Rules: In the eyes of a Trucker By Chelsea Brent

Here's the skinny on the rules and regulations regarding truckers' hours of service and cheating. Stay with me here because this will get interesting, I promise. Log books have four category lines: Off-duty, sleeper-berth, driving, and on-duty-not-driving. When a trucker comes on duty after at least a 10 hour break logged in the off-duty and/or sleeper-berth, and goes to one of the on-duty lines the clock starts on a 14 hour period in which he can drive 11 hours. For example, let's say Ed got up in the morning after his mandatory ten hour break and prepare him self for another glorious day of truck driving. It's 8am so he went to the on-duty-not-driving line and log a pre-trip inspection after checking his truck over. he has to log at least 15 minutes for that activity. Since he came on duty at 8am he had until 10pm to drive 11 hours in that 14 hour period of time. So after his pre-trip Ed starts to drive at 8:15am. At 12:15pm he has a minor break down that puts him on the side of the road waiting for a roadside mechanic. He has to go from the driving line to on-duty-not-driving while waiting on the mechanic and while his truck is being repaired. That takes 3.75 hours then he is on my way again on the driving line at 4:00pm. Since Ed came on duty at 8am I now have 6 hours left in which I can drive 6 hours. He has lost his potential maximum driving time of 11 hours. Now the most he can drive in my 14 hour shift is 10 hours. The next 6 hours go by uneventfully and he does his post-trip inspection for which he has to log at least 15 minutes. Note: You can work all of the hours you want as long as you don't drive after your 11 hour or 14 hour restrictions. That means Ed can haul ass down the highway and log 11 hours and 650 miles driving and then be put to work for 6 hours unloading the truck if the receiver requires that, and it's all legal; but he does have to log 10 hours off duty before He can drive again. That  happens to drivers all across the country every day.  Trying to find a truck driver who has never cheated on his log book is like trying to find a virgin in a brothel. Long haul trucker, cheating on log book was just another part of the job. Yeah, it's ridiculous considering you can work 70 hours a week legally, but the way things are, there is a lot of incentive to cheat: truckers are paid by the mile for the most part. The more hours/miles you drive the bigger your pay check. Expecting drivers to adhere to the rules when they get paid that way is a joke and everyone knows.