# Commercial Truck Driver's Logbooks and other practices **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856 "2022-02-03T16:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/21 "2022-02-06T12:18:18Z")
> [@CrazyFoo](#): > > So many exceptions and the various rules; are you solo? Team driver ? Sleeper birth rules; sleeper birth rules for team drivers, north of 60 rules. Why is this so complex? Really asking. It seems it should be simple. In any 24 hour period the person can only be behind the wheel for 12 hours and must have a 12 hour (unbroken) gap until the next time they are behind the wheel. Or whatever is deemed safe (i.e. I made those number up…don’t get hung-up on them). You can fit rest breaks and what not in there but, overall, it seems it should be simple(ish). It does not matter if you have another person with you. Each person follows those rules. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/22 "2022-02-06T12:24:59Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I can’t find it now, but I recently read an article about how truckers hate the electronic logs. Before, if they were 30-40 minutes away from home when they hit the hour limit, they would just push through and get home before resting; now they can’t. Some drivers are also complaining that the switch now forces them to sleep overnight in dangerous neighborhoods. Was it [this](https://www.businessinsider.com/truck-drivers-elog-edl-hours-service-stranded-minutes-from-home-2022-1)? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/23 "2022-02-06T12:33:03Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I can’t find it now, but I recently read an article about how truckers hate the electronic logs. Before, if they were 30-40 minutes away from home when they hit the hour limit, they would just push through and get home before resting; now they can’t. Some drivers are also complaining that the switch now forces them to sleep overnight in dangerous neighborhoods. I’m not sympathetic to this. Let’s say we let them drive an extra 30 minutes as a “gray area” so they can get home. Every driver will just drive into those extra 30 minutes and then say they got stopped 30 minutes from home. Rinse and repeat. At some point you need to draw a line. Where that line is, I do not know. But wherever it is there will always be a driver who will claim they were stopped and made to sleep in an unsafe place and/or only 30 minutes from home. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/24 "2022-02-06T12:41:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@bob\_2](#): > > > > The consensus here is that being caught breaking the law on hours and rests is less serious than committing fraud by falsifying the records. > > I do not understand the distinction here. > > It seems to me fudging hours and rests is falsifying records. > > I am missing something. Maybe I put it badly: The crime is less serious than trying to cover it up. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/25 "2022-02-06T15:47:23Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’m not sympathetic to this. > > Let’s say we let them drive an extra 30 minutes as a “gray area” so they can get home. > > Every driver will just drive into those extra 30 minutes and then say they got stopped 30 minutes from home. Rinse and repeat. > > At some point you need to draw a line. Where that line is, I do not know. But wherever it is there will always be a driver who will claim they were stopped and made to sleep in an unsafe place and/or only 30 minutes from home. Without truckers, you wouldn’t have food to eat or clothes to wear. Seems to me that you ought to be willing to hear truckers out on the issues that they face, out of naked self-interest, if nothing else. But you seem to feel that only lying scumbags drive trucks. Do you feel the same way about other working-class jobs? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/26 "2022-02-06T16:18:22Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > Without truckers, you wouldn’t have food to eat or clothes to wear. Seems to me that you ought to be willing to hear truckers out on the issues that they face, out of naked self-interest, if nothing else. But you seem to feel that only lying scumbags drive trucks. Do you feel the same way about other working-class jobs? Without farmers we all starve. I’m not willing to let them abuse workers if they feel it is necessary. I’m not willing to hear them whine about it either. I apply the same standard to bankers and doctors. And accountants, actuaries, airline pilots, marines, police officers, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/27 "2022-02-06T23:24:35Z")
> [@CrazyFoo](#): > > Retired CVSA inspector here. > A driver of a commercial vehicle must submit his logbook for inspection anytime an officer with the authority asks for it requests it. > > I suppose any law enforcement officer “could” request to see it but unless you’re trained and knowledgeable in Federal Hours of Service regulation, you’re not going to know what to look for anyway. This is true. We had to take an in-service course on it that was taught by a DOT inspector. But that was damn near 40 years ago. I’m sure things got more complicated as time went on. The department I work for now has only 1 small section of freeway that we don’t actively patrol. And if we have to deal with trucker issues on city streets we’ll have either State Patrol or the Sheriffs Office highway unit back us up. The last time I had an issue regarding drive hours was with a charter bus driver, not a trucker. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/28 "2022-02-11T03:36:45Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > Without truckers, you wouldn’t have food to eat or clothes to wear. Seems to me that you ought to be willing to hear truckers out on the issues that they face, out of naked self-interest, if nothing else. But you seem to feel that only lying scumbags drive trucks. Do you feel the same way about other working-class jobs? It seems to me that the problem is more with trucking companies refusing to compensate truckers adequately so they can make a decent living without having to fudge their logs or break the law. Also with big customers always pushing the trucking companies and other parts of the chain to constantly reduce costs. If truckers are so important, they need to be paid to match their value to the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/29 "2022-02-11T03:48:39Z")
Working class people only have value to some people if their racism and stupidity can be harnessed to preserve a system that only makes billionaires richer. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856/30 "2022-02-11T15:27:31Z")
I mentioned earlier that my parents were a long-haul trucking team for 15 years; when loads were available (like following big natural disasters) they could roll 24/7, earning a very respectable blue collar income as owner-operators. Dad often referred to himself as a ‘gentleman trucker’; he never worked on his truck himself – all maintenance and repairs were done at the garage by the dealer or truck mechanics. Owner-operator is not a job, it is a business. One thing Dad often mentioned was the tendency of those new to the business to live high on the hog when they suddenly started getting those $600+ a day paychecks and then finding themselves in trouble when they needed to buy $12,000+ worth of tires and the taxes came due. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercial-truck-drivers-logbooks-and-other-practices/958856.md?page=1)