Violated My Hours Of Service Yesterday

Seppo never has clarified whether his dispatcher put his directive on the Qualcomm. I'm quite sure this was a phone conversation. I've been pressured to run illegal by dispatch when I was a rookie - I knew the dispatcher was under pressure from management to be reaching certain goals with his fleet. The pressure on me would immediately stop if I asked him to go ahead and send me that same message on the Qualcomm. If the rookie doesn't know better, an unscrupulous dispatcher may play a few games with him. Knowledge of how things work in the system is power in a situation like this.

I strongly agree with Brett's comments, and want others reading this to realize that as you gain experience, problems like this become almost nonexistent. Finding parking as a rookie seems monumental, but after you've gotten more exposure to places and confidence in your grasp of things some of the really stressful parts of this job will diminish in their ability to produce angst in you.

It may sound odd to some beginners, but I consider a big part of your success at this is your ability to make your dispatcher look good to the layers of management that are monitoring his success. Just recently I finished off a 3,580 mile week. My final delivery was really tight and I had to run over my legal drive time by about twenty minutes to make it happen. There were no conversations between me and dispatch - I made my own decision and got the delivery done, then parked at that customer's yard for my ten hour break.

Later that day I got this message on the Qualcomm , "Awesome job, I saw what you did to make that happen. This is the stuff that I love about how you operate. You take care of business, you don't bother me asking questions with the details, you just get things done. Thanks alot."

Putting your dispatcher into an uncomfortable situation with the managers above him will surely have an adverse effect on your success. Being an independent driver who gets things done will do wonders for your career. Always give your utmost effort to be legal, but if you need to do something questionable to make things happen then weigh the decision and the outcome of it in your own mind and act knowing that any repercussions are your responsibility. They will always be your responsibilty, even if you take some bad advice from your dispatcher.

Your answer to your last question is, If you get caught while in violation of HOS yes. If you get stopped, and are currently ok on your daily HOS including your weekly total NO. Officers won't write you a citation for a past violation. It is an infraction not committed in their presence. You have to be in violation somehow at that moment for you to receive a citation. It's similar to be speeding in California one day, and receiving a citation the next day for that episode. That's California Highway Patrol Policy anyway. Not sure of any other State, but i'm going to assume the scales of justice work the same elsewhere.

Goodluck

LA rush hour traffic. Told my dispatch I wouldn't be able to make the delivery and be able to shut down before my 14 ran out and would probably have to relay at our terminal. Message I got back basically said "don't care, make the delivery." Went an hour and a half over on my 11 and 14 just getting to our terminal to shut down - nowhere else to park driving through LA.

Already talked to safety and got my slap on the wrist, they also told me to get in touch with them if dispatch ever puts me in that situation again so now I know what to do for the future. However, I was doing some research online and read that you can be pulled in for inspections much more frequently with violations, and that fines can run up to 11,000 dollars. I've gone over by 5, 10, 20 minutes every once in a while but an hour and a half is a big deal. Anyone know what I can expect going forward? Will I get a massive ticket at the first weight station I pass?

Hi, so, ive read some things that suggest that going over your allotted drive time is considered common, and almost necessary. Even some things i've read on this site. As someone who is looking into going into the trucking industry, this is something that I have been concerned about.

Is it common, and almost expected for drivers in today's trucking world, to go over their driving hours? Do companies really expect that? Or are most companies pretty good about adhering to the letter of the law? Also, some say that in order to increase your paycheck, driving over the hours are something that quite a few people do.

I'm just trying to prepare myself for what this career will potentially throw at me.

-Sam

Also, if you are the kind of person who will do their utmost to get the job done, but only as long as it does not cause you to have to run illegal, in other words, if you are the kind of person that you will adhere to the HOS rules, and if a manager asks you to run over, and you refuse, does that generally mean that that driver will end up being run out of the company? Basically, do you really need to have flexibility in your HOS to thrive in the trucking industry, or is it best to always try to stick to legal?

I understand there are pressures in the trucking world to get things done, but I also understand that with the new CSA rules, that a lot of the burden falls on the driver, and it is the drivers license that will be at risk if he gets too many violations. I generally like the fact that my company has us run legal all of the time, granted, we are not a trucking company, but an oilfield services company, but they are very rigid on our hours of service. This is good, because it doesn't put me in the situation of having to decide whether or not I want to risk my CDL , or risk my job.

Is it common, and almost expected for drivers in today's trucking world, to go over their driving hours? Do companies really expect that? Or are most companies pretty good about adhering to the letter of the law? Also, some say that in order to increase your paycheck, driving over the hours are something that quite a few people do.

I've never had to, or even been pressured to. I work for Swift and we have tons of drivers all over the place. If you don't think you can make it, you follow the proper procedure to let dispatch/planners know and they will either try to move the appointment time or have someone else relay the load to where it needs to be.

Old School's dispatcher is a little different than mine. My dispatcher has a saying she messages her drivers every once in a while--"If you can't do it safely, legally, and on time, do not do it." She does not want her drivers going over on their hours at all. Even if we don't get cited by DOT for it, Swift does internal log audits. If she has a lot of drivers getting caught during those log audits, it's not going to make her look very good.

Is it common, and almost expected for drivers in today's trucking world, to go over their driving hours? Do companies really expect that? Or are most companies pretty good about adhering to the letter of the law? Also, some say that in order to increase your paycheck, driving over the hours are something that quite a few people do.

