ELDs or Let’s figure out what to do

Jan 07, 2018 at 08:34 PM CST + 3 - 6
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I have been a member of this site for several years. I have read many comments that you all have to say and I do enjoy the reading. I have never voiced my opinion over many things that I have read. But I feel that now is the time. IF YOU CANNOT MAKE MONEY WITH THE HOURS THAT WE ARE GIVEN THEN DO NOT DO IT. Please, please, please!!!!! Find something that makes you the living that you need to sustain your livelihood because if you have to work longer than the hours that are given you are only making it harder on all of us, both YOU and I. I have made a lot of money in Trucking and I have lost a lot of money in Trucking, but somehow I still survive, for 25 years. We will never come together and say enough is enough, but with this new law might put us all on the same page if you cannot make a living within the hours of the law, it might be time for you to figure out something else to do and leave the rest of us here to make some money. LET ME ME SAY THIS LOUDLY we need to stick to our guns make our money in the hours given if you can’t THEN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are the problem. With all this being said I am an old school trucker that as no shit driven coast to coast AND back without laying down (in a Western Star with a 36” sleeper back in 1999 pulling a hopper and thank you Hottsey Lockhart for making me lay down for a little while) I was chasing that almighty dollar. My son goes with me every chance he gets he has ridden more miles in a truck than most NEWBIES have driven (do not tell any one but my 14 year old has driven more miles in our 379 than most of them) with that being said do we want to leave our Trucking legacy to our kids saying if you don’t DO more 70 hours a week you won’t make it! REALLY COME ON GUYS!!!!! I have (self willing) put myself on eld for the past 3 months to see how it would effect my other trucks and i quickly learned what do do (maybe to laundry, wash truck, oil change, paperwork etc when my weekly hours ran out). Not so much different than I was already doing it. Like I have already said I am old school that has driven 7000 miles a week WHY IN THE HELL would we want to to more rhan 3500 miles or work more than 70 hours in a week FIGURE IT OUT IT!!! If you ain’t making it in 70 hrs a week please find something else to do

Jan 07, 2018 at 08:34 PM CST

+ 3 - 6

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

I have been a member of this site for several years. I have read many comments that you all have to say and I do enjoy the reading. I have never voiced my opinion over many things that I have read. But I feel that now is the time. IF YOU CANNOT MAKE MONEY WITH THE HOURS THAT WE ARE GIVEN THEN DO NOT DO IT. Please, please, please!!!!! Find something that makes you the living that you need to sustain your livelihood because if you have to work longer than the hours that are given you are only making it harder on all of us, both YOU and I. I have made a lot of money in Trucking and I have lost a lot of money in Trucking, but somehow I still survive, for 25 years. We will never come together and say enough is enough, but with this new law might put us all on the same page if you cannot make a living within the hours of the law, it might be time for you to figure out something else to do and leave the rest of us here to make some money. LET ME ME SAY THIS LOUDLY we need to stick to our guns make our money in the hours given if you can’t THEN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are the problem. With all this being said I am an old school trucker that as no shit driven coast to coast AND back without laying down (in a Western Star with a 36” sleeper back in 1999 pulling a hopper and thank you Hottsey Lockhart for making me lay down for a little while) I was chasing that almighty dollar. My son goes with me every chance he gets he has ridden more miles in a truck than most NEWBIES have driven (do not tell any one but my 14 year old has driven more miles in our 379 than most of them) with that being said do we want to leave our Trucking legacy to our kids saying if you don’t DO more 70 hours a week you won’t make it! REALLY COME ON GUYS!!!!! I have (self willing) put myself on eld for the past 3 months to see how it would effect my other trucks and i quickly learned what do do (maybe to laundry, wash truck, oil change, paperwork etc when my weekly hours ran out). Not so much different than I was already doing it. Like I have already said I am old school that has driven 7000 miles a week WHY IN THE HELL would we want to to more rhan 3500 miles or work more than 70 hours in a week FIGURE IT OUT IT!!! If you ain’t making it in 70 hrs a week please find something else to do

Replied on Sun, Jan 07, 2018 at 10:49 PM CST + 5 - 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. It's not that they want to work more than 70 hours a week, it's that they want to be the ones that decide how they work those 70 hours. They are saying that they want to have the flexibility they need, to do what makes sense for their particular situation, and not have to feel pressured all the time, like some tyrant is on there case threatening to use a Bull whip on them, if they can't keep up.

Replied on Sun, Jan 07, 2018 at 10:49 PM CST

+ 5 - 1

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

It's not that they want to work more than 70 hours a week, it's that they want to be the ones that decide how they work those 70 hours. They are saying that they want to have the flexibility they need, to do what makes sense for their particular situation, and not have to feel pressured all the time, like some tyrant is on there case threatening to use a Bull whip on them, if they can't keep up.

