diff --git a/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/LoggerSettings.java b/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/LoggerSettings.java
index 6596d164..2bd4aa92 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/LoggerSettings.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/LoggerSettings.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ public class LoggerSettings {
 	public final boolean		isQuiet;
 	public final boolean		isDebug;
 	public final boolean		isTrace;
+	public final boolean		isShowDateTime;
 
 	public final List<String>	properties;
 	public final String			propertyFileName;
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ public LoggerSettings(TransformOptions options) {
 		this.isDebug = options.hasOption(AppOption.LOG_DEBUG);
 		this.isTrace = options.hasOption(AppOption.LOG_TRACE);
 
+		this.isShowDateTime = options.hasOption(AppOption.LOG_SHOW_DATE_TIME);
+
 		this.properties = options.getOptionValues(AppOption.LOG_PROPERTY);
 		this.propertyFileName = options.normalize(options.getOptionValue(AppOption.LOG_PROPERTY_FILE));
 
diff --git a/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/TransformerLoggerFactory.java b/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/TransformerLoggerFactory.java
index 5e3550ea..3d4629fa 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/TransformerLoggerFactory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.transformer.cli/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/cli/TransformerLoggerFactory.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
  * The format to use for date and time values which are included in log messages.
  * Formats are specified according to:
  * <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html">SimpleDateFormat</a>.
- * Defaults to display the the number of milliseconds since the logger was
+ * Defaults to display the number of milliseconds since the logger was
  * initialized.  The default is used if a non-valid format is specified.
  *
  * org.slf4j.simpleLogger.showThreadName
@@ -165,6 +165,12 @@ private void setLoggingProperties(String loggerName) {
 			setLoggingProperty(LoggerProperty.LOG_LEVEL_PREFIX + loggerName, "error");
 		}
 
+		// this is a shortcut to avoid below properties
+		if (settings.isShowDateTime) {
+			setLoggingProperty(LoggerProperty.LOG_SHOW_DATE_TIME.toString(), "true");
+			setLoggingProperty(LoggerProperty.LOG_DATE_TIME_FORMAT.toString(), "yyyy.MM.dd 'at' HH:mm:ss z");
+		}
+
 		if (settings.properties != null) {
 			for (String propertyAssignment : settings.properties) {
 				assignLoggingProperty(propertyAssignment);
diff --git a/org.eclipse.transformer/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/AppOption.java b/org.eclipse.transformer/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/AppOption.java
index dd042c94..a44c27f3 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.transformer/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/AppOption.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.transformer/src/main/java/org/eclipse/transformer/AppOption.java
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ public enum AppOption {
 	LOG_TRACE(
 		new Settings("x", "trace", "Display trace output: trace level logging", !Settings.HAS_ARG, !Settings.HAS_ARGS,
 		!Settings.IS_REQUIRED, "LOG_GROUP")),
+	LOG_SHOW_DATE_TIME(
+		new Settings("ldt", "logShowDateTime", "Show date and time in log statements. Shortcut for -lp bellow with showDateTime and dateTimeFormat.",
+					 !Settings.HAS_ARG, !Settings.HAS_ARGS, !Settings.IS_REQUIRED, Settings.NO_GROUP)),
 	LOG_PROPERTY(new Settings("lp", "logProperty", "Logging property", !Settings.HAS_ARG, Settings.HAS_ARGS,
 		!Settings.IS_REQUIRED, Settings.NO_GROUP)),
 	LOG_PROPERTY_FILE(new Settings("lpf", "logPropertyFile", "Logging properties file", Settings.HAS_ARG,