OOIDA thanks us

LDB · Mar 14, 2012

The amendment to allow every Interstate highway in the nation to be tolled was defeated.

Congratulations OOIDA members! We did it!!!

Today, the U.S. Senate passed a two-year surface transportation reauthorization bill. While not a perfect bill, we do have some great news to report. The Senate legislation DID NOT contain the Carper Amendment. As you know, the amendment would have given states a blank check to toll the entire Interstate Highway System.

Your phone calls truly made a difference in getting this amendment stripped from the bill. Thank you!!

Additionally, the legislation DID contain the Bingaman amendment which will prevent U.S. highway tax dollars from being diverted for privatized highways. Another win for us!!

Again, thank you to all those who made their voices heard on Capitol Hill. You really did make a big difference in this fight and we would not have done it without you.

Warm Regards,

Todd Spencer

paullud · Mar 14, 2012

Now all they need to do is get rid of the mandate for electronic logs and I will feel like I get value out of my membership. I am not so concerned with tolls as those can just get passed along.

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beachbum · Mar 14, 2012

Paullud, what would electronic logs do that would cause you to have so much problem with them. Maybe someone could tell me what electronic logs would cause a person to go out of business.

There would be no harassment since if your out of hours you aren't going anywhere anyway. Harassment can come from a regular QC now, therefore no change with electronic logs. But as most know when a company wants you to break the logging rules they call you on the phone, they don't put it on the QC.

I just don't see the problem, I have talked to my brother and another family member and they have nothing bad to say about them, except that they cannot cheat them. Oh wait they can work a electronic log for a extra 1/2 to 1 hour a day is they want.

The only reason someone would be against them is that they couldn't cheat on the logs as easy. There is nothing else that I can see that would be such a problem with this type of logging. Prices are anywhere from 600 to 3K depending on what you want them to do for the driver. Maybe 30 bucks a month to use the equipment. That could be a reason for some because they don't run a profitable business in the first place.

paullud · Mar 14, 2012

Why should companies be forced into paying thousands upon thousands of dollars to buy the equipment then hundreds or thousands a month to maintain them? I mostly run banker's hours now unless I get up early to avoid traffic or just want to get going. The load I am on now will be about 1295 miles and depending on if I load Thursday or Friday I will only need to drive 300 or 400 miles a day to deliver on Monday. I will get paid $956.45 or about .74/mile as a company driver so I have no expenses other than personal, I don't need to cheat on my logbook to make decent money. This comes down to the government stepping on other people's rights because they have been bought and paid for by lobbyists. It is time for people to take a stand and say enough of this garbage and push the government back down into the role of servants of the people. This will not stop, they push further and further into our lives every year and take more of the money we earn. They are able to do this because apathetic sheep sit there and say I don't see a problem with it or they don't care because it doesn't directly impact them.

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pearlpro · Mar 14, 2012

Ive never run with E Logs, Ive seen displays and tried a program on my laptop once, I dont need to cheat to make a living thats not my reason, But Im against therte Intrusion into my Business life, Im an adult, capable of operating the vehicle, but I need a computer to track my hours, IS THAT ALL E LOGGERS WILL DO, what about other data, Hard Braking, Crashes, etc, Is this collectible with a E Log device.....As a Sole Proprietor and a small business the cost IS my issue, and I worry that they keep adding things, EPA MANDATE, E LOGGER MANDATE...SLEEP APNEA MANDATE.....are we men, OR MACHINES....????

pearlpro · Mar 14, 2012

Senate passes two-year $109B transportation measure | Commercial Carrier Journal

pearlpro · Mar 14, 2012

The bill also would order the creation of a clearinghouse for commercial drivers’ drug and alcohol test results, direct the federal government to create a notification system so employers can be told of drivers’ traffic infractions, move in the direction of establishing crashworthiness standards for large trucks, raise the bar that new companies and drivers must clear before coming into the trucking industry, and order the mandating of electronic logs for all commercial drivers.

I tell ya who we need to raise the bar on and its Politicians.....They dont pass near the tests we do to take public office and spend spend spend.....they simply accept money from PACS and Super Pacs and apply it towards Favors, Golf Trips, Junkets and ways to put the screws to US.....Ya its time to raise the bar, REALLY HIGH

beachbum · Mar 14, 2012

You claim your rights when it comes to electronic log book, the only difference between a paper log book and a electronic log book is you cannot throw the page out and start a new one.

What rights are they taking away, none that I know of if you use a electronic log.

AMonger · Mar 15, 2012

beachbum said:
You claim your rights when it comes to electronic log book, the only difference between a paper log book and a electronic log book is you cannot throw the page out and start a new one.

What rights are they taking away, none that I know of if you use a electronic log.

The entire logging system violates drivers' rights. Last I checked, the 4th amendment contains no exception for professional drivers, doesn't contain the words "compelling government interest" or "unless we want to."
--

You know the problem with bad cops? They make the other 5% look bad.

paullud · Mar 15, 2012

beachbum said:
You claim your rights when it comes to electronic log book, the only difference between a paper log book and a electronic log book is you cannot throw the page out and start a new one.

What rights are they taking away, none that I know of if you use a electronic log.

The fact that log books are even required is a violation of the Fifth Amendment but they get around it because they made a law requiring log books to be kept. Isn't that great, they can just get around the Constitution by saying we require these records to be kept. I understand you don't care about freedom or the Constitution but I do.

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Monty · Mar 15, 2012

There is NO, ZERO law madating log books. It is a regulation, imposed on those who CHOOSE to be in this profession.

If you don't wish to document your whereabouts, or activities. Then choose another field of endeavor.

