Profile: virgil tatro
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What's Happening Now
You might want to check out What will this cost? , because the driver fatigue problem is mentioned there. Leave a comment on that post letting us know how you think FMCSA did in dealing with that problem.
It sounds like you might have something to say about a different proposed rule on HOS changes. You can comment on that proposed rule here.
You raise an interesting point about how the proposed EOBR rule would affect carriers that use older, non-electronic trucks. Do you think the rule would be better if carriers with these older trucks were not required to use EOBRs, but drivers with newer trucks were required to use EOBRs?
It sounds like you might have something to say on a different proposed rule on HOS. You can let FMCSA know what you think on that rule here.
…while in theory this proposal seems logical….but what safe guards is the government giving us in delays,that are beyond our control(shippers/companys must be made accountable in driver delays) …distances is still an obstacle,lane restrictions,truck speed limits,antiquated chicken coops..the list of hurdles is long…..yes hos is very important but the gov has got to remember those items around you where moved by truck and quite possibly across country…11 hr drive time,fine with me…but if I waste any of it….the economy suffers….another thing like gentleman above said…places where a big truck can get a rest…the makes the rule but the states tell the big trucks move it or get a ticket…some of us are not crazy about truck stops…and that whole other set of head aches…
Virgil Tatro, your poem is clever, but rulemaking isn’t about voting or just expressing your opinion. The kind of comments that really matter are those that explain exactly why the agency should or shouldn’t do something. One person with some new information or a really good idea will have more impact than 1,000 people who just give an opinion.
So, how do you make comments that count? Focus on parts of the agency proposal that will affect you directly, or that you know something about. Express your concerns and suggestions clearly. To learn more about effective commenting click here.
The JJ Keller EOBR system will work with any truck or vehicle. It does not use your ECM or any part of the truck to use. Its $199 to buy the GPS sender unit and $6.00 a month to use. The information is sent to your smart phone (must by a smart phone to use this system) and recorded. you can sent this info to any computer to be put on CD/DVD for your back up storage. the smart phone is able to do both the EOBR thing and can be used as your cell phone at the same time. You cannot text if truck is moving over 8mph. its easy to use and so far works great. 1 small glitch on the backup data but fixed in 10 min.
the company i am leased to has not come out with have not come out with firm numbers but estimates are in the 1200 to 2000 dollar range with a WEEKLY charge of 40 to 60 dollars.
I have been an owner operator for over 12 years now and have seen my bottom line drop to almost nothing.
the high costs of over regulation along with the facts that freight rates today are where they were 10 years ago add the fact that maintenance costs are outrageous is pretty much unbearable for the little guy to even come close to making a living.
I have 5 csa points and they are over a paper work issue that I was told that I could have had erased but i didn’t appeal it in time but at the time that this issue came up there was no way to appeal it.
so it isn’t like I am not a compliant driver and not… more »
I have about decided that the government could care less about the small business owner in trucking and have teamed up with the driver mill companies that hire new students that have no idea on how to be compliant and even worse are not safety first oriented so if they want to force me to come up with another 2 to 5 thousand a year to prove that I am following the rules then I will take the loss on my equipment and find some work that is less stressful more profitable in the process and watch the carnage that will surely happen as the proven safe drivers give up in frustration and the new breed of inexperienced super truckers take over from the proven safe old hands « less
An eobr will not shut down your truck unless it is programmed that way. It will just log the hos violation.
Very true! I had my dispatcher at Melton Truck Lines in Tulsa Oklahoma both send me a QualComm and Call me on the phone in the middle of my 10 hour break and wake me up to ask me how long before my break was over. I told here 10 hours from right now, because you just interupted my 10 hour dot break. Then I hung up on her, turned off my phone and unplugged the QualComm! I quit that Sorry job 2 weeks later. They don’t want drivers, they want robots!
Some other commenters have mentioned that there might be less expensive and less intrusive EOBRs than the Qualcomm device (You can read their comments here and here). How would a mandate for a less expensive and intrusive device impact your decision about continuing to drive a truck?
You can comment on another post by clicking on the “reply” button that appears on the bottom right hand corner of the post. You seem to be suggesting that EOBRs are very inflexible. What are some suggestions on how to make the EOBRs more workable? How does your experience with the elogs compare to that of the EOBR?
At this point in the process, the focus is on making sure the summary includes everything that was raised in the comments on the different posts. This is not the time to raise new points or re-hash old arguments. If you think we missed something that you or someone else mentioned in the comments before, let us know!