Sambo, I would say that is far more common to not violate your hours. To answer your questions, No you do not want to run illegally. You need to obey the laws. Companies do not expect you to break the law. We get messages all the time on the Qualcomm telling us to not violate our hours. And yes for the most part any of the major carriers expect you to obey the law. I don't know where you found that information saying, "in order to increase your paycheck, driving over the hours are something that quite a few people do." You certainly didn't find that here on our web site, and if you did we need you to provide us some quotes so we know why you are getting that impression. I gave an example of violating my hours above, but that was very out of the ordinary for me, and I only gave it to show that on occasion you may need to make a decision and decide what you are going to do. I could have stuck to the letter of the law and nobody would have scolded me or even expressed a concern over what I did. But what I did was a very minor infraction, and it kept me on track for getting an awesome load for my next run. These are things that you will learn and develop your skills at as you gain experience.

Also, if you are the kind of person who will do their utmost to get the job done, but only as long as it does not cause you to have to run illegal, in other words, if you are the kind of person that you will adhere to the HOS rules, and if a manager asks you to run over, and you refuse, does that generally mean that that driver will end up being run out of the company?

Certainly not. HOS violations are considered taboo by all the major carriers, remember your CSA score are also reflected in their CSA scores. Seppo's experience he shared here was just because he had an unscrupulous dispatcher who probably thought he could get him to do something because he is a rookie. That is not necessarily a reflection on the company, but an individual who was trying to make himself look good at the expense of someone else. Typical corporate B.S. type stuff. Any experienced driver would know how to handle it, and probably would have never had it even happen to them because the dispatcher would know what they would do. Like I said earlier, you just request a dispatcher like that to send me that message on the Qualcomm, indicating that you know I am out of hours and yet you insist I make this delivery, and I will be glad to do it. He will never do that, and you can go park and get your ten hour break. Much of the problems with HOS can be rectified with good trip planning and experience. Beginners have issues like this because they are still learning how it all comes together. It takes a good couple of years in my opinion to get the hang of this stuff before you can really manage your time efficiently out here.

I appreciate the replies. Old School, maybe I didn't get the intention of it, but reading through that truth in trucking book that is posted here on this site, chapter 10, the section on DOT alluded me to thinking that that was the norm in the trucking industry. Basically that by running over, it's better for everyone. As was quoted "everyone wins when you cheat your log book". That may not be the exact wording, but it was the general idea.

Basically, reading through that chapter is part of what got me curious about this, and concerned, which is why I had to ask.

Okay, that book was written from a different time era. Things are totally different in today's climate. Brett wrote that book, and he drove before we had electronic logs. Everybody today is pretty much on the same page with running legal, or they will be very soon!

I appreciate the replies. Old School, maybe I didn't get the intention of it, but reading through that truth in trucking book that is posted here on this site, chapter 10, the section on DOT alluded me to thinking that that was the norm in the trucking industry. Basically that by running over, it's better for everyone. As was quoted "everyone wins when you cheat your log book". That may not be the exact wording, but it was the general idea.

Basically, reading through that chapter is part of what got me curious about this, and concerned, which is why I had to ask.

Been a while since I've read Brett's book, but as I recall that chapter is specifically referring to paper logs, which are much easier to "cheat" than e-logs. Brett has also stated numerous times that he didn't fudge his logs in order to run a ridiculous number of hours every week as some drivers did/do, but rather to make things more convenient for him and get the rest he needed.

Is fudging logs common in the industry? I'd say yes, overwhelmingly. But not in the way you might think. Technically, all time spent at a shipper/receiver is supposed to be logged as on-duty time unless you are completely relieved of duty (and most of the time you aren't). For a typical driver, actually following this rule would eat up your 70 in a record amount of time. I usually spend about 15-30 min. on duty at a customer, regardless of how long I'm there.

I've spent over 24 hours at a shipper before waiting for a live load, and was not allowed to leave. According to the FMCSA that 24 hours should have been logged as on-duty, which is beyond ridiculous. Any driver who claims they would have logged it as on-duty is either incredibly naive or a liar. I make money when I'm making miles, and not any other time. I'm not going to waste my clock not being paid.

For the record, I use e-logs and have never had an HOS violation. I don't relish the idea of sweating through every weigh station for a week straight because I drove five minutes over. Then again, I'm team so I have the luxury of just having my fiance take over when I'm out of hours. I can understand that solo drivers might be forced to drive over once in a while.

I have went over my hours once in three months.

I had driven 6 hours to get to my final delivery appointment on a three stop load. I was already late due to the first two stops taking ungodly amounts of time.

I hit SB as soon as I got checked and told where to park to wait for a door. I was so close on my hours that I never went back on duty when I got my door and was being unloaded, hoping to get 8 hours in SB (I had already been there 5 hours by this time).

I get unloaded, and get my paperwork and was told there were shortages!! I had 34 minutes on my 14 by this point. I couldn't find who to call in my handbook, but I knew that my empty call message told me. But I have to go ON DUTY to send it in...

Needless to say, once I was done waiting on risk management to figure out the shortages, leave the receiver (no overnight parking on site and this is in MD late in the afternoon) and get to the nearest place to park, I was over my clock by 33 minutes.

First violation ever. I received a call from safety the very next morning. They asked what happened and I explained. They told me I should have used the duty status "On duty- mandated to leave facility." This is similar to the safe haven rule.

The way it was explained to me, this status is simply the company covering their butts. If DOT pulled me over while I was moving to the nearest place to park, I still would have gotten a ticket....