Security Guard VS HoS

Based on the laws now in effect that have been posted here it seems the question is now a moot point. However there is good information still to gain that can and should easily transfer to other situations you have or may very well run into.

Like Rick Dees, I have past experience having been a part time Police Officer for about 18 years and I would say that if this scenario did not have the new law backing you up, then I would not wait for the security guard to "call the police", but you should make the call yourself using the guard's phone if possible. Let the guard know that you want to comply with his request but you need an officer to do that. Get an officer to come sort out the issue. Depending on the officer, the details of the story and how YOU and the guard conduct yourselves can make a world of difference. He may end up telling the guard there is nothing he can do to make you move but if you are being hot headed and not patiently making it clear that you want to comply but also do not want to break the law, then he might tell you that you have to be towed. He/she should not make you drive, but if you offer to drive to the nearest safe location with his escort or blessing and he/she agrees then go for it. Make sure that you log everything and everyone's information and titles etc., and ask for the police report number if you really want to cover everything.

Again as Rick mentioned some of these issues could get thrown out of court if arrests or citations were made, but unfortunately it does not help you or your stress level in the moment even if you do think any action against you will take that course.

My point here in all this is, Don't be afraid to call the police, (unless of course you know you are in violation of who knows what). But really, call them. If you are proactive in calling instead of them getting called against you, the outcome can be the difference of night and day. First off it puts the officer in the mind set that he/she is coming to help YOU, and not that YOU are the bad guy that he/she is going to be looking at suspiciously and wondering just how guilty you are. It also tells them that you are trying to do what is right and sometimes even if it ends up you did something wrong, like wrong way on a one way street, (just trying to make up something here but I think you get the idea) they are more likely to give you some slack.

It's the old adage of catching more flies with honey than, how does that go?

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but you have a few options.

1) Off duty drive under "personal convenience" to the truck stop. (MUST BE EMPTY and not going to a shipper / receiver)

2) Drive, but log it (in pull down menu) as "safe haven".

If you do the 2nd option, it wouldn't hurt to call your log department AND your FM to let them know what's going on.

Have em call the cops. Have the cop escort you to the nearest safe place to park. Get the CASE NUMBER and report from the cop. Tell safety and logs in the morning about the log violation. Make sure you take a full 10 hour after the violation.

Rick

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but you have a few options.

1) Off duty drive under "personal convenience" to the truck stop. (MUST BE EMPTY and not going to a shipper / receiver)

2) Drive, but log it (in pull down menu) as "safe haven".

If you do the 2nd option, it wouldn't hurt to call your log department AND your FM to let them know what's going on.

I don't believe many Companies offer those options. I know Swift doesn't. There should truly be some leeway in those instances, but we are dealing with Federal Beauracracy. It would be nice to see Washington DC put a bit of common sense into play. Don't hold your breath on that one!

Back in the mid 90's I did security work for this shopping center. Every night we had truckers roll up on to property and usually after ten minutes we sent them packing. A few times the situation ended with the trucker being detained and the truck impounded by the cops Wasn't my problem some driver didn't plan better Joking just joking Seriously though. It was a common occurrence for drivers to show up ask if they could park there for the night. I always said yes and every driver seem surprised I was allowing them to park there. The shopping center had this South lot absolutely no one parked in. Most nights we got two or three truckers needing a place to shut down. I think the most we got was a little over 10. We could have park 100 more trucks in the south lot and still had plenty of space

Sorry if this has been mentioned already, but you have a few options.

1) Off duty drive under "personal convenience" to the truck stop. (MUST BE EMPTY and not going to a shipper / receiver)

2) Drive, but log it (in pull down menu) as "safe haven".

If you do the 2nd option, it wouldn't hurt to call your log department AND your FM to let them know what's going on.

Yes this is an old thread. But these ideas here are "Tall Trucker Tales".

#1: Using your truck as a "personal convenience" does not work this way. Old School wrote about this already in this thread (see page 6):

1. I only use it if I am on a 34 hour reset away from home.
2. I only use it if I do not have a trailer attached to my tractor.
3. I only use it if I am not under a load or a pre-planned load.
4. I only use it to go somewhere and back to my original place I am parked.

Not as a convenient excuse to do your business.

#2 "Safe Haven" is a common misunderstanding. I have had a dispatcher tell me to use it just to get to a parking place. It is specifically a safe location for a hazmat load. Check out the definition in the actual FMCSR code:

Title 49: Transportation:    PART 397—TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS; DRIVING AND PARKING RULES
Subpart A—General    §397.5 Attendance and surveillance of motor vehicles.
(d) For purposes of this section—
(3) 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

I know this is an old thread and some of the laws and rules changed as this thread moved along. In saying that it looks as though the law has been put out there to help protect the driver in these situations and with the advent of e-logs that seems to have curbed some of the issues brought up in this thread. Correct me if I'm wrong because I am not yet in this profession but hope to be in the next few months. For you experienced folks out there do you run across the issues this thread has pointed out very often? I would also like to chime in with my own thoughts and observations on this. I have spent the better part of almost 20 years in the pest control industry mostly running routes and the last few years managing routes. I can say it is similar to what causes some of the issues brought out here and that is if you are not organized and you can't manage your time well you will fail miserably running a pest control route. That's not to say that a couple of bad customers don't make it hard to achieve your objective. I always told new pc route techs to give it a good 6 months to get used to running a route and learning the business to make a decision on if this is for you. I have seen multiple times that the trucking industry needs a good solid year to decide if it's right for you. I realize running a pc route is not comparable to driving an 80,000 pound vehicle from pillar to post but the concept is the same. Be organized, plan (manage) your time accordingly, and give the job time to work for you. On the subject of running out of time I am currently going through the High Road training and I am on the HOS stuff and let me tell you after reading all of that it's as clear as mud. I am more confused than a chameleon in a bag of skittles. I only hope that the company I end up going to stresses this during training and the trainer I ride with explains it so I can understand it. I am going to really focus on this part of the High Road course as well as the air brakes section.