Replied on Mon, Jan 08, 2018 at 07:21 AM CST + 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Chad please just stop talking. Please

Replied on Mon, Jan 08, 2018 at 07:21 AM CST

+ 2

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Chad please just stop talking. Please

Replied on Mon, Jan 08, 2018 at 10:33 AM CST + 1
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Good comments, Chad. It's supply and demand. The fewer available hours the less available supply and that equates to higher demand and higher rates. Also, Dave makes a good point about the flexibility. In my driving days I found that when I could rest was far from predictable. I might lay down for thirty minutes or four hours, depending on what my body needed. Part of that however was created by the shippers / receivers though. When they held you up that caused a lot of the unpredictability if you had to be alert for when your load \ unloading time came around. From my history I can say that I instituted a fourteen hour company rule back in 2000 when I ran a van and flatbed fleet for a large building materials manufacturer that required drivers to have 10 straight hours off back before it was a law and we lost no productivity and the drivers liked it because their rest was more predictable. They knew that those ten straight hours belonged to them. If loading or unloading delays interfered then then they were notified as to when the load would deliver. Being a shipper and fleet operator over the years it is a struggle to get the loading / unloading folks to understand the realities of the driver side. I remenber how our shipping locations would want to file a claim against a carrier who would get loaded at 7:00 PM with an 8:00 AM appointmnet for the next morning claining the driver had more than enough time to make the 10 hour run; to which I asked "what were you doing at 2:00 AM?" Of course they would say that they were sleeping to which I would reply that so was that driver; he's not a machine. I was finally able to get that company to go along with loading schedules that backed up loading completion to include one or more breaks depending on mileage and it improved service and made us a preferred shipper for our outside carriers. The new mandate is giving us the abilty to make changes in bulk shipping today. The ELD mandate has it's cumbersome aspects in regards to flexibilty but keep in mind that it's the law, not the tracking of that is the root of the issue and both the law and the mandate if embraced by the trucking community will lead to more money for fewer hours.

Replied on Mon, Jan 08, 2018 at 10:33 AM CST

+ 1

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Good comments, Chad. It's supply and demand. The fewer available hours the less available supply and that equates to higher demand and higher rates. Also, Dave makes a good point about the flexibility. In my driving days I found that when I could rest was far from predictable. I might lay down for thirty minutes or four hours, depending on what my body needed. Part of that however was created by the shippers / receivers though. When they held you up that caused a lot of the unpredictability if you had to be alert for when your load \ unloading time came around. From my history I can say that I instituted a fourteen hour company rule back in 2000 when I ran a van and flatbed fleet for a large building materials manufacturer that required drivers to have 10 straight hours off back before it was a law and we lost no productivity and the drivers liked it because their rest was more predictable. They knew that those ten straight hours belonged to them. If loading or unloading delays interfered then then they were notified as to when the load would deliver. Being a shipper and fleet operator over the years it is a struggle to get the loading / unloading folks to understand the realities of the driver side. I remenber how our shipping locations would want to file a claim against a carrier who would get loaded at 7:00 PM with an 8:00 AM appointmnet for the next morning claining the driver had more than enough time to make the 10 hour run; to which I asked "what were you doing at 2:00 AM?" Of course they would say that they were sleeping to which I would reply that so was that driver; he's not a machine. I was finally able to get that company to go along with loading schedules that backed up loading completion to include one or more breaks depending on mileage and it improved service and made us a preferred shipper for our outside carriers. The new mandate is giving us the abilty to make changes in bulk shipping today. The ELD mandate has it's cumbersome aspects in regards to flexibilty but keep in mind that it's the law, not the tracking of that is the root of the issue and both the law and the mandate if embraced by the trucking community will lead to more money for fewer hours.

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 10:18 AM CST + 2
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. in all honesty..... the answer to the problem is ......day rate..... when you rent a backhoe from united rentals its 200 per day.....when you stay at a motel its 200 a day...when you rent a car is 75 per day.....you want my truck its 900 per day....that covers my wait time , my loading time my unloading time , mysitting in traffic time....you can look at my elog and see where i am and whats going on to see if i am fullfilling my obligation.....if i am sitting at acme widget company dock for too long you can call them and complain , day rate is simple, it puts everyone on the same page it covers the hos rules it just makes sense.

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 10:18 AM CST

+ 2

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

in all honesty..... the answer to the problem is ......day rate..... when you rent a backhoe from united rentals its 200 per day.....when you stay at a motel its 200 a day...when you rent a car is 75 per day.....you want my truck its 900 per day....that covers my wait time , my loading time my unloading time , mysitting in traffic time....you can look at my elog and see where i am and whats going on to see if i am fullfilling my obligation.....if i am sitting at acme widget company dock for too long you can call them and complain , day rate is simple, it puts everyone on the same page it covers the hos rules it just makes sense.

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 01:17 PM CST
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. I thought we lived in a democracy! I dont remember voting on ELDs!

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 01:17 PM CST

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

I thought we lived in a democracy! I dont remember voting on ELDs!

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 01:39 PM CST + 6
Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.	Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member. Quote: "I thought we lived in a democracy! I dont remember voting on ELDs!" Correction: representative republic, not a democracy.

Replied on Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 01:39 PM CST

+ 6

Posted by a private FlatLoads.com member.

Quote: "I thought we lived in a democracy! I dont remember voting on ELDs!"

Correction: representative republic, not a democracy.

ELDs or Let’s figure out what to do

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