{"id":3913,"date":"2013-10-01T18:09:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T22:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/?p=3913"},"modified":"2013-10-02T12:38:22","modified_gmt":"2013-10-02T16:38:22","slug":"ask-the-law-october-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/2013\/10\/ask-the-law\/ask-the-law-october-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask The Law – October 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Questions about 34-Hour Restarts, Cell Phones and Inspections Answered by Law Enforcement Officials (as of October 2013)<\/h3>\n

Warning: Laws are subject to change without notice.
\nThese interpretations were made on September 12, 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brought to you as a public service by Ol\u2019 Blue, USA and 10-4.<\/h4>\n

Submit your questions to www.askthelaw.org<\/a><\/p>\n

TEAM DRIVERS & 34-HOUR RESTARTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> In regards to the new hours-of-service regulations, can team drivers do a rolling 34-hour restart (a combination of sleeper and off-duty time) including two consecutive periods between 1am and 5am, or does the entire 34-hour restart have to be logged off-duty?\u00a0 Thank you \u2013 Chris in Colorado
\nA: Provided by Senior Trooper Monty Dial (Ret.)<\/a>, Texas Highway Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Garland, TX: <\/strong> It doesn\u2019t matter how the driver logs the 34-hour reset.\u00a0 It can be logged as either off-duty, sleeper berth, or a combination of both, as long as there are 34 consecutive hours off.\u00a0 While one driver of the team is getting their 34-hour reset, the other is going to have to do all the driving until the resting driver gets their two periods from 1am to 5am, with a total of 34 hours, before the next driver can start their reset.<\/p>\n

OFFICER ASKS FOR DRIVER\u2019S PHONE<\/b><\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> Is it legal for an officer to ask me for my cell phone during a roadside inspection or at a permanent scale location?\u00a0 Thank you in advance \u2013 Jim in Missouri<\/p>\n

A: Provided by Sgt. Pete Camm (Ret.)<\/a>, California Highway Patrol, Sacramento, CA:<\/strong> At first, your question appears fairly innocuous, but I\u2019m pretty sure there is more to your question.\u00a0 An officer can \u201cask\u201d you for just about anything; however, whether or not he\/she can make you comply depends upon the circumstances.\u00a0 Generally, at first contact with you, an officer will \u201cask\u201d for specific items such as your driver license, registration and logbook, which you are required to provide.\u00a0 At this point, he\/she is being polite.\u00a0 While 392.80 and 392.82 prohibit texting and talking on a hand-held device while operating a CMV, respectively, the mere possession of a cell phone in a CMV is not prohibited \u2013 especially since some drivers and MCs are keeping up with technology and maintaining their records of duty status (RODS) on cell phones and PCs in lieu of logbooks.\u00a0 In addition, 395 does not prohibit the use of cell phones or PCs as RODS.\u00a0 In this instance, an officer has every right to ask or demand to see your cell phone.\u00a0 A cell phone synchronized with an automatic on-board recording device (AOBRD) must meet requirements contained in 385.15.\u00a0 A driver utilizing a cell phone, which is not synchronized with a specific device(s) on a CMV, must be able to print out the current and previous seven days log pages as required by the following 395.8 interpretation: \u201cQuestion 28: May a driver use a computer to generate his or her record of duty status (logbook) and then manually sign the computer printouts in lieu of handwritten logs?\u00a0 Guidance: A driver may use a computer to generate the graph grid and entries for the record of duty status or logbooks, provided the computer-generated output includes the minimum information required by 395.8 and is formatted in accordance with the rules.\u00a0 In addition, the driver must: 1) be capable of printing the record of duty status for the current 24-hour period at the request of an enforcement officer; 2) print the record of duty status at the end of each 24-hour period, and sign it in his or her handwriting to certify that all entries required by this section are true and correct; and 3) maintain a copy of printed and signed records of duty status for the previous seven consecutive days and make it available for inspection at the request of an enforcement officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

PROPERLY LOGGING A DOT INSPECTION<\/b><\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> How should I log a 15-minute DOT inspection: on-duty, off-duty, or is there no need to log it all?\u00a0 Thanks \u2013 Tony in Delaware<\/p>\n

A: Provided by Jim Brokaw<\/a>, formerly a Staff Sergeant, Nebraska State Patrol, Carrier Enforcement Division, Lincoln, NE: <\/strong> You will want to be sure to log your inspection time as \u201con-duty\u201d.\u00a0 The answer to your question is found in the definitions for the hours-of-service rules in 49 CFR 395.2, which states, in part: \u201cOn-duty time means all time from the time a driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work.\u00a0 On-duty time shall include: …(2) All time inspecting, servicing, or conditioning any commercial motor vehicle at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

~ The Ask The Law\u2122 programs are an ongoing educational effort between Ol\u2019 Blue, USA\u2122 and commercial law enforcement agencies. Ol\u2019 Blue, USA is a non-profit organization dedicated to highway safety education and to improving relations between the motoring public, law enforcement and commercial drivers. \u201cAsk The Law\u201d is a registered trademark of Ol\u2019 Blue, USA. This column is copyrighted\u00a9 by Ol\u2019 Blue, USA. Warning: Laws are subject to change without notice. These interpretations were made on September 12, 2013.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Questions about 34-Hour Restarts, Cell Phones and Inspections Answered by Law Enforcement Officials (as of October 2013) Warning: Laws are subject to change without notice. These interpretations were made on September 12, 2013. Brought to you as a public service by Ol\u2019 Blue, USA and 10-4. Submit your questions to www.askthelaw.org TEAM DRIVERS & 34-HOUR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ask-the-law"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3950,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913\/revisions\/3950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}