I’m tired of this story and stories with this slant to it. Truckers win? Last time I checked Teamsters, PATT, CRASH and Public Citizen do not represent truck drivers in America. Teamsters have a union that represent some drivers at a few companies. They don’t have the membership or the power they used to have.
Truckers win in federal court
The rules, imposed in December, were supported by the trucking industry but opposed by safety advocates and the truckers’ union. Eugenia Gratto, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was a victory for workers and especially for the drivers.
I know and have heard from a lot of drivers that like the new rules. I (and others) think that we are forced to get more rest and it is harder to get ‘creative’ with your logbook.
After 45 days or maybe longer depending on delaying tactics by FMCSA we go back to the old rules. I can only drive for 10 hours straight and have to take an 8 hour break instead of the new 10 hour break. Try driving 10-8-10-8 for a few days cross country. You’re eating and showering during the time you’re supposed to be sleeping. You can say that we don’t have to drive like that, but there are several companies and brokers that schedule their delivery times so you have to drive like that. Think about that this summer as you’re driving down the highway with the kids on vacation. And this ruling was for the drivers? PATT and CRASH have their own agenda of shutting down the entire industry, by only allowing drivers on the road for 8 hours and not at night. The Teamsters are probably only involved because the fewer hours their drivers are allowed to drive means that those companies have to hire more drivers to cover those routes, which means more union members and more union dues.
The compromise the government came up, I thought was a good deal. The actual work day was cut from 15 to 14 hours a day. And the big stumbling block was that once your day started, you had to stop driving after 14 hours. No matter when or how many breaks you took. Warehouses that took advantage of drivers for free labor loading and unloading their trucks had to schedule their trucks more efficiently and get those drivers out of there and on the road. That was great. Companies started charging for detention. It was supposed to fix the undocumented time that drivers spend on docks. It did a little, there were still times you had to get creative, but it was starting to change for the better.
The court sided with the groups, saying the administration “cited absolutely no studies in support” of its argument that reducing the amount of time drivers were eligible to drive would compensate for the increase in driving time.
How about common sense? How about all the hearings with industry AND DRIVERS! Drivers had a lot of input in the process.
Joan Claybrook, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, which sued over the rules, said the rule changes were made to benefit the trucking industry.
What’s good for the industry is good for drivers. When I’m on the road, I want to be able to work, not be stranded at some truck stop clear across the country. Rates were being raised partly because of the new rules and teams were in demand to move freight without having to worry about the new rules. (Teams never run out of hours under any rules.)
Instead of keeping these rules till they come up with something better, we have to go back to the old ones. Every company, the entire industry spent millions converting software that audits logbooks and educating drivers and staff on the new rules. I really hope FMCSA comes up with something and we stay the course and at least give the new rules a chance.
