Who needs to worry about Hours of Service?

In another blog, we gave you the quick and easy bullet points of HOS.  

This is where we get to dive deeper into HOS so you can have a better understanding of what it is, who needs it, and why it's so important that you know more about it.

What is a Driver Log?

A driver Log should be filled out as you do your work and is called the “record of duty status.” Common names for this form are the driver’s daily log, log, or logbook. 

You do not have to fill out a log if you fall under an exception. 

Those exemptions include:

1. Short-haul

2. Agriculture

3. Utility

4. Emergency Vehicles

Everything you write on the log should be true and correct. 

You need to make all of your own entries (unless something has been preprinted on the log). 

Everything needs to be accounted for every day on your log, even days off, unless you are covered by a logbook exception on any of the days. 

The log should cover all 24 hours of the day. 

Officers can inspect your log at any time and you need to have a log for each day of the last 8 days that you were required to log (you might have been under an exception on some of those days). 

The current day’s log should be current to your last change of duty status. 

Inspectors check your logs to see if you have violated the hours-of-service regulations. Violations of the hours-of-service regulations can result in being fined and/or placed out of service.

This regulation is found in Section 395.8.

Who Should Complete a Log?

Any person who is subject to the safety regulations and drives a commercial motor vehicle as defined in Section 390.5 of the Federal regulations should complete a logbook page for any day that includes commercial motor vehicle driving and for the prior 7 days (unless under an exception on some of those days). 

What needs to be in every log?

The regulations do not say what the log form should look like. However, it should include a 24-hour graph grid, which is shown in the regulations, and the following information on each page:

• Date. 

You should write down the month, day, and year for the beginning of each 24-hour period.

Multiple consecutive days off duty may be combined on one log page, with an explanation in the “Remarks.”

• Total miles driving today. 

You should write down the total number of miles you drove during the 24-hour period.

• Truck or tractor and trailer unit number. 

You should write down either the vehicle number(s) assigned by your company or the license number and licensing State for each truck (and trailer, if any) you drove.

• Name of the carrier. 

You should write down the name of the motor carrier(s) you are working for. 

If you work for more than one carrier in a 24-hour period, you should list the times you started and finished work for each carrier.

• Main office address. 

You should write down your carrier’s main office address. 

The city and State are sufficient.

• Your signature. 

You should certify that all of your entries are true and correct by signing your log with your legal name or name of the record.

• Name of co-driver. 

You should write down the name of your co-driver if you have one.

• Time Zone base to be used. 

You should use the time zone in effect at your home terminal. 

Even if you cross other time zones, record time as it is at your terminal. 

• Remarks. 

This is the area where you should list the city, town, or village, and State abbreviation when a change of duty status occurs. 

You should also explain any unusual circumstances or log entries that may be unclear when reviewed later, such as encountering adverse driving conditions.

• Total hours. 

You need to add and write down the total hours for each duty status at the right side of the grid. 

The total of the entries needs to equal 24 hours (unless you are using one page to reflect several consecutive days off duty).

• Shipping document number(s), or name of shipper and commodity. 

For each shipment, you should write down a shipping document number (such as a shipping manifest number) or the name of the shipper and what you are hauling.

The Graph Grid

Here is what your graph grid should look like. The other required information may be placed anywhere on the page outside the grid.

You need to keep the grid on your log current to your last change of duty status. 

For example, if you are driving and an inspector stops you and asks to see your logbook, the final entry should show the time and place that you last started driving.

The grid will have the starting time and the hours marked above it. You should draw lines on the grid as follows:

Off Duty. Draw a solid line between the appropriate time markers to show the periods of time you are off duty.

Sleeper Berth. Draw a solid line between the appropriate time markers to show the periods of time you are resting in a sleeper berth.

Driving. Draw a solid line between the appropriate time markers to show the periods of time you are behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle in operation.

On Duty (Not Driving). Draw a solid line between the appropriate time markers to show the periods of time when you are on duty, but not driving a commercial motor vehicle. 

Time spent driving a non-CMV for a carrier would be included here.

