Came Up 5 Minutes Short

You can argue all you want on what caused the delay but if dispatch has authorized the driver to continue due to an unforeseen circumstance, the driver, at least in the company's eyes, is covered

is the company going to cover your ticket for log violation if you get DOT to look at your logs, and disagrees with your "unforeseen circumstance"? Theres accidents nearly every day out there. At what point does it allow you an extra 2 hours driving? Maybe I take it to the extreme of making sure there is no doubt that my logs are legal, but I take pride in knowing I have had no log violations (except forgetting to log pretrip a couple times early on) in 2 years driving. If we want to use the drive extension we're required to get approval from our transportation manager or VP of transportation. After the 3rd log violation in a rolling 9 months period it's a 3 day suspension, 5 violations is termination. I've never been pressured to do anything illegal here, the most dispatch has done was ask if I had my "16" because I was 130 miles away with my 14 clock at 5 minutes. I opted to shut down and get a hotel instead of risk going over my 16 if I used it. All dispatch said was that it was a good idea if I'd be that close to my 16. I could have pushed it and tried to have them find another driver to come "rescue" me but theres no guarantees in that UNLESS they deem it a "hot load". I likely could have made it back as we're governed at 70 but I felt that pushing it that close was a bad idea. I'm not a super trucker or know it all, so if I come across that way I apologize. I've never used that drive extension and with so many rookies and those considering a career here I dont want them to think that they can drive an extra 2 hours because they had lost say..... 5 minutes of drive time due to an accident. At the end of the day we're responsible for our own ship, and bobcat felt having somebody come pick him up was a better option than worrying about going over his 11 driving. Are you able to use the drive extension and your 16 hour rule together? If not, maybe that came into play for bobcat as well?

Again, not trying to argue just want it to be clear for anybody reading this that may ultimately use it incorrectly and get violations as a result.

PJ plays it safe:

Safe haven parking is just that. A safe and legal parking place.

Well, Safe Haven is a technical term used for certain hazmat loads:

A safe haven is an area specifically approved in writing by local, State, or Federal governmental authorities for the parking of unattended vehicles containing Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 materials.

Check out Trucking Truth's Safe Haven Rule Explained

He mentioned "construction" and "accidents".

I suggest you enlighten your Dispatch on drive hour extensions. You can argue all you want on what caused the delay but if dispatch has authorized the driver to continue due to an unforeseen circumstance, the driver, at least in the company's eyes, is covered. If in the same circumstances you wish to tell your dispatch to **** off and you won't continue, that is your prerogative as the captain of your ship.

Company policy from everything I have been told is to pull over and wait. Trying to "educate" my dispatcher will get me no where other than the dog house.

They knew about the bridge work I knew about the bridge work it was just way more of a back up than I expected and with 612 miles to cover I do not have a lot of wiggle room. OD wants their logs 100% in compliance and would rather pay for a driver or tow truck to go rescue someone rather than risk log violations.

He mentioned "construction" and "accidents".

I suggest you enlighten your Dispatch on drive hour extensions. You can argue all you want on what caused the delay but if dispatch has authorized the driver to continue due to an unforeseen circumstance, the driver, at least in the company's eyes, is covered. If in the same circumstances you wish to tell your dispatch to **** off and you won't continue, that is your prerogative as the captain of your ship.

Company policy from everything I have been told is to pull over and wait. Trying to "educate" my dispatcher will get me no where other than the dog house.

They knew about the bridge work I knew about the bridge work it was just way more of a back up than I expected and with 612 miles to cover I do not have a lot of wiggle room. OD wants their logs 100% in compliance and would rather pay for a driver or tow truck to go rescue someone rather than risk log violations.

Schneider is the same way, I've been towed once before due to running out of hours.

Happened again, out of time in the same spot this time with 5 minutes left. Everything was on track until it started pouring and I got to the ramp from 65 to 80/94 then it was a parking lot.

So here I sit again.

Gotta be frustrating. It was bumper to bumper from 65 to 159th st exit. And was actually halfway decent all the way to O'hare but that was at 1230. I was on 65 today as well. A little rain and it screws up the entire day. Didn't help it was Friday either.

Happened again, out of time in the same spot this time with 5 minutes left. Everything was on track until it started pouring and I got to the ramp from 65 to 80/94 then it was a parking lot.

So here I sit again.

The sign on 65 said 33 minutes to state line it probably took 40 and then it was stop and go to 355.

It definitely is frustrating, I feel like a idiot too since I am 0 for 2 on making it but there is nothing I can do about it unfortunately.

That's frustrating! I came up 6 miles short today, thanks to NY and NJ traffic. My 14 ran out, and I still had 1:43 left on my drive time.

Brett's right.. Errol is right, and BobCat absolutely did the right thing per his company's policy.

You see Bobcat is well liked and stays out of trouble. He likes his job so he does what's required. All the advice is awesome, but incorrect regarding safe haven and personal conveyance advice.

WTG BobCat. Thanks for sharing so others can see the types of stuff we run into out here.

This is a great conversation with some good information for folks curious about our jobs. I think it's important to point out that Bobcat has a job where he returns to a terminal each day. Most of us are doing OTR work, and our trip planning can easily accommodate a plan B or C. We can adjust our stopping point based on slow traffic or other interruptions. Bobcat doesn't have that option as a line haul driver. The particular run he's having trouble with is doable under ideal road situations - something that's not always available to us.

Errol gave us a link to a great discussion on the mythical idea of a "Safe Haven Parking" rule. For those interested here's another informative conversation on that same subject. Unfortunately people confuse the adverse condition requirements with a bogus "safe haven" rule.

Busting The Safe Haven Myth