TRUCK STOP. And, the guy in the pick-up was a bit more than just "3 sheets to the wind".

The driver's logs looked legal at the time, but DOT pulled everything. Fuel receipts, toll receipts, and confirmed times at shippers and receivers. From everything they came up with, they figured he had to be AT LEAST 20 minutes over on his 70 hours.

He has spent FIVE YEARS IN PRISON for FELONY MANSLAUGHTER. He has lost his house (nearly paid off at the time), and EVERYTHING HE OWNED, including a COMPLETELY RESTORED '56 T-BIRD. I guess you could include his wife in that too. She divorced him and married someone else, and he's maybe about done paying child support now.

It should also be noted that the company also "DIS-OWNED" him. He was the kind of driver that "threw his log pages away" when they were 9 days old. And when he was trying to get copies of his old logs from the company, they turned their backs on him. He went to court with NOTHING to show his side and DOT had EVERYTHING.

I don't care what company you work for, they WILL GIVE DOT WHAT THEY ASK FOR, AGAIST YOU. They are REQUIRED to keep a copy of your log pages for SIX MONTHS, and in case of any accident on your part, they ARE AVAILABLE to DOT.

DOT's attitude is that if you were not there, the accident wouldn't have happened. In this guy's case, if he had not been on the road, the drunk in the pick-up would not have been drinking, would not have crossed the median, and no accident would have happened.

That's the kind of chances you are taking by messing with your logs. It does not matter how good a driver you may be, all someone in a 4-wheeler has to do is wipe some paint on your tires to involve you in the accident. Your very best defense against that is to LOG IT AS YOU DRIVE IT. Are you ready for that?

 

It really isn't worth taking a chance. If you log as you should, then you have nothing to fear should you become involved in an accident. An accident can happen in the blink of an eye. Lawyers and DOT ALWAYS come after the truck FIRST. If your logs are correct and all receipts are accurate, then you should have a good defense. There is no reason to keep more than one log book. If you don't have the hours to take a load legally, then don't take it. If you do, then you will be the one at fault in the event of an accident. Even if there is no accident, you could still be stuck with a heavy fine should the DOT check your logs and receipts. They have been known to ask for them when they check your logs or do inspection.

 

Learn to work smarter, not harder.

This is a big reason why newbies often do not or can not run the same miles as an experienced driver. The more experience you get the more efficient you should get at managing your time.

 

This is true. Time management is essential. Are you sure that you are "logging" correctly? If there is any doubt in your mind, then you need to get with someone in Safety and have them give you a real explanation of how to log.