PC Use Legality Question

I'm currently sitting at a truck stop 3 miles from the receiver. My delivery appointment is at 3 AM. My next load doesn't pick up until 2 PM nearby and it's on a tight schedule. My dispatch says it's OK for me to PC into the customer, thereby not starting my 14 hr clock until after I roll out unloaded. He says it's not "advancing the load" as I'm already in the same zip code. There's nowhere to park and wait at the customer site. Is he correct?

From the FMCSA:

The following are examples of uses of a CMV that would not qualify as personal conveyance and therefore be required to be recorded as driver time: 1. The movement of a CMV in order to enhance the operational readiness of a motor carrier. For example, bypassing available resting locations in order to get closer to the next loading or unloading point or other scheduled motor carrier destination.

The general rule of thumb is if you are doing anything work-related, you are not going to be able to use PC except for in very limited circumstances. I.e., you ran out of hours and need to get to the nearest safe parking location.

Nope your dispatcher is not correct. PC going into the shipper is advancing the load.

You will get time afterward to work a split. Your best legal option.

Being in the same zip code has no bearing. Logs work off gps coordinates and it will show as different.

Yeah, so sounds like he's full of **** as usual. Seems like such a weird nitpicky thing tho. Say this customer had a driver staging area that I was parked in. Could I then use PC to move over to a door once called? So as not to interrupt my break?

Yeah, so sounds like he's full of **** as usual. Seems like such a weird nitpicky thing tho. Say this customer had a driver staging area that I was parked in. Could I then use PC to move over to a door once called? So as not to interrupt my break?

Do you have “yard move” with your company? That would be a yard move, if I understand it correctly.

It looks like you are in a near perfect setup for a Split Sleeper situation.

Trigger your drive clock. Hope they take 2+ hours to unload. Get close to next stop, and immediately go to SB status and actually into the sleeper. If they want you in a dock, be "that guy" and do the idle creep to not interrupt the SB status. (By letter of law, false log, by qc, it didn't trigger.)

"Do you have “yard move” with your company? That would be a yard move, if I understand it correctly."

Yeah but yard move is on duty. The whole point is to preserve the 14 hour clock.

I get the whole trying to use split sleeper, I've done it before, it's just the rules are so weird you never know if it's going to work properly, and then, bam a load is late.

It's just that I've only been with guys a couple weeks. This is me coming off of my "starter company". And the pay is amazing. Just got my first check and it was eye popping from what I'm used to. I don't want to push back and not be a good soldier, if you know what I'm saying.

Here’s what I wonder about. If a driver actually arrives at the delivery location first and logs in his arrival, and THEN goes to the parking location 3 miles away to wait, is returning at delivery time “advancing the load”? When returning to the delivery site, can PC then be used? Seems to be a very gray area. To be honest, I’ve done exactly what scorchednuts is considering a number of times and never been questioned by my company.

This response being 2 days after the OP, I'm curious how it ended up?

Sometimes it can take some creative thinking to get done what needs to be done and still be legal. One time I arrived at the cons with ~30 minutes to spare on my 14. They didn't have on-site parking, but as long as I'm on their property after being unloaded I can then use PC to get safely to a truck stop, right? Well, it didn't turn out so easy. When I go to check in with them I find out they're having mechanical issues with their dock, so I'm going to have to drive ~1 mile down the road to one of their trailer lots and wait for a phone call from them for when the docks are fixed. 2 hours later I get that call, but now I can't legally move the truck since I'd have to drive on a public road to get there. I inform them of this predicament and ask if they can send a yard jockey to fetch the trailer, otherwise we'll just have to wait for my 10 hour reset. Well, I guess they didn't want to have to wait either and agreed to send a yard jockey. Hey, it worked for me!