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Quebec City to California with eld (first experience)
- Thread starter martinetav
- Start date
Igor Galanter
Well-Known Member
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Is that the reason for some companies to open up own terminals for drop&switch, to save time for actual long distance driving, eh...
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Welcome to the new reality many are facing.Okay, so our guinea pig (guy who always tests thing for us) is just completing our first QC City to Southern California on ELD time... first thing he realized is you cannot make up for time lost... Second thing he noticed is he can no longer get it done with a 14 day cycle...
Lanes even in Canada for which our hours of service rules were built around are also in play now.
For example, Winnipeg to Calgary. On paper it could be done in the 13 hours drive time allowed.
On elogs, in a 105km speed limited truck it's no longer possible. You end up approximately 1 hour out each way in good weather and road conditions.. The same applies to the Edmonton - Winnipeg lane.
So bottom line is, drivers end up spending more time on the road away from home...
I know this first hand. I've already experienced it.
A good trip planner who leaves early, gets the job done and plans ahead won't feel the negative affects of it as much as the ones who like to stop and nap or sit around the counter..
That pre trip had better show 15 minutes on duty before you moved, same for the daily post trips. Oh and the mandatory brake checks which many would never get out of the truck at the brake check areas to perform, lol, they too are now timed. The computer catches all.
But no matter what, the reality is that being compliant means trips take longer.
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Yes but more difficult for Canadian carriers servicing the U.S. when cabotage rules are factored in
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We have been on them for over 2 years, it will bring down the high milers for sure but I think we can all agree the logs handed in where always a "nudge nudge wink wink" kind of deal. We did not loose 1 "high miler" from switching and now they would not go back. The surprising thing was the low milers actually came up because they realized they had to get driving instead of stopping at every truck stop on the route. I sleep better knowing our drivers are safer and the DOT/MTO will not come knocking because of our logs.
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You were fortunate then. I know of one small southwestern Ontario company which has lost 20% of their "high milers" with the elog mandate. They're struggling to replace them with any sort of experienced driver too.
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And what about the drivers who really need that 15 minute power nap part way through the morning? Personally, I sleep better knowing that our drivers drive when they are awake and sleep when they are tired. I stress a lot more because I worry that they are pushing themselves through a sluggish period because if they stop, they will lose money.
Or, when you come across an accident where the road is closed for a few hours?
How about when a circle check uncovers a defect which has to be fixed before the truck can move?
And, I bet anyone reading this can think of a bunch more things that come up daily which cost the driver $$$.
Can you imagine what would happen if surgeons had elogs? How would you like to be under the knife and have the doctor have to walk away because his time is up and he is being told to sleep? You know, 'cause on paper, your heart valve job should only have taken X number of hours.
Finally, It would be very interesting to see how many drivers were on elogs when they woke up in the ditch. Bet that will never be published.
My two minute rant. I hate seeing the crap regulated out of this industry.
Or, when you come across an accident where the road is closed for a few hours?
How about when a circle check uncovers a defect which has to be fixed before the truck can move?
And, I bet anyone reading this can think of a bunch more things that come up daily which cost the driver $$$.
Can you imagine what would happen if surgeons had elogs? How would you like to be under the knife and have the doctor have to walk away because his time is up and he is being told to sleep? You know, 'cause on paper, your heart valve job should only have taken X number of hours.
Finally, It would be very interesting to see how many drivers were on elogs when they woke up in the ditch. Bet that will never be published.
My two minute rant. I hate seeing the crap regulated out of this industry.
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I haven't seen any discussions unless i have missed them regarding transit times being affected? I am wondering if there are any of the small to medium LTL carriers out there where they where running to areas where they where pushing their rest times in order to make it to a delivery next day to get the freight off as soon as they could where now, they have to stop running putting them at a 2 day delivery point where it used to be 1. This will affect several areas of the business. A higher operating cost would be the first for these carriers, secondly will some of that business then be lost to the large common carriers out there where their transit time is matched at the two days but their rates are better or will there be instances where the common carrier can now get to certain points faster as they are using several drivers, trucks and terminals to get to the final destinations? Will some of these smaller LTL carriers perhaps stop running these lanes that are close to having a unwanted layover? Will the expedited market increase in volume to do the LTL transit times being affected? I know there is a lot of variables here regarding geography, etc. but are my points here valid and should we be ready to advise our clients that this might be the case?
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We haven't even started really using the "snow" reality yet. Although, we had two drivers in Wyoming last week that were delayed by snow because we have never put winter tires and chains on the trucks before October 1st. Then they both went through the same road construction area and ended up with a flat. When they got to the tire repair, they were both among about 10 trucks that were there with the same problem. So, they both lost about a day and a half of delays. TransAction, if you haven't already begun to prepare your clients about slower transit times, you better get started. There are some that have been trying to prepare for months and the customers don't seem to want to believe. Some seem to think that all we need to do is use teams... Now why didn't we think of that...
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We already have told our clients and sent out emails. None of them seem to know anything about it, I can tell you also that there are alot of brokers out there whom have no idea, they are going to be blind sided but not my issue. We have told our clients that we can't really tell at this point the exact repercussions but there will certainly be longer transit times and perhaps rate increases in certain lanes.We haven't even started really using the "snow" reality yet. Although, we had two drivers in Wyoming last week that were delayed by snow because we have never put winter tires and chains on the trucks before October 1st. Then they both went through the same road construction area and ended up with a flat. When they got to the tire repair, they were both among about 10 trucks that were there with the same problem. So, they both lost about a day and a half of delays. TransAction, if you haven't already begun to prepare your clients about slower transit times, you better get started. There are some that have been trying to prepare for months and the customers don't seem to want to believe. Some seem to think that all we need to do is use teams... Now why didn't we think of that...