If eobrs are mandated I know of numerous including me that will be put out of business, you can not install an eobr in an older model non electronic truck.. EOBRs are not for safety there is no way that an Electronic onboard recorder knows when I or any other driver is tired or fatigued..(EXAMPLE) If I start my day at say 5:30am drive 11 hours with a 30 minute break in there some where that has me shut down for the day at 5:00pm I can not go to bed at 5:00 pm I call my twin four yeard old girls every night at there bed time that is 8:30pm.. regardless I can not go to bed at 5:00pm but maybe at 9:30 or 10:00pm i can so i sat for 5hours then finally ablr to go to sleep by 10:00pm. My alarm goes off 3:00am after my mandatory 10 hour break.. The HOS rules made me stop at 5:00pm I could have easily… more »
Why can any body just get in there car, mini van, suv etc with there whole family on board drive cross country non stop.. But a professional driver has to have an EOBR to make sure they are in compliance? I have been on the road all of my 37 years and have seen every scenario.. EOBRS are not the answer.. educating the public is!! Leave the HOS as they are if any changes are made simply Eliminate the 14 hour rule. Give truckers the opportunity to stop and stop the clock as they need to..
I must say that if everyone always followed the HOS and were always in compliance there would be tired truckers all over..The HOS Force drivers to stop when they are not even close to tired and if they have no common cence will force them to start up and drive when they are not rested!! (EXAMPLE) If I start my day at 5:30am Drive 7 hours stop for my PROPOSED 30 minute break, then finish out my last 4 hours I will be done for the day at 5:00pm! I can not go to bed at 5:00pm especially if I started my day at 5:30am.. So now I am done for the day at 5:00pm who knows where.. so now I sit here for hours and I can not go to sleep it is far to early.. I cal my Children and wife every night at 8:00pm but now by 10:00pm im tired enough to go to sleep.. at 3:00am my alarm goes off after my 10 hour break… more »
I must add1 i Parked my truck in 2008 because my wife had a possible lifre threatening illness.. she is in good health now and I hope to soon be back on the road.. the problem Here is, we have a totally reconditioned 1988 peterbilt truck.. It is non electronic and will not support an EOBR Thus making our truck worthless.. While I have been off the road I have been Mining in an underground Mine.. let me tell you about my day..I get up at 4:00am leave home at 5:00am drive an hour and fifteen minutes to work (one way) attend a half hour meeting. and then we work 12 hours underground, in heat and darkness like you have never seen..underground from 7;00am to 7:00pm then drive one hour and fifteen minutes back home usually in ice and snow.. and rotate days and nights every 7 days..about 16.5 hours… more »
this is a bunch of bs how do they expect us to support our family when all this happens these stupid rules will lead to more illegal stuff like drug dealing stealing and murders this isnt right everyone wants to make money off the driver fuel is already at a all time high brokers are trying to go down on freight and no one cares they think truck drivers are all ready at the bottom of every thing i have you know that this country runs off of truckdrivers people wouldnt have nothing no food no clothes no heat no energey no water no nothing so if they want to pass these stupid laws let them but i promise you the usa will be like egypt the people will take a stand and the people will get what they want just watch and see no wonder theres so many people on drugs and we have so many murders i think… more »
I do not believe EOBR’s are any more necessary for CMV than they would be for cars. I have not seen any evidence that trucks cause any more accidents than cars. If we are serious about safety EOBR’s should be mandatory on all vehicles. As far as productivity is concerned, a lot of products in america are moved with little notice and require trucks at a moments notice as opposed to freight that ships on a continual basis. I think this is what sets America apart from other countries because we can ship anything, anywhere very quickly. many times to move this type of freight quickly you can’t comply with the current HOS but that doesn’t mean you are endangering other people on the road. EOBR’s will have no affect on a large part of the industry but have a huge affect on a smaller part of the industry. FMCSA will have to weigh the cost/benefit.
I do not think there is any way to accurately account for all the possibilities that can occur in trucking and assign a cost to it. so to say that the benefits are greater than the cost are just a way to justify more regulations. The country is currently rejecting excess regulations through the Congress and my thinking is the FMCSA has to get these laws passed quickly while they can.The main factor i have against these regulations is the assumption that you are guilty and it is up to FMCSA to catch you violating a rule. Why can we not assume drivers are just trying to perform a job to the best of their abilities. I still contend that the industry does not need these regulations!
