Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/114712
VOICES PULSE "Drivers should be able to split hours, 5 and 5 — electronic logs don't know where you are tired. There would be many less-fatigued drivers on the highway." WILLIAM SISK Rossville, Ga. | Owner-operator leased to Tradewinds "Sleeper berth should be at least eight hours, but I agree with 10 hours off, and two hours extra if needed. It's different for every driver, though." TOM TEDDY Memphis, Tenn. | Owner-operator leased to Landstar "Drivers should have four hours of break. I can go two days without sleeping, but I think the two/eight-hour splits are good." FREDDY RUDOLPH Montgomery, Ala. Charles Lawson company driver "I run a team, and we drive 10 or 11 hours and switch out. We like it that way." WHITNEY McCLESKEY Birmingham, Ala. | Flat Creek Transport company driver "I think we should have 10 hours of rest, 10 hours of driving and one hour working on duty, not driving. The main thing you've got to watch out for, though, is the regular public that can't drive." JOE ALVERSON | Waterloo, S.C. Foster Transport company driver Own your logs O wner-operators have long fretted over the privacy intrusion of a "black box" – what we now call an electronic onboard recorder. Don't be surprised if the black box of tomorrow is that pocket-sized one you make calls on. Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous. Apps are cheap, if not free. As we've reported, big strides have been made in smartphone apps that serve as an electronic logging device or even as an EOBR when linked to the truck's databus. My colleague Aaron Huff, writing for Commercial Carrier Journal, raises an interesting aspect of these developments: Drivers might use such technology voluntarily – even when it requires their own investment – for the chance to own their data and possibly sell it to recruiters. When I relayed his thoughts on Overdrive's staff blog, it drew further interest. "We are moving to a dispatch system that will use an Android app – doing the same with the logs just seems logical," commented Andrea Sitler. "It should add simplicity to the issue. ... With the mandate coming to enforce such logging policies, it is a price-efficient option for all." "Owning the data is a big plus – how many carriers will willingly give you a copy?" posted Don Lanier. "This could be a game-changer for me; logs are printable, email-capable, even an inspection mode." Lanier said he uses the Big Road logging app. It's free to drivers, $15 per driver per month for carriers. There are other non-EOBR logging apps, too, from uDrove to Mobile Warrior's iDDL. The long-available Driver's Daily Log also is functional as a log for laptop users. "Drivers ultimately need to be responsible for their safety history," says Big Road founder and CEO Kelly Frey. "If you bring that to a trucking firm and say, 'Here's my history, what I've done, how professional I've been,' that benefits the carrier, benefits the driver. He's in control." Frey says he's heard from drivers frustrated that the feds' new Pre-employment Screening Program produced inaccurate data that blocked them from a job. They don't know where to turn. Smartphone-based logging apps open the potential for drivers to handle their own performance data. Granted, a slick electronic log will not resolve many problems that can creep into a driving record – whether from a vindictive carrier or a careless trooper – but it can help. For example, Frey says, the app's integration of messaging and photos could document a driver being overruled in his attempt to alert his fleet about a trailer's questionable safety condition. A clear, organized track record of what you do every day shows you value safety, and in this age of CSA, safety sells more than ever. A demonstrated willingness to embrace electronic logs indicates you have a level of professionalism exceeding that of many carriers that resist such technology. That's worth something – especially the next time you need to change carriers. By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com 6 | Overdrive | March 2013 Voices_0313.indd 6 2/28/13 12:42 PM