Fuel for Thought

Breaking Point

  Recently, I had a conversation with a driver from another carrier, next to my truck, in a truck stop parking lot.. Among other things that he was discouraged about in this industry, he pointed to my electronic logs sticker on the door of my truck and said “That right there is why I’m getting out of this business. I am not a robot.”

I asked “ Do I look like a robot?”

“No, but..”

“So, while you may be leaving the industry, this is not the sole reason why”

 He went on to mention many other factors as to why he was leaving trucking. The Elogs was just a part of it. I hear this all the time. I believe if you only focus on the negatives, real or perceived, it is much more difficult to make changes as needed to stay profitable and compliant.  

 I have been using Elogs for a while now, after the initial adjustment from paper logs, I found it not to be such a big deal IF you are one who can plan your trips and manage your time wisely. I can run my driving hours and plan for fuel, food and breaks, then shut it down for 10 hours and be ready to go again. I used paper logs for over 25 years and I was a bit apprehensive about elogs at first, but I wasn’t going to dismiss it completely without a little firsthand knowledge of it. ELDs are a big topic these days, but it seems more drivers are running from it rather than making the effort to keep up with changing regulations. It seems this is the case every time a new major regulation goes into effect. I remember when CDLs were becoming a reality, so many drivers claimed that only one license would eliminate a lot of drivers. Nowadays, one CDL per driver is the norm, and we do everything we can to protect it. Not being able to have several licenses from varying states, made our CDLs more valuable, and may have removed some drivers from the industry that were abusing the system.

While most of the larger carriers are already using Elogs, once the rest get on board, it should level the playing field.

Can you imagine if two football teams were playing each against each other, but one team didn't have to use the game clock? 

Anytime someone tells me that they cannot run the way they do with an ELD, my first thought is that they are telling me they are running illegal.

This and many other conversations with drivers led me to wonder.

 What is the one thing that will cause you to leave this industry?

 Is there just one issue that could make you call it quits?

See you down the road.

Greg

When you are through changing, you are through.

- Bruce Barton