The trucking industry is already hurting financially and you want to impose another expense to an already small profit margin. We rely on truckers to deliver our product on time. Shippers and receivers need to be made more accountable for what they expect from truckers. Truckers can only do so much with the current regulations placed on them.
I am a company driver and I want to make a couple comments and hopefully you can publish them as nobody seems to want to talk about these points.
1: EOBR’s track us by the minute, but carriers insist on paying via the antiquated method of mileage pay. This antiquated method is dangerous driving habit promoting because it rewards you for driving as fast as you can. Figure out your hourly pay next time you are stuck going through Chicago at rush hour instead of shutting down for a cpl hours and waiting it out.
Now imagine no cheating on your logs, couple that with a record number of inexperienced drivers racing the unbeatable clock. You now have the most dangerous industry in the world!!! For the drivers and the general public.
2: Hourly pay has to be adopted the moment the switch is turned… more »
3: Monitored by the minute, paid by the mile….. Makes as much sense as wiping BEFORE you go poop!
4: The HOS rules are almost impossible to follow right now on paper logs where you can bend the rules a little to match your needs. Imagine the lack of ability to do the job with the rigid laws we are forced to follow.. Do we just pull over on the side of the road when the EOBR tells us we are out of hours and turn on the flashers and satellite our boss and tell him to send a driver to drive the truck the 10 minutes to the nearest truck stop? Or do we take a 10 hour break and deliver the load a day late when we run out of hours 10 minutes from the consignee’s dock? « less
I operate 2 trucks under my own authority and to incur these expenses along with the lack of flexibility in the current HOS would probably force me to discontinue my operation.
We have 4 trucks and are a small company, having to pay for these would place a great burden on our company.
…while in theory this proposal seems logical….but what safe guards is the government giving us in delays,that are beyond our control(shippers/companys must be made accountable in driver delays) …distances is still an obstacle,lane restrictions,truck speed limits,antiquated chicken coops..the list of hurdles is long…..yes hos is very important but the gov has got to remember those items around you where moved by truck and quite possibly across country…11 hr drive time,fine with me…but if I waste any of it….the economy suffers….another thing like gentleman above said…places where a big truck can get a rest…the makes the rule but the states tell the big trucks move it or get a ticket…some of us are not crazy about truck stops…and that whole other set of head aches…
Most drivers that like EOBRS that i have talked to are brand new to the Industry and drive for the large carriers, that drilled into there heads while they were in there driving school that EOBRS are the thing.. That is all they know because that is what they were taught!!! I for one have driven two million miles with out an accident or any kind of moving violation.. What is an eobr going to help me with? Besides costing me and my family money!! While some company that makes the EOBRS gets rich because some large carriers are mad because we smaller guys pass them some where along the way..
They travel across our country. In all weather day and night, with a steering wheel in there left hand and a gear shift in there right..
Just spent five hours loading. It would be nice to stop and eat, there is just no time, have to stay in the seat..
The fourteen hour rule, is one of many they are up against. If they could stop the fourteen hour clock, then they could stop to eat and rest..
The people who write these rules must not have a clue, just how many obstacles, a long haul trucker already goes through..
Rules and regulations, Wind, Rain, Snow and Ice. Shippers and Recievers who are very seldom nice. Traffic and Mechanical failure just to name a few. Sometimes months away from there families bringing everything we need to me and you..
Doing what they do just trying to make a dime.… more »
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the companies that want these are either the anti trucking groups or the companies that already have a poor record of compliance.
The financial burden for the Owner-operators will drive many out of business without improving safety, which is suppose to be the stated goal.
the over regulation of this business is driving many small business owners to bankruptcy and the government seems to care less.
for safety?? my aunts petutie
I hear and read alot about enforcement, everytime I have ever been pulled in to a scale or pulled over, and that has only happened three times in my two million miles i have always had my log book checked.. What is rediculous is that i was actually ticketed in south dakota at a scale for not having signed my log page for the day.. Now i had just started the day at Sioux Falls just a few miles ago, my log was current and everything was as it was supposed to be. I just had not signed it yet. I should not have to sign it untill the end of my day when my log is then complete! As for the Whole EOBR Issue, it and all of this other regulation Stuff is really causing my to lose sleep, Honestly. i Know the EOBR thing is not for safety as I said before A computer does not know when we are tired, Fatigued,… more »
Eliminat the HOS and the proposed EOBRs for experienced drivers with satisfactory/good records, have them carry an ID card Exempting them from HOS and EOBRS.. Use the EOBRS and the HOS for new inexperienced drivers just out of school, and those with poor safety records.. Use the EOBRS and the HOS for a training tool for new drivers and a consequence for drivers with a bad safety records.. they get alot of citations/tickets etc they abide by the EOBRS and the HOS. ILL bet you would see drivers driving alot safer if they were penalized this way for unsafe driving..
