Log Home ?

[Crazynuff]

No , not where Abe Lincoln was born ... I received a violation notice from my carrier and was told 2 more violations in six months would get me put out of service . The violation ? Not logging driving home from a terminal . I own a 1 ton pickup and deliver travel trailers . The carrier has about a dozen terminals . After delivering I go to the nearest terminal to get a load . If I can't get a load on weekends I drive home . I was told I have to log driving time to and from home to a terminal . I repeatedly asked corporate safety to give me the DOT regulation number because I had the regulation book in front of me . They could only tell me they had a letter from the DOT stating drivers were required to log this time . I told them I believed I was only required to log from home if dispatched from home . If I log driving to and from home and time waiting at a terminal I'll lose 10 or more hours a week . This carrier also charges o/o's $25 to pick up trailers at the terminal that have been pulled from the manufacturer . I've already found another carrier .

[D_Green]

After an experience with an overzealous Wy. DOTCOP, I copied this rule interpretation, & keep it in my driver's handbook.

From: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rulesregs/fmcsr/regs/interp395.8.htm

Question 26: If a driver is permitted to use a CMV for personal reasons, how must the driving time be recorded?


Guidance: When a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver's home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver's terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver's en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time. The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver's home, from the driver's home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier's CMV for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.


A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a CMV to any location to obtain rest.

My situation was "unladen". The trailer was at the rig. I would think you would be considered "unladen" also.

FWIW

Dennis

[Jimbo]

I remember a carrier who delivered trialers, asked for the "Spirit of the law" concerning drivers using their tractors for personal transportation.

The exact answer from the D.O.T. rep was "If a driver is relieved of all responsibility for any load, or the safety of any equipment, they can log the driving as Off Duty". The owner of the carrier then asked if there was any limit to the amount of miles the driver can drive under these conditions. The answer was "No, as long as the driver has no load, and has left responsiblility for the security of any equipment owned by the carrier, to another person, they can consider themselves Off Duty"

Right after that, the carrier started having their Owner/Operators log themselves as off duty after they dropped trailers at a customer. The drive back, which in some cases could be as much as 2,000 miles, were logged in as Off Duty. I don't remember reading any more about this issue, but I do know they won a couple court cases in the matter.

[Crazynuff]

The thing that gets me is this company considers "dispatch " just handing you bills at the terminal . Once you head out you're on your own . They have terminals in several states but the only way to get your next load is to drive to the terminal nearest your delivery point . It's not unusual to see 30 drivers at a terminal that may get 20 or less loads in the next couple of days . I deadheaded three times out of the Dallas area in the past month even though there is a terminal in Longview . I delivered in Temple Friday morning and when I checked at Longview I was 40th on the list . They had nowhere near that many loads . I ended up deadheading back to KY . On duty ? I don't think so . Give me a confirmed load to head for and I'll log On Duty .