For the 14 months he has driven for North Toledo-based Bolt Express, Reuben Baggett has used an on-board computer to document when he goes on duty each day and when his shift is done.

The electronic log also records when his truck’s ignition is turned on, when it’s moving, and when the engine is turned off.

“It makes it a lot simpler,” Mr. Baggett said. “There’s no way you can get any violations, because it pretty much tells you everything. When you’re running paper logs, you can mess up.”

But during the early years of his 17-year truck-driving career, Mr. Baggett admitted, driving for longer hours than permitted by federal regulations wasn’t just a mess-up.

“A lot of companies will force you to run illegal if you’re running paper logs,” the Adrian resident said. And if a driver gets caught doing that, “it’s on you” because the company will simply deny it.

“I did it myself, because I was told to. I had heads of terminals tell me I should go even though they knew I shouldn’t,” Mr. Baggett said of work he did elsewhere, before estimating that his longest violation was probably about seven hours over the legal driving limit.

Preventing such marathon drives in violation of federal hours-of-service rules — which, among other things, limit commercial drivers to 11 hours per shift behind the wheel, 60 hours in any seven consecutive days, and 70 hours in any eight consecutive days -- is the primary goal of log-keeping requirements that are scheduled to enter the electronic realm Dec. 18.

With limited exceptions, the rules require trucks to be equipped with on-board devices that keep records of when the engine is running, when the truck is moving, when a particular driver goes on-duty or off, and its approximate location when any such status changes or on an hourly basis in between.

Pursuant to federal transportation legislation President Obama signed into law in July, 2012, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Organization published the electronic-log regulations Dec. 18, 2015, giving truckers and trucking companies two years to comply.

Edwin Nagle III, owner of the Nagle Companies based in Lake Township, added that even after that date, enforcement is going to be “soft,” with non-compliant trucks subject to fines but not ordered out of service until April 1.

“This is the biggest thing to hit the industry, even greater than deregulation,” said Mr. Nagle, whose family’s business has operated since 1977.

Mr. Nagle and officials with several other Toledo-area trucking companies, including Mr. Baggett’s employer, said last week their fleets already were fully equipped with electronic devices -- for varying periods of years -- and that their systems go far beyond the statutory requirements by recording other driving parameters and transmitting that information to company offices.

“Our trucks and trailers are separately satellite tracked,” said Nancy Hummel, communications director for Bolt Express. “We get an alert if they’re moved when they’re supposed to be parked.”

“It’s better for the driver, and for safety,” said Dean Kaplan, executive vice president and chief executive of K-Limited, a specialty tank hauler based in North Toledo. Electronic logs “are so much stronger than paper logs,” he said, and the compliance deadline shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

“This has been going on, coming down the pike for a long time,” Mr. Kaplan said.

Among the rule’s exemptions are for short-haul drivers whose work time is tracked mostly or entirely using time clocks; for short-term truck rentals of eight days or fewer; for drivers who do work that require log-keeping for eight days or fewer out of any rolling 30-day period, and for trucks older than the 2000 model year.

The latter are exempted because many older trucks have mechanical, rather than electronic controls with which electronic data systems are compatible.

But there is no exception for small companies owning just a few trucks or independent drivers who either contract themselves out as owner-operators to trucking companies or arrange for freight to haul on their own or through brokers.

Such small operators and an organization representing them -- the Owner-Operators/Independent Drivers Association -- have been leading efforts to soften the rules, postpone their implementation, or both.

OOIDA has sought legislation postponing the compliance deadline by another two years.

“The electronic logging device mandate is written so broadly that is has far-reaching implications well beyond the traditional trucking industry,” Todd Spencer, that group’s executive vice president, said in a prepared statement issued Sept. 27.

The OODIA statement asserted that electronic devices “are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours-of-service regulations” but introduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities, connectivity problems in remote areas, and other issues.

“This is a massive unfunded mandate that provides no safety, economic, or productivity benefits for most ensnared by the mandate,” the group said, estimating the industry-wide compliance cost at more than $2 billion.

Mr. Kaplan acknowledged that the electronic-log regulation will put “high pressure on owner-operators and independents,” but it also will level the playing field by making it harder for anyone to drive illegally.

“I can’t compete with guys who’ll drive 16 to 18 hours a day and, frankly, I don’t want to,” Mr. Nagle agreed.

Mr. Nagle said that since his company went all-electronic late last year, he has noticed a productivity decline of between 10 and 15 percent, which he attributed to the electronic logs’ unflinching accuracy.

While Nagle “has never condoned” falsifying logbooks, “from an industry standpoint, yes, it happened” with paper logs, he said.

Drivers desiring to get their loads delivered or get home can be tempted to fudge hand-written times if they run into unexpected delays like rough weather, traffic congestion from accidents or congestion, or -- most commonly -- detention at shippers’ or receivers’ loading docks.

“With paper logs, our drivers could kind of hide some of the delays they were faced with,” Mr. Nagle said. “With electronic logs, time’s running -- just like the meter on a taxi cab.”

And drivers shouldn’t feel like they have to make up for time lost because a warehouse is slow to unload their trucks, he said: “Why should the driver have to pay for that? My drivers love them [electronic logs].”

Ms. Hummel said Bolt has had electronic logs “for at least five years” on its company fleet and requires them of the 300 or so owner-operators that make up about two-thirds of its driver force.

“If you want to drive for Bolt, you have to embrace the safety part,” she said.

But she acknowledged that electronic logs weren’t universally welcomed by drivers -- particularly those who entered Bolt’s workforce when it bought Indiana-based DSE Services in 2014 to expand its operations.

“Old-school drivers want to be on the road,” Ms. Hummel said. “We had retention issues when we took over DSE.”

Mr. Baggett, meanwhile, said electronic log-keeping won’t prevent all accidents, even though they’ll make driving safer overall.

“Even with this, you’re still going to have dangerous drivers out there, just like you do with cars,” he said. “But companies will not play with this. If you’re in violation, they’ll shut you down.”

Contact David Patch at dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

First Published October 13, 2017, 11:25 p.m.