I keep seeing items on Facebook about convoys of truckers driving slow to protest the oncoming of ELOG’s and frankly I can’t see the point and believe me I have had cross words with a few idiots. When tacho’s were bought into force in the UK in the late 70’s we all stood up and protested, I myself told the management at Swifts that “If you make me use that I will take 2 days to do my Motorcraft runs”
“Fine, they are 2 day runs anyway” came the reply “We set those runs up and allowed 2 days for each one, the fact that you obviously break the laws and get home is your problem”, basically they had me by the goolies 
The fact is that even with the tacho use I still did the runs in a day and spent the next day at home. We all protested, every lorry driver said they would not use them but every lorry driver did, they had no choice of they still wanted a job. It is exactly the same here with ELD’s all the protesting in the world will never stop the introduction of them. Each of these drivers who say they don’t want to use them is in fact telling the world and DOT that they can’t do their jobs legally. I love using them, I get far more rest and in certain circumstances I am able to use ‘personal conveyance’ rules for getting home bobtail or going to get food and services, the elog works out things I would never have been able to do in my head, I have even taken 3 x 8 hours sleeper breaks in a row and it was perfectly legal, before ELOG’s I would never have been able to work that one out ?
A large majority of the driver’s that are protesting are OO’s and very small company’s.
It’s not only elog’s, it’s the Gov making more and more legislation all the time where they shouldn’t be interfering.
If the Gov were interested in safety like they say, there would be a lot more & better training in the industry.
I’d bet a penny to a pound that most accidents involve the bigger company’s like Swift, England, Werner etc. because of their ■■■■■■ training regime and elog’s, speed limiter’s, or any other gadgets are not going to turn a crap driver into a good, safe one.
Pat, you mabe on filmstar wages but the majority aren’t and every time there’s new legislation brought out, it’s the driver or OO’s that suffer and mainly in the pay dept.
With elog, if like many, they are at a shipper for hours & hours on crap pay or in many circumstances no pay, your 14hr window disappearing rapidly, you’re left with a few hrs to drive that day, whereas on logbook, you can just book on and drive.
I, like many, don’t need a machine to tell me when I’m tired and have to stop, common sense tells me.
If, and it ain’t happening anytime soon, there was hourly pay, then I wouldn’t give a ■■■■ how long I’d be hanging around.
But your 14 hr window would go out of the window on paper anyway I keep saying this the regs Are the same on both Elog and paper so it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference you still loose your hrs
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alix776:
But your 14 hr window would go out of the window on paper anyway I keep saying this the regs Are the same on both Elog and paper so it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference you still loose your hrsSent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
The regs might be the same but the way you use them needn’t be so makes all the difference in the world.
When you start the engine, you’re countdown starts using elog, on paper it starts when you want it to.
Well said Pat.
Almost every trade/worker in the US charge or are paid by the hour though for most their hours are not regulated or restricted.
Truck drivers hours are regulated and restricted but they almost never get paid/charge by the hour.
This is absolute stupidity but with everything skewed if favour of big business it makes perfect sense to people in North America.
Drivers and even OO’s must be brain dead to be protesting in favour of big business so they can continue to be screwed. You couldn’t make it up.
I’m waiting for the old chestnut that “if drivers were hourly paid they would be sat about all day drinking coffee” to appear as usual. UK and European experience tells us that is complete rubbish.
Didn’t one of the pizza companies get into trouble some time ago as it’s payment structure encouraged delivery drivers to drive dangerously or illegal or something ■■?
At the moment and similar the the pizza boys, truck drivers are not only highly incentivised to break the law but if fact most have to do so every week in order not to go hungry.
So why not make mileage and truck revenue payments illegal for truck drivers too as in Europe if they are bringing in Elogs and the authorities are genuinely interested in safety?
I can understand the frustration at government regulations only fixing one half of the problem but I guess U.S. drivers don’t pay too many lobbyists in D.C. unlike their big bosses.
yup ive heard 'The hourly paid drivers sit round drinking coffee" argument not from bosses but other drivers ,and asked them what is it to do with YOU whether the drivers are lazy gits its up to the office to sort it out ! .Well it never goes down very well with some but even hr paid companies try it on with the hrs worked before OT …ie most construction /own account companies I have came across or worked for its OT after 42hrs(Monday 0001–sunday2359)…and companies that have a couple o OTR trucks (paid by the mile) and run gravel etc local as well, pay the gravel guys OT after 50hrs.