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Since we don't have trucks, I am slightly uneducated in this area. I am also wondering how does it work when the driver hits the border, do they have to enter their current hours in at the border that they are starting at? Also if that is the case, will some carriers try to show those original hours in Canada as less then the actual ones?
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There is a border crossing 'button' which flags you at the border. There's 3 options I know of for hours of service, the 70/8 U.S. the 70/7 Canadian and some either have the 120/14 or the north of 60 rules option.
If the driver knows he/she is crossing the border going south they hit the button to put them onto the correct format. Coming back north you do the same thing AFTER crossing the border.
ALL HOURS though are recorded even hours worked in Canada.
If for example you switch to a different truck to go do a pickup or delivery because yours was in for an oil change.. you log into that truck's system with your user ID and password. Your hours of service follow you..
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Our guinea pig also found out that a 15 minute stop at home to get something he forgot, can cause you to have to stop for 24 hours in Valleyfield which was less than 300 km from home when you are on the way home 15 days later.
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Here's what everyone seems to be missing ... if you ran legal paper logs in the first place, E-logs would not affect your business one iota.
Think of it as less burden on the driver. For one thing, he doesn't have to spend time every day putting pen to paper. For another, he can't be wrong ... he is just doing what the computer tells him he can do. No more, no less. He doesn't have to think, or judge for himself what is right, wrong, or grey.
The E-log makes it pretty easy to tell who, i.e. the loudest criers, were furthering their business on driver's cheated logs, right ??? Well, now you're playing in my ballpark, under league rules with a proper umpire, and I don't have to compete against your shady-ass business practises anymore ... you have to figure out if you really know how to run a trucking business or not, and then try and compete with me
(By "me" I mean all of us that strive to run a stand up operation).
Let's just be brutally honest here ... every last one of us asks our drivers at one time or another to cheat their logs. We have to. We have no choice. Every one of us competes against unscrupulous carriers that will do a job for next to nothing just to put rubber on the road, and take their cut off the top. Eventually it becomes the norm for those carriers. They don't give a rat's ass for the driver, for the safety of the equipment, or for the rest of us on the road. They only care about their cut off the top.
Without a doubt there are going to be carriers that fail when they have to run e-logs. They will simply be unable to wrap their minds around proper transportation practises. Easy to see what that does for the rest of us. Rates go up. When rates go up, so can driver's wages. So can company profits. A better life for all ... for as short as it's going to be.
As for brokers who are "slightly uneducated", you'd best get educated real fast because what is going to happen is you are going to end up promising a shipper something that cannot be possibly be done and your going to end up looking like a dummy for the effort.
Now, what do I mean "for as short as it's going to be."??? Autonomous trucks boy and girls .. autonomous trucks !!!! Not only will we see them in our lifetimes, but they will in fact be a significant force. No, they're not going to be running produce out of Philly (too much population), but they are going to be doing the transit between Toronto and LA, Winnipeg and Houston, Toronto and Montreal ... count on it. But ... that's a whole other discussion for a whole other day In the meantime, just think about what that's going to do to the driver pool.
Think of it as less burden on the driver. For one thing, he doesn't have to spend time every day putting pen to paper. For another, he can't be wrong ... he is just doing what the computer tells him he can do. No more, no less. He doesn't have to think, or judge for himself what is right, wrong, or grey.
The E-log makes it pretty easy to tell who, i.e. the loudest criers, were furthering their business on driver's cheated logs, right ??? Well, now you're playing in my ballpark, under league rules with a proper umpire, and I don't have to compete against your shady-ass business practises anymore ... you have to figure out if you really know how to run a trucking business or not, and then try and compete with me
(By "me" I mean all of us that strive to run a stand up operation).Let's just be brutally honest here ... every last one of us asks our drivers at one time or another to cheat their logs. We have to. We have no choice. Every one of us competes against unscrupulous carriers that will do a job for next to nothing just to put rubber on the road, and take their cut off the top. Eventually it becomes the norm for those carriers. They don't give a rat's ass for the driver, for the safety of the equipment, or for the rest of us on the road. They only care about their cut off the top.
Without a doubt there are going to be carriers that fail when they have to run e-logs. They will simply be unable to wrap their minds around proper transportation practises. Easy to see what that does for the rest of us. Rates go up. When rates go up, so can driver's wages. So can company profits. A better life for all ... for as short as it's going to be.
As for brokers who are "slightly uneducated", you'd best get educated real fast because what is going to happen is you are going to end up promising a shipper something that cannot be possibly be done and your going to end up looking like a dummy for the effort.
Now, what do I mean "for as short as it's going to be."??? Autonomous trucks boy and girls .. autonomous trucks !!!! Not only will we see them in our lifetimes, but they will in fact be a significant force. No, they're not going to be running produce out of Philly (too much population), but they are going to be doing the transit between Toronto and LA, Winnipeg and Houston, Toronto and Montreal ... count on it. But ... that's a whole other discussion for a whole other day
In the meantime, just think about what that's going to do to the driver pool.
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I can see more than a few drivers going into hunting... how many rounds you figure it takes to take one of them autonomous trucks out?
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