It is simple No EOBRS and leave the HOS alone why try and fix what is not broke? I had a long conversation with an inpector at a Weigh station on I94 east of St paul Minnesota. I often request an inspection of my truck/trailer and this paticular day he and I had a long conversation about HOS.. It was really neat how he and i had the same Idea On the hos and what they are truly about..
I own and operate my own truck. The FMCSA now mandates that companies with a “HIGH” safety risk are required to install EOBR’s. Now the FMCSA utilizing manipulated data wants to force EOBR’s on all interstate truckers. Am I to presume then we are all guilty of being unsafe law breaking drivers now? If I don’t want an EOBR in “MY” legally owned truck, that should be my choice, not the governments. I drive safely and responsibly and I don’t need the government to force me to install a spendy piece of equipment to make sure that I do. I also don’t need the “fatigue” that will be created when the data from an EOBR is used to “micromanage” my time.
For my company the cost of useing EOBRs will be extremely burdensome. I am a Custom Harvester with 10 units that fall under RODS requirements for less than 15 days a year. The rest of the year they are either not in use or do not have a GVWR requireing RODS or are operating from exemption of HOS under 395.1k. So requireing EOBRs on these units for 15 days a year of use under FMCSA estimate costs $785 per year would be $52 a day. This is a substantial cost over a paper log sheet costing cents a day. With the 10 units it will cost me $520 dollars a day to move. All but 2 days a year I have to use RODS I average less than 350 miles a day. So while moving my 10 units in convoy the use of EOBRs is going to cust me $1 to $1.52 a mile. To any reasonable person this is a highly burdensome cost.
As… more »
The reduced overhead and administrative costs for EOBRs is moot when compairing a small number of unit used relatively few time a year. My employees are on salery so time for compleating RODS is not direct cost. The clerical time for submiting paper logs will be faster and cheeper than electronic logs when done in small quantities. The cost of storing electronic data could be substancially higher when considering the computers needed to collect and store the data collected from EOBRs. What about data backup, computer data does fail and small business do not generally have the best bomb proof data backup systems. Yes paper logs can be destroid in fire and floods but how often does that happen compared to computer failure. Do you get a large fine because your logs are gone due to a loss of data to electronic failure either in the EOBR, data loging, or data storage?
I dont think the cost of maintaining EOBRs has been fully thought out by FMCSA. I think it has been fully thought out by the EOBR manufactures and they see $$$. 2 million power units required to buy these systems are going to be paying $40 a month for subsription costs, that’s $80 million a MONTH! Everyone knows the best businesses to be in are subsciption based sales were the customer has to keep paying. All the better that the customer has to pay you by force of law. I’m in the wrong business. Even by FMCSA estimates of .3% to.5% of cost to trucking revinue that’s $1 billion to 1.7 billion a year. That might be chump change to the federal government but it is not to private industry. All this expense is because the government does not trust motor carriers to be truthfull with their HOS compliance. All of this cost does not even guarantee a reduction of fatigue related accidents. It just stiffens the reporting requirements of HOS. Most motor carrier’s fatigue related accidents occure with no HOS violations. « less
Ron I hate to say it but if I were in your shoes I say the same thing, spoken like a true sales man. Somebody needs to explain to me, how me with one truck paying out 1645. dollars to install an EOBR and be forced to pay 40. dollars a month for somebody to make sure I am not breaking the FMCSA idea of laws we should be following. Please tell me how thats going to turn into profit for me. Is this not known as a fixed expense, not profit. Ron how would you like having government sitting in your office with you making sure that everything you are doing is legal,or make sure you are using the right garbage can for the right garbage or having Irs there watching every trans action, and they are going to charge you a monthly fee to do it, don’t worry you will see better returns this way. Ron… more »
This will be one more thing that some will try to use driving not safe
The FMCSA would benefit from having it’s own data? Here’s one source http://www.todaystrucking.com/features.cfm?intDocID=24990
I have no experience with EOBRs. I am not a truck driver. However, I know that unless the EOBR has some sort of magic powers, it cannot tell whether the driver is waiting at a shipper or reciever or securing a load. It knows only whether the truck is moving or not moving. If the truck is moving, then it’s obviously going to be on-duty, driving time. If the truck is not moving, the driver certainly must have a way to input what duty status should be recorded.
