Team Caffee, how 'bout a report?

[Dreamer]

Granted I don't have to log, so 'don't have a dog in the fight' as someone else said.. but it is of my understanding that you will have 8 days of actual logs availible (meets DOT requirements)... then once system is up 100% you will have 6 months of 'summary' for tax purposes availible on the extranet. It will not be the actual logs, but a summary detail.


Just FYI.

Dale

[ATeam]

You bring up a good point on keeping a paper log and also using the EOBR which is why the discussion is good.

I'm glad you consider it a discussion, as do I. Dreamer used the figure of speech "dog in the fight." I'm not fighting with anyone, just exploring out loud the issues.

We are concerned about the IRS and FCC is concerned about DOT audits. Another option might be to have the past 7 days faxed to you for your records.

That may be the solution as I do not like losing detailed data that I am now able to have. Granted, I keep more detailed records than many expediters, but it is something I like to do.

I think we went through all of this before when we had the speed limiter added to the trucks.

Not at all. Log books are kept every minute of every day all the time. Speed limiters only come into play regarding Canada and we are not under a forced dispatch system. The two issues are not even close. But let's not bring speed limiters up again. That ground has been covered.

You can fight head on or you can figure out how to use the system to your advantage.

Again, I'm not fighting with anybody. I know EOBRs are coming one day. The lawmakers and rulemakers are seing to that. I did not get engaged in that fight, years ago, when it would have been best to do so, because I can live with an EOBR. As far as advantages, I see NONE. I see a host of disadvantages to me and a host of advantages to the carrier, trial lawyers, regulatory-impulse bureaucrats, and people who fear truckers and seek to control them.

They are not less expensive. They are not more convenient. They limit legal mobility that we used to have with paper logs. Their disadvantages to drivers are numerous and significant.

The decision has been made we are going to an EOBR and in a certain length of time you will sign the new lease and have the new QC installed on your truck. The other option is to look for another company that is not going in this direction right now.

Exactly! Own authority and other carriers are looking better all the time; not because those options got better but because the premature rush to EOBRs (way ahead of other carriers, way before they are legally required, way before the technology has been proven on a large scale, and way before we get a chance to see the regulatory and liability culture shift these things will create) is making the current option seem worse.

Also note that many of us have the ability to see possibilities well beyond "take it or leave it." It is not that simple. It never is when you are dealing with self-reliand, business-experienced, independent contractors who do not have the employee mentality.

Sadly, our carrier lost a number of excellent contractors to the new dispatch system it forced in us. A trucker shortage is on the horizon. Forcing more contractors out the door with a take-it-or-leave it attitude is not in the carrier's best interests. Lots of things can change, including contractor willingness to push back when they economy picks up, they are higher valued in the marketplace and more difficult to replace.

CSA 2010 is another game changer that is in the mix right now. Already, it makes it more desirable for a carrier to recruit and especially to retain contractors with good records. It's a plain fact that there aren't enough to go around.

When CSA 2010 goes into full effect and the economy picks up, I expect my pricing power and bargaining power in the marketplace to grow. It's not about individual contractors using EOBR's to their maximum advantage (by the way, what does that mean exactly?), it is perhaps about carriers NOT using them for their maximum advantage from a recruiting and retention standpoint.

I have to wonder if FedEx Custom Critical is trying too hard to be like the big carriers (Schneider, Hunt, Werner and other ATA members) when it should think more about being the small, independent-contractor-driven carrier it really is and providing the unique products and services it does.

[TeamCaffee]

Dreamer as of right now IT does not have this on the Extranet so we are really trying to do a little CYB until this information is available.

[MYGIA]

What a screw up this seems to be! The problem with load acceptance information available on a regular basis, viewable to every contractor at his/her convenience has been screwed up for 2 years. Last March 09, Jason said he hoped it would be fixed by November. In November Scott McCann said it would be fixed “soon”. Getting this fixed in a timely manner seems to be almost as big a hoax as “global warming”.

And now we are to be converting to a new Qualcomm system with bugs that need to be worked out, not the least of which is the inability to daily, immediately and on demand provide printed log copies to the contractor. Are you kidding me?

Yes, keeping a paper log in the mean time may be a possible solution. To me, as long as I complete a paper log, that is the official legal document of record and not an electronic form for which “bugs” are being tweaked.

The whole thing reminds me of the old adage: “Why is it we have time to do it twice, but not time to do it right the first time.”