The “Remarks”

Each time you change your duty status, you need to write down the name of the city, town, or village, and State abbreviation, in the Remarks section. 

If the change of duty status takes place at a location other than a city, town, or village, you should show one of the following:

• The highway number and the nearest milepost followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State abbreviation,

or

• The highway number and the name of the service plaza followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State abbreviation, 

or

• The highway numbers of the two nearest intersecting roadways followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village, and State abbreviation.

You may write other things in the Remarks section, such as shipping information, a note about adverse driving conditions, etc…

A Completed Grid

After you have completed your log, the regulations allow you 13 days to get the original copy to your carrier. Your carrier may require you to turn it in sooner.

You need to keep a copy of your completed log for the next 7 consecutive days. The copies should be available for inspection by law enforcement officers.

Any time you work for more than one motor carrier during a 24-hour period, you need to make extra copies and give a copy of your log to each motor carrier. 

The log should include:

• All duty time for the entire 24-hour period,

• The name of each motor carrier you worked for during the 24-hour period, and

• The beginning and finishing time, including a.m. or p.m., worked for each motor carrier.

ELD

If you operate a vehicle with an engine that is newer than 1999 and you do not fall under one of the exemptions like short-haul. 

Then you should have an ELD (Electronic Logging Device).

That's for a whole other blog though!

Independence day

This weekend we take a few moments to celebrate our independence as a country. 

That's AWESOME!

When we look back at the whole situation, our chances of survival were grim, even worse were the chances of winning the war.

Here’s the thing.

We were creative, we thought outside the box.  

While the British followed the “rules” by wearing their red coats and marching in a line, we bent the rules.

Hiding behind trees, in gullies, wearing clothes that blended into the background, so we were harder to see.

They didn’t know how to fight that, because it was not like anything they had ever seen before.

Our men didn’t realize it at the time, but the main reason we won was because about ½ way through the war the Spanish set up a blockade, and the British ships couldn’t get to the USA soil.  

We had help and didn’t even realize it.

Much like we do every day.

There are people in the world who are helping us, every day, and we never see them.  God is there guiding us, and don’t see him either.

Let’s jump back to the “bending” the rules part.

Sometimes the best way to succeed is to think outside the box or bend the rules. 

Sometimes it might seem like we are cheating when we do this. Rest assured we are not cheating, just coming up with a different way to make it happen.

Russell Brunson did this with his “website” builder, ClickFunnels.  

You will never hear it called a website builder though, It’s a funnel, not a website.  

Crazy right.

He took something that was already there, reworked the concept, gave it a new name, and now click funnels make millions every year.

I know it’s a little different than winning our independence, but the concept is the same.

They both changed their way of thinking and won the war.  Both revolutionized how we think and what we do. 

Today I want to ask everyone to take a second and thank everyone who has ever served our country.  Without your sacrifices, we would not be able to live in the best country in the world.  

Without you, we would not be able to do what we do every single day.

THANK YOU to everyone who has ever served, to those currently serving, and also to those who will serve in the future.  May God bless you and your families.

The Basic Facts About HOS

We seem to be getting a ton of questions about Hours of Service (HOS) lately.

So we thought why not write a blog answering all of those questions.

Let's jump in and get started.

The Facts

Property carrying vehicles

1. You can only drive for 11 hours

2. You can’t drive after being on duty for 14 hours

3. 
   You have to have 10 consecutive hours off duty to reset your 14 hours on duty and 11 hours driving

4. You can only work 60 hours is 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (depending on which rule set your company falls under)

1. 60 / 7 days hour’s if the company operates 6 days a week

2. 70 / 8 days hours if the company operates 7 days a week

5. To reset your 60 or 70-hour clock you need to have 34 consecutive hours off duty

6. You have to have a 30-minute break after driving for 8 hours

1. If running oversize loads then this is not required

1. Be sure to carry the exemption with you in your truck

2. If operating under the short-haul exemption this is not required

7. If your truck is newer than 2000 and you are not under an exemption you have to use an ELD (Electronic Logging Device)