Why not address exactly how the FMCSA believes that mandated EOBR technology is not a major invasion of privacy? Why not… more »
I believe that if the Government wants us to have EOBRS then they should have to pay to have them put in. MY TRUCK..MY PROPERTY..if they pay for it no problem. I am a legal driver.
EOBRs are a huge privacy invasion to truckers. It is akin to slapping an ankle braclet on them as if they were criminals on house arrest. Confinement and tracking is supposed to be reserved for people who have been proven guilty of commiting crimes. The FMCSA has no probable cause to record the movements of drivers, especially those who are off duty and using the CMV as a personal conveyance. It speaks to the mentality of those who wish to regulate the industry to death that nearl ALL truck drivers should be treated as convicted criminals.
If EOBR-recrded records are subject to FOIA release, they could also amount to a government advocation of corporate espionage.
It is baffling, when looking at highway safety numbers, to see EOBRs being advanced. Truck-involved accidents are at an all-time… more »
Even if highway safety numbers supported such drastic intervention and forgetting that they amount to a Constitutional invasion of privacy, EOBRs are still not the solution.
If the idea is that drivers are common criminals who cannot be trusted to enter information accurately and truthfully, why in the world would we consider a solution than still requires them to input their duty status? Sure, an EOBR can tell when the truck is moving and where it is, but it cannot tell what the driver is doing when the truck is not moving. Why aren’t we just moving on to technology that requires drivers to connect themselves to sensors to record whether they are actually in their sleepers and whether they are awake or asleep?
Enacting EOBRs will not make anyone safer. If there was an EOBR in every single vehicle on the road, I would not feel a whit safer. There are good truck drivers, there are bad truck drivers, and EVERYONE is liable to make a mistake at any time regardless of how professional they are. As a motorist, I will continue to give trucks wide berth for that very reason.
The cost/benefit analysis cannot convince me otherwise. It is completely unreliable. Fatigue is unquantifiable. Just because a driver has an HOS violation or mistake in their logbook does not mean that they were actually fatigued. Law enforcement officers filling out crash reports are not, and cannot, be qualified to determine fatigue, either. And yet, we rely on those statistics, recorded on an unquantifiable factor, as a way to measure whether or not better HOS enforcement through EOBRs will protect us. We can’t even know that the HOS prevent fatigue in truck drivers, but somehow better enforcement of those regs will?
Our country and especially our trucking industry stands on the verge of bankruptcy. With this in mind you want to implement a system that would have upfront cost and then continual cost added to an already hurting industry. WHY!! For what reason do you want to do this when the current system is working so well. Why do you want to track every interstate truck in this country? This industry has proven over the past few years that safety and product delivery can work well together. It does not need any higher dollar technology to achieve good safety. I am in favor of EOBRs for those who cannot play by the rules, but the majority of the carriers and drivers are hard working Americans who are just trying to get by. They do not need any more instruments in their cabs to confuse them and cost… more »
I have also seen the results from these items and they are confusing, and hard to audit. The system can be easily fooled and will just cause more problems than good. « less
The availability of the information that will be mandated in the proposed EOBR rule is a treasure trove of information for criminal exploitation. Even though the information required does not go to the GPS grid coordinate level, all a criminal needs to know is the city where a truck got loaded. Shipping locations are well known within the transportation community. If you tell me the city a shipment came from I can tell you the most likely contents of the load. Truck hijackers will focus on trucks that have visited cities that ship pharmaceuticals, electronics, copper, aluminum, and other high value loads. Wireless networks and/or have an external access point are generally not considered secure methods of data transmission.
To protect sensitive information the Federal Information Security… more »
According to FISMA, the term information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide integrity, confidentiality and availability.
As a private company, Qualcomm does not have to comply with FISMA when selling systems to private companies. When the Federal Government mandates the use of a system by Government to interact with private carriers, it now becomes subject to FISMA.