The only aggravation I see with ELogs is the quirky little, "You can't drive to the Waffle House driver without begining your 14 hour clock".

But if instituted, even that may be addressed.

CharlesD · Mar 15, 2012

I have a few concerns with the electronic logs, and I'm not even on the road anymore. Some of our straights are solos. I shouldn't have to worry about a guy's clock starting because he got tired of sitting at the truck stop and decided to go to the mall, a restaurant, a movie theater, etc.

Or here's another scenario. You're sitting 100 miles away from a load going 650. You can do the 650 in one shift, but only if you can start your clock when you pick up. Problem is you have this darn 100 mile dh to get to the pickup and if you run it strictly by the book, you're up the creek because you can't do the load. When you finished the previous day, you still had about 3 hours left that you never used. How many of you would, after you got the load on board, redo a couple pages to show that you did that 100 mile dh the day before? Would that necessarily present a safety concern if you're well rested?

How many people fudge a log to run keep running tired, and how many times is it a scenario like I described above where the driver is well rested but has to tweak things a bit?

paullud · Mar 15, 2012

Notanewbie said:
There is NO, ZERO law madating log books. It is a regulation, imposed on those who CHOOSE to be in this profession.

If you don't wish to document your whereabouts, or activities. Then choose another field of endeavor.

The only aggravation I see with ELogs is the quirky little, "You can't drive to the Waffle House driver without begining your 14 hour clock".

But if instituted, even that may be addressed.

Oh, so it is a regulation instead of a law so that means it doesn't have to be followed. The definition of a regulation means it has the force of a law, it is not merely a suggestion. They realized that log books are a violation of Constitutional rights, that is why they came up with another REGULATION that says they are required to be kept since if they are required to be kept then it is not considered to be protected by the Fifth. I know there are people that just don't care about the freedoms of others because it doesn't matter to them and that is a shame. That type of thinking has been the downfall of society, nobody cares about other people anymore. People just sit back and watch freedoms get stripped away by regulations or things like the Patriot Act but fail to care because you don't see it having an impact on you. There are just way to many people cowering in a corner just hoping the next law or regulation doesn't effect them.

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beachbum · Mar 15, 2012

Even Landstars e logs have a personal time button I do believe. Such a easy fix. Right now no one who has to log can drive to get dinner or to a store on personal use if their loaded per the regulations.

As notanewbie said its a regulation and you agreed to the rules and regulations when you came into the industry.

I do agree that with a E-log things will be different, what will be different is the amount of lying drivers have been doing over the years when it comes to their logs. Freight will be left on the dock and freight rates might raise because of the change.

beachbum · Mar 15, 2012

CharlesD, thanks for proving the point of why the FMCSA wants all CMV's to have a E-log.. Because even under todays rules you would be in violation.

Quote.
Or here's another scenario. You're sitting 100 miles away from a load going 650. You can do the 650 in one shift, but only if you can start your clock when you pick up. Problem is you have this darn 100 mile dh to get to the pickup and if you run it strictly by the book, you're up the creek because you can't do the load. When you finished the previous day, you still had about 3 hours left that you never used. How many of you would, after you got the load on board, redo a couple pages to show that you did that 100 mile dh the day before? Would that necessarily present a safety concern if you're well rested?

beachbum · Mar 15, 2012

I guess log books are legal or these drivers and owner of this company wouldn't have pleaded guilty.

2006.

On November 14, four former drivers for Nijjar Brothers Trucking, Inc. were sentenced to varying jail terms by a U.S. District Court judge in Fresno, CA on charges of making false statements. The four men had all previously pleaded guilty to keeping false driver's log books while employed as truck drivers for the Madera, CA-based trucking company. Greg Allen Mello was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Pedro Farias-Lopez and Muhammad Arshid Chaudhry each received a three month jail sentence. Baljinder Singh was sentenced to 135 days imprisonment. Each driver was also ordered to pay a $100 fine and serve 24 months supervised release. Nine other drivers for Nijjar previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Separate criminal charges are pending against Baljinder Singh in Arizona for the September 30, 2003, death of a man and his 13-year-old son in a collision with Singh's truck. Singh allegedly had been driving for at least 19 hours without rest. Six other people were injured in the four vehicle crash. OIG investigated the criminal case with assistance from FMCSA and the California Highway Patrol.

paullud · Mar 15, 2012

That driver deserves to be punished, his negligence caused the deaths of 2 people. I am not saying that people should be driving around tired and falling asleep at the wheel, that clearly isn't an option. This should come down to the driver being responsible to pull over and stop when they need to. Drivers are people and people are not machines so the idea of a one size fits all solution is ridiculous.

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CharlesD · Mar 15, 2012

beachbum said:
CharlesD, thanks for proving the point of why the FMCSA wants all CMV's to have a E-log.. Because even under todays rules you would be in violation.

I know that scenario is technically a violation, but does it really present a safety concern? My other question still remains. I know there are the bad apples who carry multiple log books and run all kinds of hours straight and something needs to be done about those people, but how many people do you really think are doing those sorts of things? I would argue that most of us have done something like what I mentioned. I know I did a couple times when I was running solo, but I never ran unsafe. I didn't try to drive 18 hours in a day instead of 11 or anything like that, but there were times where I would log an 80 mile deadhead to a pickup at the end of the previous day so I could have all 11 hours to do a load, or I would get to a drop at 10pm and log that I delivered when I got there while in reality I wasn't unloaded until the next morning. Yes, you could technically say I was fudging, but I still got my 10 hours rest. I just logged unloading the night before so I wouldn't have to start my hours for the next day until I got another load. Would an electronic log eliminate the ability to log a delivery like that?