that is what we have----just new to this cdl thing---- up until now (for the last 30 years)we have been winging it and doing ok but the CDL rules is definitly putting a crimp in our style !!
We certainly do not want to do anything that would endanger anyone on the road but some of their requirements seem a little "over the edge "

 

On your question on the accident delay ... I just had mandantory HOS training by my company . One part of the regulations covered was if you have an unexpected delay due to weather or traffic stopped as in a situation like your son experienced you are allowed to run an additional 2 hours if you could have reached your destination in 11 hours . Explanations must be written on the log . You cannot extend time when weather causing the delay had been correctly forecast . It must be unforeseeable circumstances .

 

OR...........you could drive 660 miles with 13 behind the wheel and log 11 hrs driving and 2 hours off duty. Once he has cleared the traffic how is an inspector going to know he sat for 2 hrs waiting for the road to clear?

 

Most hotshotters do not have a DOT legal sleeper . Off duty time of less than 10 hours or sleeper time of less than 8 hours still counts on the 14 hour clock . Those shorter off duty or sleeper breaks do not count towards the 70 hour/8day limit .

 

660 mile days send up a red flag during an audit . There are few runs where you don't encounter city traffic , hilly terrain , etc. which would lower your speed below a 60 m.p.h. average . Your fuel receipts , toll tickets , scale tickets if you have them better match your logs .

 

Herb. Commercial for last 3.5. Company has been under DOT audit for last 2. Consistently scoring 90%-100% under DOT rules. Enforced WAY harder than any Scalemaster could imagine. There are ways. PM me with your e-mail, and I'll try to help you out. The question is, where's your comfort level on fudging? Think IRS for example. I run between 10 and 12 thousand a month. All logged legal.

P.S. the reason you have to sign logbooks is that all great works of art are signed by the artist!

 

what is a DOT approved sleeper ?

 

The specifications are in the green FMCSA handbook you are supposed to carry . Most truckstops have it . It gives the cimensions , requirements for restraints ,etc .. The most important dimension is width . I believe it's 75 inches but I know pickup back seats don't qualify . NEVER log sleeper time in a pickup unless you have added a DOT approved sleeper

 

did not we cover this when you were building the box on your old trailer
Clark

 

we discussed it some after the sleeper had already been built and dot had told us we could not use it as a sleeper because it was on the trailer.
The new trailer had it built in from the factory 102" wide 6 foot deck and 8' goosneck living-sleeping area with windows both sides access door with outside door stop and screen door

 

The sleeper regs need to be rewritten with exemptions to apply to solo drivers . Why would a solo driver need restraints , etc .? I'don't see why you couldn't use a sleeping area on a trailer as long as you logged it off duty and took your full 10 hours . Sleeper regs are ridiculous . You must spend 8 straight hours in the sleeper . Come out for a minute and according to regs you have to start the 8 all over again . If you're off duty do what you want for 10 hours . Public Citizen and OOIDA had FHWA in court a couple of weeks ago . Public Citizen was suing to get rid of the 34 hour restart and OOIDA wants sleeper regs changed . If the judge sides with either one of them the HOS have to be rewritten all over again .

 

Maybe, maybe not. The company I lease to has a 65 mph average limit. However, I was too flippant in the reply, so my apologies.

I can't figure out how he only gets 450 miles a day. Lets say he starts out at 7 in the morning, loads the trailer, checks the lights, oil level, etc. That is "on duty" time. Then he drives awhile and stops for lunch. That is "off duty" time. He drives to the customers location and unloads. Again, "on duty" time. If he is logging his whole day as "driving" it is no wonder he isn't making any miles during his alloted 11 hrs. As long as he closes his book by 9 at night and doesn't log more than 11 hrs driving he is good. This is all speculation though, I have no idea how much time he spends loading and delivering. If he spends half his day (7 of 14 hrs) doing something other than driving he will go broke at 35 cents a mile. Perhaps he could be paid by the hour or a flat rate salary, instead of by the mile.

 

the load is loaded here before he leaves. all he has to do is drive to locations drop buggy and leave. He is some like me, likes to stop and visit with our customers but now that we have gone "leagal" i guess we have to minimize that a little.
Even at that if we are dropping 4 or 5 carriages per run it is most likley it is only going to be one a day and often they invite us to stay for a meal so ??????

 

While he drops the buggy he is on duty. While he is visiting with your customers, I believe that he could log off duty, the same while he is eating the offered meal. All I can say is, even while in CA with their 55 mph limit for trucks and cars pulling trailers I can still log 572 miles in 11 hrs of driving with no hassle. I might drive it in 9 and a half hours, but I'll still log 11. Once I get out of CA I'll make it up.

 

Gotta love the Union,if it were not for them we'd all kill ourselves and everyone else on the road....
Dot rules are a joke,once everything costs 3X what it should they might quit making it worse.
Everyone has to fudge it a little sometimes,but you have to be darn carefull...
I charge more everytime the Rules get more restrictive....
I wish there was something to be done about the way we are over-regulated.
Not that some of these truckers don't need to be watched...
(the extra charges are to pay the DOT fines )