Average Speed and EZ-Log (Part 2)

This is a continuation of the discussion started last post on the importance of being aware of your average speed on logbooks. To recap the first post, excessive average speed can mean a driver was speeding or falsifying logs by under reporting driving time. Both are bad for your CDL!

D.O.T. Company Audits

Lets say, a driver for your company is terminated. Maybe that driver wants to cause some problems because he has a grudge. So, the driver contacts D.O.T. anonymously and says your company overlooks unsafe driver practices or forces drivers to violate Hour of Service regulations. Under certain circumstances this could trigger a company audit by D.O.T.

When D.O.T. conducts a company audit, they like looking at driver’s logs. Yes, your company audits your logs and gives you that little report every month listing the violations they found.

You can bet that the D.O.T. auditor will find more. Average speed will be looked at because speeding is considered a safety concern. Usually, D.O.T. will not audit every single driver’s logs. They are most interested in drivers who have lots of violations found by your company’s internal audit. This is like having a red bulls-eye on your file folder. It tells the D.O.T. auditor “lots of potential revenue here!”

If you fish, think of it this way. You don’t throw the line in just anywhere there is water. You know luck won’t be on your side fishing in the pool at your local Holiday Inn. So, you don’t bother. You go places where you know there will be lots of fish to catch. The auditor thinks the same way. Why bother with the drivers who don’t have many violations.

The auditor has a ticket book handy and will issue citations to drivers for violations including speeding. Even when the violation occurred many months in the past! 

Points Forever?

Before CSA*2010, getting a speeding ticket meant getting “points” against your CDL. Prior to 2006, CDL drivers could attend Traffic Safety School in lieu of points. No different that for non-commercial licenses.

Changes in the law, eliminated the option of Traffic Safety School and “points” remained for three years before dropping off. That ended having your friend go on-line and taking the test for you. (I knew a driver who did this for about 5 speeding tickets over about 5 months in California.) When the law changed you were stuck with points for three years if you got a speeding ticket.

Now, with CSA*2010, “points” do not drop off as easily. Now, getting “points” against your license is more like getting a tattoo after a night of tap beer and tequila shots. You wake up with a splitting headache, dry mouth and promising yourself you'll "never do that again!"

Get 12 points and your license is suspended for a month. Each time you get 12 points, you also get a 12-point “notch” on your gun. These 12-point “notches” are also permanent. Earn yourself three 12-point notches and you are permanently banned from driving a commercial vehicle. Well, maybe you could get a driving job in Peru, Afghanistan or Siberia. In the U.S. and Canada you can probably rule out driving a taxicab. 

So, what is the solution? You don’t have control over anything except what you do in the truck you are driving and your logbook. With the advent of GPS equipment tracking, PrePass and stricter law enforcement your logbook really can’t be a work of fiction. If it is, you are risking your career as a professional driver. Even if you are an independent owner-operator, don’t use PrePass and a GPS recorder tracks none of your equipment, your logs are subject to audit.

The EZ-Log Solution

Look at EZ-Log as an inexpensive way to prevent many of the common problems that would cause an auditor or officer to question what is in your logbook. No, EZ-Log won’t help you “cheat” the system. What it will do is eliminate many common problems. Like simple math errors, lack of good records and not planning ahead. 

EZ-Log can help you plan ahead and avoid problems like accepting loads that can’t be done legally. With an iPhone or portable GPS, it is easy to plan multiple day trips. Ever think you have more time that the time actually available? Ever sleep in when you should have been driving because your mental estimate was off?

Just a reminder. Go to www.ez-csa2010.com and sign up for the EZ-Log newsletter before release and save $20.00. Plus you will be notified when this Blog is updated. Thanks for reading.