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Hours regs debated at opening session
January 20, 2010
| by: Truckers News Staff
Comments at Jan. 19’s opening session of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s review of the hours of service rule ranged from a request to keep the existing rules to urging a rewrite.
Representing the status quo at the session in Arlington, Va., David Osiecki, senior vice president of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at American Trucking Associations, said the hours rules are based on extensive research and analysis and should be retained in their current form.
“The safety concerns hypothesized by trucking industry critics and those groups opposed to the current rules have simply failed to occur in the real world,” Osiecki said. “In January 2009, in a comprehensive response to these organizations, FMCSA strongly refuted these hypotheses with data and rational explanations. Absent new data, these predictions must continue to be rejected by FMCSA and DOT and should, in no way, be a basis for any proposed changes. In rulemaking and in litigation, FMCSA and DOT have said repeatedly that facts, not perception, must support the rules.”
Gerald Donaldson, senior research director for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said too much driving and work time is permitted under the rules. “It is appalling that well into the 21st century we are still using these workers as though they were 19th century laborers,” he said.
Donaldson’s group, along with the Teamsters union, Public Citizen and the Truck Safety Coalition, opposes the current rules. LaMont Byrd, director of the Teamsters’ Health and Safety department, said the union is against the part of the rule that allows drivers to restart the work cycle after only 34 hours off duty.
“The agency issued a rule that favors increasing driver productivity and increasing the profits of motor carriers over driver health and safety,” Byrd said. “The current rules regarding hours of service, the 34-hour restart provision and the sleeper berth provision must be changed.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association was represented by Rod Nofziger, director of government affairs, who called for more flexibility in the regulations. He stated drivers should be allowed to take breaks without the time counting against the daily working hours. He repeated OOIDA’s support for compensating drivers for time spent waiting to be loaded or unloaded.
“To give you an idea of how significant the detention time problem is: Industry surveys have estimated upwards of 40 hours per truck per week is wasted waiting to be loaded and unloaded,” Nofziger said.
“In fact, as a part of the Motor Carrier Efficiency Study, your agency has identified loading and unloading as the most cited inefficiency in trucking, costing the industry an estimated $3 billion per year and society over $6.5 billion annually,” Nofziger noted.
Steve Keppler, interim executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, struck a middle ground. He said the current rules are easy to understand and enforce, and those conditions should be considered in any rewrite of the rules.
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i have been driving for 15 yeard the hours of service seem fine to me i get plenty of rest . it would be nice if the teamsters and union workers(were we have the most trouble getting unloaded or loaded )would let us alone thay want the hours changed because thay go home most nites over the road driver sit in truck stops. a 34 hour restart give us plenty of time to rest,most drivers dont like to sit that much unless we are home. sitting in a t/s for 34 hours is unproductive and cost us all money,you and me.
it would be nice if people who know nothing about trucking would stay out of our bussiness and let us do our job. people wonder why things cost so much in the stores well unions drive up the price and the more you mess with trucking the more it will cost to operate trucks which drives up the price in the stores.
im just a trucker seems to me we are the ones you should listen to .
thanks for letting me rant be safe
Hey Ken
That was a good rant and I agree be safe.
i diff. agree with you kenneth ,if gov. & people who don’t have any idea what a truck does or even looks like , ia’m retired now after 44 yrs. over road . but i’ve seen many wrong things & some good , there is just to many young hot heads out think they know every thing after a couple weeks out there . sorry if i step on too many toes,.HAVE A SAFE TRIP.
I too have been driving OTR fifteen years. I don’t get rest that I need. You should make enough driving that sitting doesn’t matter. It depends what type truck driver you are too. If you haul perishables, hours mean nothing. How many other jobs in the country work 70 hours a week? Not very many. They get paid overtime too. Why can’t drivers get time and a half in the form of mile and a half pay? Drivers are overworked regardless for minimal pay. If the gov’t doesn’t put EOBR’s in ALL trucks the HOS is useless. I’m constantly forced to run illegal to meet customer requirements. Run day shift, run night shift, run 1200 miles in 30 hrs then spend all day doing drops. Either do it or they’ll get someone that will. I can hide it all in a logbook and everyone is happy. All an auditor has to do is look at meat companies pick up and delivery times in their shipping computers and see violations which leads me to believe heads are turned or payed off. All the laws are made to keep prices down in the stores. They aren’t concerned about the driver. It’s all about $$$ and the driver is at the bottom. The system is broken and needs fixed form the ground up. Not modify what already doesn’t work.
i agree with most of u,granted ive only been driving since 04,ive ran solo,n the flatbed,and wasnt a day went by,that i was legal,it looked good on paper,but that was it,and then i ran team,coast to coast,for 1 1/2 years,bringing produce back,and sitting for hours on hours at the shipper,and not getting paid for it,then they want u to drive like u know what,to get back with the load.i think washington,needs to ride n these trucks,with a driver,for about a month,to see what its really like…..