JIMBO47:
yup ive heard 'The hourly paid drivers sit round drinking coffee" argument not from bosses but other drivers ,and asked them what is it to do with YOU whether the drivers are lazy gits its up to the office to sort it out ! .Well it never goes down very well with some but even hr paid companies try it on with the hrs worked before OT …ie most construction /own account companies I have came across or worked for its OT after 42hrs(Monday 0001–sunday2359)…and companies that have a couple o OTR trucks (paid by the mile) and run gravel etc local as well, pay the gravel guys OT after 50hrs.
Our labour law in AB for drivers on hourly is O/T after 10hrs & 50hrs
Luckily, we got a great boss, pays O/T after 8hrs & 40hrs.
We run very local only, apart from occasionally going out of Province to fetch a new truck or trailer.
We couldn’t be paid mileage, wouldn’t make no money.
Back to Elog’s, I wouldn’t be so against them running in Canada if there’s no speed limiter on truck.
I note the comments about waiting around at shippers, I am based at Domino sugar in Yonkers most of the time and see lines of guys with dry vans waiting for half the day to load up and I know they are not getting paid for waiting. We often get held up in the refinery because it is a union run plant and the workers stick to their guns and will not do anything they do not have to do, they sometimes stretch out loading for obvious reasons and we suffer because or elogs are ticking away and we often are late delivering or don’t get back to base. The good thing is that my company pay us for everything and every minute of waiting time is paid in full, now giving them 2 hours FFS. Every company needs to start paying drivers fairly.
well pat what can i say lol. me and you be long gone before theese backward as…es ever pay a guy properly just this trip down to florida 3days held up now stuck in montreal till 2pm today for load .dispatch usual b…it we giv u a layover oh yes that will cover my 600miles i could of drove 75 dollars after tax seriously close to hanging keys up m8 p.s. didnt know u were a top notch swift driver lol 
Steve, I worked there from 1975 to 1987, when I left they had a big surprise party for me, I was presented with a model F10 on a mahogany base with the CB handles of all the night trunk drivers engraved on brass plates and an engraved tankard.
If you drove up from Florida to Montreal today we were travelling the same way, we should keep in touch more often. Do you live anywhere near western New Bruswick ? Try applying at Jolly Farmers, I know two English guys on there and they seem happy.
stevejones:
well pat what can i say lol. me and you be long gone before theese backward as…es ever pay a guy properly just this trip down to florida 3days held up now stuck in montreal till 2pm today for load .dispatch usual b…it we giv u a layover oh yes that will cover my 600miles i could of drove 75 dollars after tax seriously close to hanging keys up m8 p.s. didnt know u were a top notch swift driver lol
Hey ! At least you get layover pay.
lol yes pat better than a poke in the eye i suppose i live in pei i know a guy on jolly jordan met him on his 1st trip nice guy think im just fed up driving to be honest .that was nice of swift m8 
stevejones:
lol yes pat better than a poke in the eye i suppose i live in pei i know a guy on jolly jordan met him on his 1st trip nice guy think im just fed up driving to be honest .that was nice of swift m8
I know Jordan quite well, met him a couple of times and James is on there also.
ask him pat hell remembef safe travels kiddo
Hi Steve. I was looking out for you last week on I-75 and the turnpike. Looks as if you used I-95. Lots of similar trucks to yours belonging to Cowan’s from Maryland I think! They do a lot of work for BJs Warehouse. Metallic green Internationals.
I hear you when you say you’re fed up of driving. I’m fed up of traffic and the idiots that the mega company’s hire, both on the road or at truck stops. The standards are dropping very fast!
Paul
hi paul totally agree my lot messed up reload sat lunch load of toms from wimauca south of tampa got there sat 1pm oh sorry cancelled .then kept me on a string all weekend so couldnt really do much .then monday 11/45am oh steve got you a load 4 today its north of atlanta a chicken slaughterhouse its only 550mikes away empty bunch of muppets he says u can get there today they open all night .err yes i says but i f…ing dont