Recommendation:
A. Prior to publication of any EOBR regulation, the US DOT must comply and document compliance with all aspects of the FISMA act to achieve system accreditation as discussed in the following paragraph:
“Once the system documentation and risk assessment has been completed, the system’s controls must be reviewed and certified to be functioning appropriately. Based on the results of the review, the information system is accredited. The certification and accreditation process is defined in NIST SP 800-37 “Guide for the Security Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems”.[12]”
B. Compliance with Federal Laws by DOT is not optional it is mandatory. Additionally, the reason for information security is to protect individual truck drivers from the violence associated with criminal activity associated with the exploitation of vulnerable information by criminals.
C. Once the EOBR has been certified, accredited, and documented as required by “Guide for the Security Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems”, the DOT will need to republish the proposed EOBR regulation to include all the additional costs associated with information security.
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hours on-duty, off-duty, driving. o other information is required.
Location is not required, unless you of course you wanted to start a Vehicle Miles TAX using trucks as a guinea pig. If so, recommend going to congress as the constitution requires all bills requiring taxation to originate there.
If eobrs are mandated I know of numerous including me that will be put out of business, you can not install an eobr in an older model non electronic truck.. EOBRs are not for safety there is no way that an Electronic onboard recorder knows when I or any other driver is tired or fatigued..(EXAMPLE) If I start my day at say 5:30am drive 11 hours with a 30 minute break in there some where that has me shut down for the day at 5:00pm I can not go to bed at 5:00 pm I call my twin four yeard old girls every night at there bed time that is 8:30pm.. regardless I can not go to bed at 5:00pm but maybe at 9:30 or 10:00pm i can so i sat for 5hours then finally ablr to go to sleep by 10:00pm. My alarm goes off 3:00am after my mandatory 10 hour break.. The HOS rules made me stop at 5:00pm I could have easily… more »
I must say that if everyone always followed the HOS and were always in compliance there would be tired truckers all over..The HOS Force drivers to stop when they are not even close to tired and if they have no common cence will force them to start up and drive when they are not rested!! (EXAMPLE) If I start my day at 5:30am Drive 7 hours stop for my PROPOSED 30 minute break, then finish out my last 4 hours I will be done for the day at 5:00pm! I can not go to bed at 5:00pm especially if I started my day at 5:30am.. So now I am done for the day at 5:00pm who knows where.. so now I sit here for hours and I can not go to sleep it is far to early.. I cal my Children and wife every night at 8:00pm but now by 10:00pm im tired enough to go to sleep.. at 3:00am my alarm goes off after my 10 hour break… more »
I must add1 i Parked my truck in 2008 because my wife had a possible lifre threatening illness.. she is in good health now and I hope to soon be back on the road.. the problem Here is, we have a totally reconditioned 1988 peterbilt truck.. It is non electronic and will not support an EOBR Thus making our truck worthless.. While I have been off the road I have been Mining in an underground Mine.. let me tell you about my day..I get up at 4:00am leave home at 5:00am drive an hour and fifteen minutes to work (one way) attend a half hour meeting. and then we work 12 hours underground, in heat and darkness like you have never seen..underground from 7;00am to 7:00pm then drive one hour and fifteen minutes back home usually in ice and snow.. and rotate days and nights every 7 days..about 16.5 hours… more »
Why can any body just get in there car, mini van, suv etc with there whole family on board drive cross country non stop.. But a professional driver has to have an EOBR to make sure they are in compliance? I have been on the road all of my 37 years and have seen every scenario.. EOBRS are not the answer.. educating the public is!! Leave the HOS as they are if any changes are made simply Eliminate the 14 hour rule. Give truckers the opportunity to stop and stop the clock as they need to..
It is simple No EOBRS and leave the HOS alone why try and fix what is not broke? I had a long conversation with an inpector at a Weigh station on I94 east of St paul Minnesota. I often request an inspection of my truck/trailer and this paticular day he and I had a long conversation about HOS.. It was really neat how he and i had the same Idea On the hos and what they are truly about..
Follow the EOBR and drive tired that makes sence.. let an Electric onboard recorder tell me when i am tired.. REALLY?
You raise an interesting point about how the proposed EOBR rule would affect carriers that use older, non-electronic trucks. Do you think the rule would be better if carriers with these older trucks were not required to use EOBRs, but drivers with newer trucks were required to use EOBRs?
