PaperMiles: Paper Log Grid

Draw the paper log grid you already know, with your finger, on your phone. Drag along a row and the ink line clicks onto the 15-minute marks while the total on the right fills in as you go. Write the whole day and the four rows add up to 24 hours; change rows and the vertical line joining them is drawn for you.

PaperMiles puts the paper record of duty status (RODS) used by US truck drivers who are exempt from the ELD rule onto your phone. It is not an ELD. It does not connect to the engine or GPS, it is not a device registered with FMCSA, and it does not decide whether you are exempt or how long you may drive. On exemptions, follow your carrier and FMCSA guidance.

Drew it wrong? Press the line and drag either end, nudge it 15 minutes, change the status, or erase it. If your hand slipped, one tap on undo brings it back. Carrier name, main office and home terminal address, truck and trailer numbers go into the profile once and appear on every new sheet. The city and state where a status changed are yours to type in at that point.

Close the day by signing with your finger. Touch a line after signing and a line of text asks you to sign again. If you want it, one reminder in the evening on days a sheet is still unsigned.

At a DOT inspection the inspection tab shows today and the past 7 days one large sheet at a time, and builds a PDF of the days that have records so you can print it or email it. Officers ask for different things, so carrying a printout is still the safest. There is also a PDF that bundles a whole month into one file, for your own records.

You can always see how many of the last 30 days have Driving or On Duty drawn on them (N/8). The legal count is days you operated a CMV, so days with nothing but Off Duty and Sleeper Berth are not among them. The 30-day calendar shows by date which record leaves the count and when. The home screen widget carries that number and the state of today's sheet, and opens the inspection tab when you tap it.

The way a log book stays in the filing cabinet, the sheets stay on this phone. Nothing tracks your location - city and state are fields the driver types - and the only ways a sheet leaves are the backup file you make and the PDFs. One backup file takes everything out and brings it all back. There is no subscription, nothing to pay for and no ads.