[layoutshooter]

I see little benefit for us on this new system. We run legal already. It is a shame the this is being implimented before it is complete. Poor management. No new program should ever be put into place until it is fully ready to go. It is possible to do it right. There was no reason to rush.

I still kinda resent all this government intereference in my life as well. I don't like the asumption of guilt. It is a shame that so many carriers are running in fear instead of fighting the government. Sooner or later it will come back to bite them too. AND we get to pay MORE for the privilege. OH JOY!!

[MYGIA]

[QUOTE=
Also note that many of us have the ability to see possibilities well beyond "take it or leave it." It is not that simple. It never is when you are dealing with self-reliand, business-experienced, independent contractors who do not have the employee mentality.

QUOTE]

This is an excellent point. The management style of doing business as “my way or the highway” / “take it or leave it” ended a long time ago for any business or organization that wished to be successful. For FedEX to dig in it’s heals, close the door to open and honest feedback and refuse to keep an open mind to thinking outside the box and accepting reasonable and practical problem solving ideas from it business partners, to me, would seem very unwise.

[Shadowpanda]

How is this new QC mounted in the truck? On the dash?

[TeamCaffee]

You can have the QC mounted how ever you like or you can mount it yourself.

[redytrk]

Will the new system help or hurt the solo driver. Right now the system makes opportunities that require delivering after the 14 hour clock has expired and before the driver has had the 8 to 10 hour break.

Will these loads go to teams or transfers?

[MYGIA]

Will the new system help or hurt the solo driver. Right now the system makes opportunities that require delivering after the 14 hour clock has expired and before the driver has had the 8 to 10 hour break.

Will these loads go to teams or transfers?

It is important to remember the distinction between working and driving. A solo driver cannot legally drive after the 14-hour clock expires, but he/she can continue to work. If one accepts a load that delivers after the 14 hour clock ends, it is possible to drive straight through and park at the delivery location. Once there, you cannot drive until completing a legal break, but you can still work (delivery the load). It is, however, costly in time used.

For example, you start you 14-hour clock at 2 PM. You arrive at the delivery location at 1 AM for a 7 AM delivery. You have shut down and stopped driving prior to your 14-clock ending at 4 AM so you are legal. At 7 AM you log your delivery time as On Duty and when finished, then start your break. This can only work, however, with a delivery location that has available parking where you can camp out after getting unloaded. Because it is costly in time, I only do this when the pay for the load makes it worthwhile; meaning, I do it very infrequently. But, it can be done.

Maybe more loads will go to teams. Maybe more loads will be transferred. Bottom line, expediting is geared toward teams. We solo drivers can be successful, but it takes a lot of work – both working hard and working smart.

As others have pointed out, a team can keep running legally non-stop. This is not the case with a solo, hindered very much by the 14-hour rule that can only be stopped by an 8-hour sleeper break. Bottom-line answer to your question of will it help or hurt the solo driver – I fear it will be more hurtful then helpful to solos.

[redytrk]

This can only work, however, with a delivery location that has available parking where you can camp out after getting unloaded. Because it is costly in time,

If I have read previous postings, at this point the truck could move up to .7 mi without the computer triggering a violation. Right?

[MYGIA]

If I have read previous postings, at this point the truck could move up to .7 mi without the computer triggering a violation. Right?

Yes, that is my understanding as well. But that information is only based on other postings. I have not yet made the QC switch and am in no hurry to do so. It would be fine with me if I were the last one in the fleet to be switched over sometime much later this year. The longer the switch over is postponed, the more time I have to research, think through and evaluate all options.

[Doggie Daddy]

If I have read previous postings, at this point the truck could move up to .7 mi without the computer triggering a violation. Right?

If the actual units are anything like the beta units which we have had in our truck for months now this would be an untrue statement.

We have had the unit activate just moving from the fuel islands to a parking space in a t/s,and no where near .7 in distance.

[mcbride]

I am now curious to know how Panther deals with this issue. They have been on electronic logging for a while now. What log book records do they provide to their drivers, if any? I am asking that question in the general forum.

We had some friends that used to drive for Panther and they were cited for not having the ability to produce copies of their logs upon a side of the road DOT inspection. The DOT told them, they were running illegal. Cited them and fined them. Period. Panther's response was they would take care of it.

For what it is worth, DOT stated to them that Werner is the ONLY company that has had their paperless logs authenticated legally. They indicated that the ability to produce a log at the time of stop or incident is required and Werner has the means to do this.

[Special K]

My quote of ".7 mi. before it kicks in" came directly, word for word, from the conference call in January.