1. Exemptions include

1. Short-haul

1. Stay within a 150 air-mile radius of where you started your day 

1. And

2. Returned to the same location within 14 hours of coming on duty

2. Your truck engine is 1999 or older

3. Hauling livestock or insects

Passenger Carrying-vehicles

1. 
   You can only drive for 10 hours

2. You can’t drive after being on duty for 15 hours

3. You have to have 8 consecutive hours off duty to reset your 15-hour clock

4. You can only work 60 hours is 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (depending on which rule set your company falls under)

1. 60 / 7 days hour’s if the company operates 6 days a week

2. 70 / 8 days hours if the company operates 7 days a week

5. If your truck is newer than 2000 and you are not under an exemption you have to use an ELD (Electronic Logging Device)

1. Exemptions include

1. Short-haul

1. Stay within a 150 air-mile radius of where you started your day 

1. And

2. Returned to the same location within 14 hours of coming on duty

2. Your bus engine is 1999 or older

I know that we just “puked” a ton of info out there but there is no better way to get it out there quickly.

Stay tuned because we are going to have more Blogs that give you all the details you need to know about HOS.

Anniversary

Today my wife and I celebrate our 16th “weeding” anniversary.  (You'll get the “weeding” if you remember the sign from our wedding. lol)

I would love to tell you that the last 16 years have been perfect. 

But…

That would be a lie.

The truth is that we have had some difficulties.  

I remember at our shower before the wedding, one older lady who was widowed, told us, “Everyone says never go to bed mad, Hell if Richard and I would have done that we would have NEVER slept,” then she laughed.

At the time I thought oh my goodness, who gives this kind of advice to someone getting married?

She was right though.  

There have been times, and I’m sure that there will be times to come, where we don't work out our differences before going to sleep.

On the other hand, there are WAY MORE times that we are excited together, happy to be with each other, soaking up every second of our kid's lives (while we have them), looking forward to the next step in life.

I think you get the point.

The highlights outweigh the struggles by far.

You know what, I wouldn't trade the struggles for anything.

Those struggles shaped us into who we are today.

When we struggled to buy food to feed our family.  Or when we cut all of our “extras” out of life. ( I mean all of our extras, we didn’t have anything except for a landline phone and only bought groceries that were necessary. No extras)

When we worked through hard times at work.  

When our daughter grew a HUGE lump in her leg and no one could figure out what it was, but it just started going away slowly.

How about when we decided to start a business?  And then a non-profit?  

These are just a few instances where we struggled together.

The key here is TOGETHER.

I would have hated to endure these alone.

We have shared so many good times, a few disagreements, and lots of struggles where we helped each other, leaned on each other.

Jenna, I wouldn't trade these last 16 years for anything.

I won’t trade whatever happens in the future for anything either.  

There is no one God has ever created that would be a better fit for me, and I am thankful that he introduced us when he did.  

For anyone out there struggling right now, I want to say hold on tight, because it's a wild ride and you are gonna want that special person there with you through it all.

Happy Anniversary Babe.  

I am thankful every day that God put us together.  

You are one tough gal to put up with me for as long as you have.

Love you, Jenna.

Be Thankful

Recently we had a family friend come out to visit us.  They are awesome and we have a lot of fun while they are here.  

The thing is that I sometimes lose sight of why they come.  

It’s not for the awesome adventures we go on, over 15 national parks, and countless state parks across the country.

It’s not because they need a break from work and have no other place to go.

It is because they want to see us and spend time with us.  

They consider us family.

Sometimes I lose sight of that.

I forget that they aren't here just for an adventure.  I’m not thankful that they made the effort to come out and see us. 

Instead, I feel almost as though they are using us.  Sponging off of our trip allowing us to pay for everything.

My thankfulness gets lost in the commotion.

It happens all the time to me.

I forget about the real reason we are doing something and get caught up in something that doesn't matter.

My loving wife usually tells me to pull my head out of wherever it is and be thankful for what we have and where we are.

Being thankful is NOT always easy.  

In Fact, it's a lot easier to just look at the gloomy side of everything.  That's what the Devil wants us to do.  

