Uber and Trucking

LrgCar

LrgCar

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May 27, 2020
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Question for your fleet owners and managers. I had a few drivers ask me over the last year if they were allowed to drive uber on their time off and I thought why not, I don't see it being an issue and I just recently brought it up with safety but they advised against it because it counts against HOS. How are you guys dealing with these part-time driving apps, are you allowing it? Would love your input.
 
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It would be on-duty time on their log, drivers working at more than one employer are required to report their total hours from all employers. The problem with Uber is everything is tracked and recorded, if a driver got in an accident and was over his hours due to a side Uber gig, its going to come out in court and that has nuclear verdict written all over it.
 
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We actually had a driver who was doing this but did not inform us. Once we found out we sent a written letter to him stating that the Uber hours he was driving were counted as HOS - and he was menat to be on reset ... he acknowledged but didn't inform us either way that he quit .... before we could give him two weeks he actually moved ... not sure what the extent of a fleet owner's liability would be if they were not informed / have it in writing the driver is not working - but still does...
 
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tasuinam said:
We actually had a driver who was doing this but did not inform us. Once we found out we sent a written letter to him stating that the Uber hours he was driving were counted as HOS - and he was menat to be on reset ... he acknowledged but didn't inform us either way that he quit .... before we could give him two weeks he actually moved ... not sure what the extent of a fleet owner's liability would be if they were not informed / have it in writing the driver is not working - but still does...
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That's what im wondering, what liability do we have if we are unaware that a driver is doing Uber and trucking on the same cycle? This could be a considerable problem: let's say a driver just did a 10-hour shift for uber and then hops on your truck fatigued and causes an accident. Once investigated, it will appear that the driver had also driven for a rideshare app and this could be pinned against the carrier for negligence. If anyone has seen or heard of a similar case please feel free to put a link in this thread.
 
LrgCar said:
Question for your fleet owners and managers. I had a few drivers ask me over the last year if they were allowed to drive uber on their time off and I thought why not, I don't see it being an issue and I just recently brought it up with safety but they advised against it because it counts against HOS. How are you guys dealing with these part-time driving apps, are you allowing it? Would love your input.
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have you consulted your insurance?
 
Interesting question for sure. Where does one draw the line on the control an employer has over their employees when the employees are on their own time? Is a driver just as fatigued after a 10 hour Uber shift, as he is after driving the family minivan straight through to home from the 2 week holiday in the Maritimes? Granted, the Uber shift would include some documentation as it is a paid job, but if this came before the courts, a diligent lawyer could dig up some gas receipts from the return trip after the vacation. How deep do you want to dig into this question? Perhaps the answer is, “don’t ask, don’t tell”. From a carrier’s perspective, pleading ignorance might be the best, and only defence.
 
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Problem is, you expect/anticipate your drivers coming to work being alert and in good mental and physical state to preform the duties safely in (what I would call) their main source of income. If any part time gig would would interfere with your regular job, then the driver needs to make the decision if the Uber is going to put food on the table, if the full time job goes away due to an incident.
 
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LrgCar said:
I have not but just knowing the way insurance companies are, I'm sure they have a clause somewhere there to deny coverage if the driver violates HOS. I will ask today and get back to you, I'm sure my agent has some insight into this.
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yea thats why i figured to bring it up. you never know until you ask!
 
loaders said:
“don’t ask, don’t tell”.
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Damn it ... now that won't work because you just made an electronic record of it, and it has tagged everyone who has dropped in to view this thread ... LOL

The issue at hand ... You could insert a clause into your O/O contract that would prohibit the O/O from doing an Uber-type gig. Then you would never have to ask, and the O/O would never have to tell.

As to the issue of control ... If you, as a carrier, are exercising that much control, and I think it is fairly certain that insurance will say that you have to exercise that level of control, I think it would be a fair assumption that the O/O is no longer independent, and that raises a whole plethora of other issues.
 
If the truck has your authorities and is insured by you then you had better have the control over where and when it is being used. Your ELD should be able to quickly alert you if the truck is moving outside of a dispatch and you definitely need to nip that in the bud very quickly.

Your employment policies and O/O contracts should definitely address moonlighting as a driver and advising the employer if that is happening. Taxi, dump truck, straight truck - whatever is supposed to be on duty in a commercial driving nature needs to be documented. Your insurance company should have already asked you to see that in your policies.

If your driver is moonlighting under a different carrier or for a different employer, you should eventually catch it on your regular CVOR and driver's license abstracts. If they ever get a fine or an inspection it will be noted, and you need to address it. That means pulling them 'regularly' but then that term 'regularly' is subjective.
 
No. Not at all.
It means he is an O/O with a 1978 Peterbilt 379, with a 650 HP Cummins Big Cam IV, and 21 speed twin stick tranny, running produce out of Florida on a 42 foot stainless steel Great Dane reefer back to the OFT.
He needs the Uber gig because he's got a little thing going on with Mary Lou at the T/A on the south side of Atlanta, and another little thing going on with Becky Sue over in Wildwood ... and he can't afford for his wife to find out about any of this shit !!! ... LOL
 
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Michael Ludwig said:
No. Not at all.
It means he is an O/O with a 1978 Peterbilt 379, with a 650 HP Cummins Big Cam IV, and 21 speed twin stick tranny, running produce out of Florida on a 42 foot stainless steel Great Dane reefer back to the OFT.
He needs the Uber gig because he's got a little thing going on with Mary Lou at the T/A on the south side of Atlanta, and another little thing going on with Becky Sue over in Wildwood ... and he can't afford for his wife to find out about any of this shit !!! ... LOL
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For guy that never drove you sure do know all the hotspots lmao... Second trip ever was to Miami and not knowing any better ran down 75 and slept in Wildwood. Awoken too Becky Sue banging on the door.
 
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Rob said:
Sorry but if a driver has to moonlight for uber sounds like he is at the wrong company don't you think?
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Well, these guys are grossing quite a bit but with the rate of inflation looks like I may also have to pull a side gig to keep up with things. Not sure what the motivation for driving uber is, maybe just easy side cash between trips. Seems simple enough, download app hop in car and make money no special licenses required, no permits, no drug test, not much overhead.
 
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