Learn how to fill in the information that goes on the log book sheets.
Log Books | Canada and the United States
Updated Jan 2021
Average Speed
You have to keep a log book if you are operating beyond a hundred and sixty kilometers (100M) of your home terminal.
The first piece that you need to fill in: the starting and ending odometer so that you know the total distance that you drove during the day.
In Canada, it's going to be in kilometers, in the United States it's going to be in miles.
If you are audited by the authorities or pulled into a scale, the first thing that the authorities are going to do, is they're going to take your total distance for the day, the number of hours that you drove for that day, divide the total distance by the hours, and figure out an average speed.
1) Operating in the mountains, your speed should be in the mid-seventies; approximately 70-75 kilometers an hour.
2) Operating on the flat it can be higher: probably 80-85 kilometers an hour is an average speed.
You could potentially get a speeding ticket from your log sheet, so make sure that your average speed for the day is within those ranges.
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Date
Fill out, the date.
On most forms: it's date, month, year.
Unit Number
On the log sheet there is a space for the truck and trailer unit number.
Commercial driving industry - all of the buses and trucks will have a unit number on them.
Fill in the unit number on this space - it's the unit that you're driving.
The trailer, the unit number will be on the front of the trailer or on the rear or both.
Most of the time it's both.
If there is not a unit number on the vehicle which you're driving use the license plate number.
Put the license plate number in the space for unit number for truck and trailer.
As you can see in the trailer there's spaces for several trailers.
On this form it's four - the reason is, is that many drivers operating truck and trailer will pull multiple trainers during the day, so there's space there to put one, two, three, four trailers that you may pull.
Cycle #1
On the log sheet is Cycle #1, Cycle #2.
In Canada operate on Cycle #1.
There's no benefit to operating on Cycle #2.
The reason I say that is because before you accumulate 70 hours on duty in Cycle #2, you must take 24 hours off duty.
If your gonna take 24 off duty, you might as well take another 12 and reset Cycle #1.
So there's no advantage to running Cycle #2 - just run Cycle #1 - check the appropriate box.
Home Terminal
The next space on the log sheet is the address of your home terminal.
The reason you have to have the address of your home terminal is:
1) to determine time zone that you're operating in.
Many long haul truck drivers will cross time zones; you have to keep the log sheet according to your home time zone.
The address is going to determine which time zone your operating in.
2) to determine if in fact that you are required to have a log book.
Legal Document
The next two blanks on the log sheet are for your name and the signature.
The log sheet is a legal document.
1) In the event of a crash and a court investigation—a legal investigation—they will use your log sheets to determine what kind of driving you had up to the time of the crash.
It's a legal document.
2) As well, during tax time you can use your log sheets to prove that you are away from home and can collect the per diem.
So, CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) will see the log sheet as a legal document, so put your name on and sign.
There's also a space for the name of your co-driver at the top of the log sheet.
Co-Driver
If you're running team, you have to put the name your co-driver in.
Bill of Lading
Bottom right on the log sheet is for the manifest or bill of lading.
If you have multiple bills of lading, just put the first bill of lading and then and "MULTIPLE."
Deferred Time
As well, on this sheet, which is a Canadian log book, you can defer time from day 1 to day 2.
Comment section - if you do defer time because you got into a crash, weather, or you were going home, put the reason down in the comment section.
Personal Use
Finally on the log sheet you can see that there is starting odometer and ending odometer for personal use.
You can drive the vehicle up to 75 kilometres a day for personal use.
Re-cap (70hrs/7days)
Finally on the log sheet on the right here, you can see a recap for how many hours you worked in the seven day cycle.
To determine the number of hours you have worked in your work cycle or have available, CLICK HERE.