He wants us to be depressed and upset. That’s when he wins.

Honestly I let him win too often.

Today I want to encourage everyone to look for the silver lining to the situation you are currently in.

If you are too busy, then be thankful that you have an abundance to do.

If you are traveling too much, then be thankful that you have the means to go.

If you are trying to make the decision to start a business, be thankful that you have the opportunity to do so.

If you just got out of a bad relationship (work or personal) be thankful that you are no longer there.

I could go on and on, but I think that you get the point.

Be THANKFUL for where you are, God put you here for a reason.  He put the people around you for a reason, He gave you those ideas for a reason.  

You are awesome, amazing, and going to go places.  Be the 1% of people who are always happy and thankful for where they are.

I didn’t say that it would be easy, but you can do it.  Look for the bright side of every situation as soon as you can.

Why I pray all day, every day!

Have you ever felt like you were missing something in your life?

All the time right!

As you know I grew up in a Christian house,  mom went to church every Sunday and Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) during the week.  Her bible was always out on the table.  Dad could quote scriptures without even trying.  

But that’s not the reason I pray.  

While I want to make sure that my parents know that they were instrumental in my faith, they aren’t the only reason I pray.  

It was about a year and a half after we started Eclipse DOT that my wife and I were talking on one of our many road trips. I told her that I was frustrated that the business wasn’t really taking off and I couldn’t figure out why or how to make it go faster.   

She asked if I had prayed about it?

To be 150% honest, the answer was,

NO!

Why would I ask God to help with a business?  That involves making money, and the bible says that “the love of money is the root of evil”

She was 100% right though.  Why hadn’t I prayed about it?  Why was I keeping all this fear and doubt to myself?

We prayed right then and there. 

That was the turning point in the business.  I stepped down as CEO and we named God as the CEO. 

We decided that no matter how big the company grows, God will always be a HUGE part of it.  

At that point, I stopped worrying about the growth of the company and started thinking about how we can use it to help God?  We started a weekly devotional God First.  I went back and added verses to the bottom of every webpage.  

Personally, I started praying even more about every decision and every meeting. 

Before a meeting, I always try my best to send a quick, “God we know that you are in control and that you have all this handled, but please guide our words to make this the best meeting possible.  Let your will show through every situation.”

Oh my goodness what a HUGE changed happened almost instantly.  

We made the decision to change our CEO in July, and by September we were being pushed to step out on our own and leave my other employer.  

We still keep our faith strong in the company.  Before any functions, we pray.  Before any large meetings, we pray. 

We ask for God to continue to guide us, for him to show us how we can help him grow this company in his way.  

We know that sometimes, like any good CEO when we bring up a hair-brain idea he has to tell us “no.” That’s ok, we understand.  

Within the first year of stepping out on our own, we grew so much (like over 2000%). 

I can still remember our accountant going over that first year’s taxes with us.  She was very encouraging, but I could see the doubt in her eyes as we talked a little about goals for the next year and the next 5 years.

This last year she called me to ask if I knew how good we were doing?  I told her what I thought we made over the last year, and she was awe-struck.  How did you know that?

My response shocked her, “I prayed and listened with all my heart, I listened to what God said about what we make and I trusted him. So how close was he?”

“Within a few thousand dollars” she replied.

All too often we remove God from the business.  We have been brainwashed that God and business don’t go together.  God belongs in your personal life.  

Well to me God is my life, and he belongs in every aspect of it.  

That’s why I pray constantly. 

Before every meeting, before answering the phone, before I send an email, after I hang up, after a meeting, after that email is sent.  

God is in full control of every aspect of my life from my marriage (Love you Jenna), my kids (HUGE shout out to Billy, Nathen, Brianna, Jacob), the business (Eclipse DOT, Eclipse Training), the non-profit (God First Life Next), and everything I do.  

Today I want to encourage everyone who reads this to take a moment right now and think, what part of my life have I not invited God into?  Is there anything that I’m trying to keep all to myself because “God doesn’t belong there”

God belongs in every aspect of your life.  He loves and wants us to succeed.

Pray continually, Rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18