Drivers, what is the real true is that the goverment will not address the real issues like how long we sit at shippers and rev. most shippers require late fees for being an hour late but do they pay us for keeping us 12 hours or more like us foods and sysco… un heard of… if the gov. would address the real trouble then the rest would take care of itself. the only thing the dot wants is the rev. they can steal from us the drivers
The DOT can kiss my rosey red
if the goverment wants to change the hours again which is stupid in the frist place. thier is no freedom on the road hardly any more. if they want the hours to work in our favor then demand that all otr carriers have nothing but drop hook freight have local truckers deliver the freight.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE HOURS OF SERVICE I DONT THINK THATS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM US DRIVES HAVE ITS MAKING THE SHIPPERS GET US LOADED OR UNLOADED WITH IN A TIME FRAME THAT WORKS FOR ALL OF US NOT JUST THEM .IF YOU UNLOAD A FEW HOURS AWAY THEN DRIVE THERE THEN SIT THERE ALL DAY WAITING TO LOAD A FEW THINGS NOW THEY SAY BE THERE AT 7AM ..I HAVE NOT TROUBLE TELLING THEM TO GO GET FUCKED THEY SHOULD LOAD YOU IN TO HOURS OR BE MADE TO PAY FOR WAITING TIME IF IM EVER LATE FOR A CRANE I PAY ..SO MAKE THEM PAY AND ALL THE WAITING CRAP WILL END .THE THE HOURS OF SERVICE IS GOOD TO GO
Pay a late fee?Wait 12 hrs to unld?WTF! Im an o/o and haul specialized freight.We dont have these problems because we will NOT tolerate it.BEFORE we load we call and inform the customer when we will arrive.We dont ask for an appt time.We TELL them what time we will arr.If its not suitable for the cust its very simple…Sorry..that doesnt work for me..Ill put your load at the bottom of the pile and youll see it next week.Funny how quickly arrangements can be made to accomodate OUR schedule.The times you wait to unload,lumper issues,appt times,These issues are NOT the fault of the customer.It is the fault of the company you drive for.They ALLOW the customer to behave this way..Also.it works both ways.If we tell a custmr we will arrive at 3pm on thurs we WILL be there on time,no excuses.The next time they tell you a late fee has to be paid try this…LEAVE. Drive out the gate and wave at them. They WILL call looking for their freight. I promise.Ive seen em do it.It says on our b.o.l. that the SHIPPER must sign prior to loading us that we are not responsible for any damage or shortages,and that upon arrival to receiver if we are detained for more than 2 hrs we will leave, secure the load at the closest storage facility,charge a relocation fee,and an additional fee for redelivery After you pay for the storage.While i realize general freight does not operate this way it COULD.When disp and comp operations are held accountable alot of your problems would be solved. Of course the receiver will get to you when he feels like it,and use you for storage for the day if he is allowed to.Why not.Its not costing him any money.Your company allows them to do this.
THE GOVERMENT NEEDS TO LET US DO OUR JOB that log book cant tell me when im tired an the day they make me put a EOBR BOX in my truck that truck will be parked an up for sale truck in the last 20 year has went to the dogs it has been down hill
Unions need regulation or they can not compete. Does not that sound like dictatorship versus free enterprise?
The question that should be asked is not weather one should improve on conditions of the driver or safety issues. We all agree to that fact.
But weather the government should be responsible for these matters. After all, the government has not succeeded in to many things as managers.
Making the question, is this about safety or about other entities, railroad, big truck companies, unions getting an advantage, via political regulation?
It aint like it use to be boys! pencil pushers that never drove a truck are maken laws they don’t even understand. Yesterday while getting a level 3 inspection the officer said he had been there for 10.50 hrs i said well in 30 minutes u are done he said no he works 12 hr shifts I said must be nice to be able to make a living the way u want..
Back in the day, all the way to 1939, u could take time off/out to rest when you need it. now is’t screwy.It would be easier to log time at docks legally,if you could go off duty while waing to be loaded, or unloaded. Drver safety is better every year, and yet the special interests continue to want to screw with us.Make the roads safer by going aftere the people who make the roads unsafe, the 4 wheelers!!!! RR’s can kiss my A**
you want slove the problem fix all of
down time sitting waiting in docks to load and uload
since there is a minium wage per hour set by
goverment
second put reasonable wage minium around
.50 cpm and go back to the 10 hours on
and 8 hours with a 24 hour off reset
IF THE NEW PROPOSED 8 HOURS PER DAY OF DRIVING AND ON DUTY TIME, ALONG WITH DOING AWAY WITH THE 34 HR RESTART BEING ELIMINATED, WILL EXTREME HARDSHIP ON DRIVERS, COMPANIES AND THE FAMILIES OF DRIVER, BECAUSE IT WILL PUT A VERY LARGE FINACIAL BURDEN ON THEM. IT WILL CUT MOST DRIVERS PAY IN HALF OR MORE AND CAUSE US TO AWAY FROM HOME LONGER THAN WE ARE NOW. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR 30 PLUS YEARS AND FEEL THAT THE CURRENT HOS IS BEEN GOOD FOR REST TIME, THE AMOUNT OF HOURS WE WORK IN A DAY, AND THE 34 HOUR RESTART IS A GREAT TOOL FOR DRIVE TO BE ABLE TO GET BACK HOME WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE A WEEK OR MORE TO GET ENOUGH HOURS TO TAKE A LOAD TO RETURN HOME. SO I HOPE THE THE PROPOSED NEW HOURS OF SERVICE DO NOT MAKE THE GRADE. AND IF THESE PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT SAFETY IN THIS INDUSTRY, EXAMPLE MATTD, AND CRASH THEY NEED TO BE IN THE CAB OF A TRUCK FOR ONE WEEK AND SEE WHO ARE REALLY THE BAD DRIVERS.