Judith

(read August 5th post for background)

While I was asleep on August 4th my computer came back on and began to record my hours of service as being on-duty. It recorded me as on-duty until I awoke that morning, when it should of had me off-duty or in the sleeper berth. 18 hours of on-duty time now put me well over the Department of Transportation limit of 70 hours of on-duty and driving time over a 7 day period. However, DOT regulations state that paper logs always supercede e-logs so I recalculated my hours on paper and knew I had around 14 to work with for the day. 

With the computer working I decided to return to e-logs the following day and to Transflow the paper logs for the 3rd and 4th to Green Bay so that they could then correct my e-logs (the Transflow is a sort of fax machine for truck drivers available at all truck stops for the sending of bills of lading, expense reports, DOT inspection reports, tickets, etc. to any trucking company operating center).

But after Transflowing the paper logs the technical support wizards in Green Bay failed to correct my computer logs. A red light began to flash on the Qualcomm as I drove. 

Then Judith, the woman who lives inside my truck computer, began to announce in a gloomy, reproachful voice through the speaker behind my seat: "Peter J--- D---- has violated the DOT hours of service regulation." She used my full name as my mother did when I was a boy and she was angry with me. Her tone was without the pleasant professionalism she had when advising me of where to turn and when I reached my destination. It was clear I had displeased her, perhaps made her angry. Every few hours Judith announced my violation. I muted the computer to stop hearing her message.