The Source for Trucking News, Opinions and Trucking Jobs | New Hours of Service Comments

I was under the wrong impression that FMCSA was going to come out with completely new Hours of Service rule that stemmed from the court argument this year. After reading the entire boring page it’s only a list of arguments and medical findings that back up the rules they already put into place. This one is just as interesting, but it’s important to look at if you want to know what’s going on first hand instead of the rumor mill on the CB and truck stops. I hope the new ones stick. Speaking for myself, I get more driving and I also get more rest. The government is asking for public comments now. My fear is they will get ignorant comments like I get:

I have been an o/o for ms carriers and now swift transportation for about 9 years. The way I see this, is that the entire mess was created by the continous 14 hour rule. that makes it so that we are always under the gun. cant stop to eat, cant stop to shit, cant stop and take a short nap. cant stop for anything. also trucks are driving faster. really safe dont u think?  I would think that the truck stop industry would also be hurting from this. The problem is that people in the government keep trying to pass a rule, regulation, or law that will keep people from breaking the law. thats impossible but these people are tooooooo stupid to see that. Let us drive our trucks under rules that we can live by, the old ones for instance, and deal with the rule breakers.

I did respond personally to this o/o, but he probably didn’t like my response. The 14 hour rule isn’t perfect, but at least it was an attempt to cut down on the abuse and inefficiencies at the loading docks. According to several trucking industry articles (that I don’t feel like looking up again), they reported several carriers had implemented detention charges for inefficient shippers and shippers had become more efficient because of the new rule.

The part in the email about not being able to stop… total b/s.
FMCSA kept the split sleeper berth rule. If you really wanted to stop
and eat, log it as sleeper berth for two hours and extend your day.
Which also means you can go back and load your truck and log it as
sleeper berth too. But like I’ve always said, it’s up to the individual
to stand up for themselves because the government can’t do everything.
Besides, if you take a 3 hour break or two 1.5 hour breaks as off duty you can still finish driving within the 14 hours. How long does it take to drive 11 hours?

I tend to differ from
my emailer in that “this mess” was created by carriers (like Swift)
forcing drivers to work for free, log it as off duty and then drive for
a full day after a full day of either work or of waiting around on the
docks, like the old rules for instance. Deal with the rule breakers? I
would love it if someone would enforce the STAA or OSHA or someone
would deal with the carriers and dock time / labor. But it’s not going
to happen Unions or OOIDA don’t have the power any more to deal with
the situation. It’s got to be up to the individual to stand up and
either get paid or find a carrier that treats them right.

There’s still a lot of press about the “driver shortage”. There may
not be an actual shortage but drivers do have the upper hand in
choosing a carrier if only we could take advantage of it. Instead, some
drivers like my friend who stay with the same low-life carrier year
after year. Hopefully he has a dedicated run that has him home on
weekends or more and is getting the table scraps for pay so he can
survive.