No I do not agree with the EOBR rule at all> i know exactally why this rule is being proposed and i will not support it.. if people and companies want to use EOBRS let them, but do not force everyone to use them.. It is an un necessary burden.. that has nothing to do with safety.. If you read my comments thouroughly you will see my point and reasoning..
it seems that the FMCSA just wants to complicate things! Just leave it alone.. It is fine the way is is…
It is simple No EOBRS and leave the HOS alone why try and fix what is not broke? I had a long conversation with an inpector at a Weigh station on I94 east of St paul Minnesota. I often request an inspection of my truck/trailer and this paticular day he and I had a long conversation about HOS.. It was really neat how he and i had the same Idea On the hos and what they are truly about..
I talked to a Montana highway patroll officer today and they can not even access an eobr they have no software for them and no means of even checking them..
NO EOBRS
What about farmers and ranchers that haul cattle and hay a few months out of the year? What about the custom Harvestors who travel a circuit harvesting grain about six months out of the year? How are these guys going to afford this? what about personell conveyence.. We use our truck a couple of times a year to pull our fifth wheel travel trailer to races..
No benefits at all. they are just an expence that is not necessary..
Why cant I just write it down on my paper logs as we have been doing for years? an eobr will cause truckers to shut down in the middle of no where.. the HOS are enough do not add an EOBR to the mix.. as an owner operator who would get my EOBR data? my wife at home?
Most drivers that like EOBRS that i have talked to are brand new to the Industry and drive for the large carriers, that drilled into there heads while they were in there driving school that EOBRS are the thing.. That is all they know because that is what they were taught!!! I for one have driven two million miles with out an accident or any kind of moving violation.. What is an eobr going to help me with? Besides costing me and my family money!! While some company that makes the EOBRS gets rich because some large carriers are mad because we smaller guys pass them some where along the way..
Truckers are treated like criminals.. I am a hard working family man.. Have adopted two children and been married 20 years.. I have been harrassed by Inspectors at scales! Been woken up at night and told by the Highway patrol that i had 10 minutes to move my truck or it would be towed! Thus putting my in Violation of the HOS rules.. I could write a book about this.. an eobr will never be in my truck..
No EOBRS for any one..
Follow the EOBR and drive tired that makes sence.. let an Electric onboard recorder tell me when i am tired.. REALLY?
Follow the EOBR and drive tired that makes sence.. let an Electric onboard recorder tell me when i am tired.. REALLY?
There is just no realistic reason for this..
I hear and read alot about enforcement, everytime I have ever been pulled in to a scale or pulled over, and that has only happened three times in my two million miles i have always had my log book checked.. What is rediculous is that i was actually ticketed in south dakota at a scale for not having signed my log page for the day.. Now i had just started the day at Sioux Falls just a few miles ago, my log was current and everything was as it was supposed to be. I just had not signed it yet. I should not have to sign it untill the end of my day when my log is then complete! As for the Whole EOBR Issue, it and all of this other regulation Stuff is really causing my to lose sleep, Honestly. i Know the EOBR thing is not for safety as I said before A computer does not know when we are tired, Fatigued,… more »
They travel across our country. In all weather day and night, with a steering wheel in there left hand and a gear shift in there right..
Just spent five hours loading. It would be nice to stop and eat, there is just no time, have to stay in the seat..
The fourteen hour rule, is one of many they are up against. If they could stop the fourteen hour clock, then they could stop to eat and rest..
The people who write these rules must not have a clue, just how many obstacles, a long haul trucker already goes through..
Rules and regulations, Wind, Rain, Snow and Ice. Shippers and Recievers who are very seldom nice. Traffic and Mechanical failure just to name a few. Sometimes months away from there families bringing everything we need to me and you..
Doing what they do just trying to make a dime.… more »
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Eliminat the HOS and the proposed EOBRs for experienced drivers with satisfactory/good records, have them carry an ID card Exempting them from HOS and EOBRS.. Use the EOBRS and the HOS for new inexperienced drivers just out of school, and those with poor safety records.. Use the EOBRS and the HOS for a training tool for new drivers and a consequence for drivers with a bad safety records.. they get alot of citations/tickets etc they abide by the EOBRS and the HOS. ILL bet you would see drivers driving alot safer if they were penalized this way for unsafe driving..
