Appeals Court tosses DOT’s 11-hour rule and 34-hour restart

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by Bunny, Jul 24, 2007.

  1. socalborn

    socalborn Bobtail Member

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    Sep 22, 2006
    Lincoln, Nebraska for now
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    In the end, what effect does this have? If I'm right, it means less driving time in a 24-hour period and less driving time during the week (especially if the 34-hour reset becomes larger). Can't the trucking companies or union or whatever have a major deciding factor? I can see the bureaucratization of all this. I have to think they're shooting themselves in the foot: no timely deliveries, higher costs, less labor force (because they don't want to deal with the idiocy). Does any policymaker see this? (OK, that may be a stupid question.) Is this argument being presented or are the people helping the trucking industry just trying to placate the lawmakers and taking whatever is offered to them, like grateful servants?

    I was going to enroll in the CDL course at the local community college for the upcoming quarter. Everything is straightened out enough in my life to do so. Now it sounds as if it won't be worth it. I wanted to get out, go other places (other than by joining the Army), and make some OK-to-decent money doing it. I'm willing to stay out and drive long stretches because I have nobody at home, but I'm starting to feel as if it's not going to be feasible even under those conditions anymore. Apart from the present turmoils, what future do you see for the industry?
     
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  3. bowtiesx2

    bowtiesx2 Bobtail Member

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    Jul 3, 2007
    Marianna, FL
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    IMO, I think we are going to be regulated to 10 hours of driving time, and our restart will be pushed up to 48 hours. How will this affect us ? Not one bit. If a load takes XX hours to get where it is going, it is still going to take XX hours after they change the rules. The planners, shippers, and receivers will have to adjust, but we'll still be doing our job. We won't be missing out on loads, or waiting on freight any more than we do now. It's just one of those things that will take some getting use too.
     
  4. rex

    rex Light Load Member

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    Well if this 10 hour business comes to pass, I'll either have to trade up to the 600 ISX or kiss blackjack in Mesquite goodbye as I already struggle to get into Nevada in under 11 hours. Can't we just go back to the old HOS? Worked fine for me...
    rx
     
  5. Ammocj

    Ammocj Bobtail Member

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    Oct 22, 2005
    South Dakota
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    Well, a 48 hour restart would really suck.
    It's bad enough when I'm sitting 34 hours away from home.
    Now I'll have to waste another full driving period per week idle?
    I hope they don't change that, unless it is to get rid of the restart completely.

    And another quik thing, don't use that split sleeper if you cross the scales east of Portland.
    The DOT inspector (I forget her name) does not accept the 8 hour sleeper as a stop.
    Mine was on the earliest day she could check and I was nothing but polite and she still wrote me up.
    Of course I'm just a dumb truck driver, how could I expect to explain the rules to her.
    If she would have spent as much time reading the regulation as she did on her cell phone during my inspection I would have walk out of there with the clean inspection I deserved, and in a resonable amount of time.

    I would have been better off falsifying my logs not showing that split a week earlier and that's what I'll probably do the next time I cross that scale.

    Al
     
  6. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

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    If the split berth was done correct, the ticket is in error and should be protested. Her writing the ticket does not make her an expert. Consult with her supervisor and possibly with a trucking attorney.
     
  7. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    When I was OTR I tried like heck to unload/reload on a monday, at the latest another reload/unload on a thurs or friday and then drive as far as I could on sat. Where ever I got sat night I took my 34. Hopefully it was close to my monday unload. 48 hr restart would put a crimp in doing it the way I just described.
     
  8. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Absolutely. Sounds to me like she is a chicken house rambo and has no regard for DOT law.
    I would not allow her to get away with this uncontested. If you are like most drivers you work way too hard for your money to be giving it away on BS tickets.
     
  9. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Medium Load Member

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    Jun 11, 2006
    Texas
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    I wouldn't even hire an attorney, no reason to waste the money. If she is contesting something on a log book that is clearly legal, then all you have to do is go to court and point it out yourself. At that point, I would also point out the fact that she was gabbing on her cell phone during the inspection, rather than paying attention to her job.
     
  10. bowtiesx2

    bowtiesx2 Bobtail Member

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    Jul 3, 2007
    Marianna, FL
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    I agree that it's going to be aggravating, but I think that's where we're headed. The safety advocate groups do not like the 34 because it allows us to get hours back, if it gets extended to 48, that will be an extra 14 hours that we can't "get back".
    (If it's any consolation though, we'll probably only have to deal with this for a couple of years before they change it again.:)
     
  11. class441

    class441 Light Load Member

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    Jun 24, 2007
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    I don't think you'll see a 48 hr reset even if that's what it goes to. You'll probably run into a 24-34 hr period where you wait for hrs to come back. Companies will get impatient when you have a few hrs for the day and probably expect you to run at night or complain about how you log, then you'll be sort of pressured into falsifying logs. Somehow, when this doesn't work out, it will be all our fault. Can't wait.
    10 hrs driving will be hard to deal with since you will probably have to chose to shut down in 9-9.5 hrs at times instead of getting to a better place.
    The only thing that would be nice is if they continued to debate how customers and companies will have to have more open time slots.
    The absolute worst will be trying to meet schedules by taking off earlier every day and as every driver knows it's not how long your day is...it's how well you rested before it started.
    The only thing that will improve is that people that use the average mph (false logging) will only drive 11 instead 12 or 13. But for those of us who can't get away with that, we'll just have to plan a little differently.
    Something that would be helpful is if you can cash in a "big day" once a week, like the 16 hr vacinity rule.
     
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