Ok here I sit tonight in reed point Montana. i am only driving part time, as i have a mining job that i am employed at full time awaiting these redicoulous rules.. If they are passed I will never drive a truck again but i love trucking so i am doing it part time.. Ok i just took a trip to red deere alberta canada.. I am sampeling AN e-log, as i said i am sitting on an exit ramp in Reed Point Montana, 16 miles from my home and I have to sit here for 10 hours before I can legally drive the 16 miles home.. I could legally unhook from my trailer and drive home, Personell conveyance.. but not with an electronic recorder.. so ill sit here on this exit ramp for 10 hours and then drive the 16 miles to my home.. makes alot of sence..
i dont know how to comment on anothere post. but to who commented on one of mine. what I meant by drivers will have to shut down in the middle of no where often due to an eobr is not because the eobr will shut his truck off i meant because he/she will have to stop when the eobr says times up rather then making it just a few more miles to a safe place, etc. I had this happen running elogs in bad weather i had to shut down 16 miles from home because my time was up.. i had to park in reed point montana i only live 16 miles from there, but due to weather conditions and the elog i could not drive home.
Fact!!! an eobr can and will be used to force a driver to drive when he or she is not rested.. using a qualcomm system i have in the past been awakened at night only to have my dispacher tell me my 10 hours is up and i need to get going. he has no idea how long i had been asleep or resting just that i had been sitting for 10 hours and woke me up at 2;30 am sayin i had to go ive sat my 10 hours.. now how will an eobr make this better.. as an owner operator using no qualcomm and paper logs i slept as long as i wanted and they didnt know the difference..
thanks patrick, your point is one i was trying to make, for not only small trucking companies and owner ops but for farmers and custom harvesters like your self. I am a former custom harvester as well..
i just wish this was over so I could decide what to do next.
Is compliance really safety? NO!! compliance is often un safe putting drivers in harms way because they are out of hours to drive. and often times when they do park due to being out of hours are forced to drive by the police and for many other reasons. Cmon we all know why they want EOBRS..
moderator, i dont really know what to say, i am totally against the whole EOBR proposal, why should I or any other professional driver have to have this device, when my wife can get in our mini van with our children and drive strait through from our home in Montana to her moms home in south georgia. im against the reasoning for this device. i admit to violating the hos rules at times but only to get to a safe place to park or to beat the storm. whats the point in stopping when its raining at 33 degrees and the forecast is for tempuratures to fall and everything to turn to ice in just a few hours when you are perfectally able to continue for a little longer and make your destination without driving in the ice etc. i have to add that our truck is a 1988 model peterbilt, non electronic. I recently… more »
after alot of reading and contacting numerious trucking companies and even trying elogs i still vote no to the eobr rule. NO EOBRS!!!!
I know for a fact that EOBRS can and will reduce safety on americas highways. I am relieved and very happy with the results of this survey, now i just hope and pray everything goes well and I and my old peterbilt will be out there running americas highways with my family name on the side..
the 1.5 to 2 days off for every week on the road mentioned in article 1 is not a god thing in my opinion. many carriers already use this method in determining home time 7 days out 1 day off 3 weeks on the road 3 days off, that is obsurd! I will not drive for a carrier that uses this method. I as an owner operator will stay out up tp six weeks at a time depending on the time of year and how much I have earned etc. then i may go home for as much as two weeks.. I live in Montana and the freight here is very poor, so if i come home to often it is very costly. so as i said i will stay out longer and stay home longer. And i can honestly say i resst much better in the sleeper on my truck than at home anywhere else, its quiet and cozy…
I strongly oppose the proposed eobr rule.. this and other rules cause more stress and fatigue than any thing else.. I love trucking, there is nothing i would rather do i dont mean just for work or to earn a living, I mean in general, I love to drive my truck.. trucking is the only job ive ever had where there is not enough time in a day. any other job ive done i cant wait untill the day is over, trucking i get upset when my time is up because i just want to drive. I love it.. But our truck is a 1988, non electronic..
thank you moderators for this opportunity to voice our opinions and to those who set up the regulation room, thank you as well.
Gordon, the large carriers have far lower costs than the small companies. they buy there trucks in bulk and get huge discounts. they also train new drivers and pay them very little. many are self insured. some are even funded by the government to train drivers. the small companies however dont always get the left overs. the large carriers haul for larger manufacturing companies for the most part, small companies venture off of the beaton path to the small towns that have small businesses manufacturing. how many large carriers do you see unloading that new combine or tractor at the farmers house? the majority of trucking companies are small with fewer than 10 or 20 units or like me I have 1..