HOS and fatigue

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by I95runner, Jan 23, 2014.

  1. I95runner

    I95runner Light Load Member

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    Why do some drivers say the HOS regs force em to drive exhausted and fatigued? Are they just saying that cuz they are lazy and are using the HOS as a excuse for why they took a million breaks and now have to stop driving not even halfway or is it really a unintended consequence of the regulations?
     
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  3. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

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    An example would be something along this line. I ran my hours headed out west and ran as they cycled. I arrived at a point that was 3 hours away but it was three eastern time when I shut down. It was daylight out there and not tired. I had to sit for 10 hours before I could leave and finish the run. So at 1 eastern time, I left the truckstop and headed in. I was not rested, because I normally sleep from 11 to 4. So, I was driving in my sleep time.
     
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  4. Dinomite

    Dinomite Road Train Member

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    Normally that's an excuse for those who like paper logs, and want to justify them falsifying a government document.
     
  5. Hammer166

    Hammer166 Crusty Information Officer

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    Actually, it's more a recognition that trucking is a vast array of different pegs, that the gov't has deemed should all fit through their intricately shaped little hole...
     
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  6. Richter

    Richter Road Train Member

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    Im not lazy, but sometimes i work to hard and get tired. Sometimes I get delayed in the mornign after im awake so im awake a lot longer thent he normal 14 even though i wasnt on duty. The 14 hour rule poses a problem. If Im running out on my 14 and get tired, I can't stop to take a nap even if my 11 will allow it. The 14 hour rule makes me choose between driving tired and getting the load there or taking a nap and requiring an extra 10 hour break. I cant just take and hour nap and keep going since the 14 may expire. In this case the 14 hour rule prevents me from sleeping when i feel i need sleep.

    The 8 hour is also bad. I used to take (3) 10 min breaks on a 600+ mile day. I'd drive 150 mile legs and then take a qick break. Now since im required to take 30 all at once, I need to drive 300 mile legs and only stop once if I want to keep the same schedule. Driving longer without stopping to stretch my legs adds to driver fatige and other health concerns.

    The 70 hour rule has forced me to shut down in the middle of the day when im not tired. Byt he end of my 10 hour break i didn't get much sleep and am now driving tired. If the 70 rule was not in effect, I would just drive the whole day like normal and sleep on my normal schedule.
     
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  7. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    have you ever gotten drowsy in the middle of the afternoon? Pretty sure everyone has.
    At a desk job nobody dies if you aren't 100 percent alert.
    On a construction crew, you are constantly moving around so you stay alert.
    Driving a truck and that drowsy spell hits? There is very little stimulus to keep you alert. And in this business if you are not on full alert, people die.
    In the old hos you could pull over and take a 30 minute cat nap or a fast shower. then you're fully alert for the day. With the new 14 hour rule, you can't always do that.
    A lot of us on paper logs do it anyway, better for our logs to be fudged a bit than for a family of four to be dead cause we got drowsy and wasn't alert enough to recognize that minivan was about to pull out in front of us.
    99 percent of safe driving is defensive. Always being on the look out for everyone else to make a mistake.
    Those skills are drastically hampered by just being a little drowsy.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2014
  8. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

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    no, it's about safety. our way is safer then the gooberment way.

    your body doesn't function like the regs want you to.

    i don't sleep good in a truck. where as i can sleep like a rock in my own bed. i'm also a flatbedder. i'd like to see how alert you are after you've rolled up your tarps, pick up your next load and retarped. in the southern heat.

    it's not about lazy. it's about being smart. my body don't function like the gooberment wants. and i don't think anyone else does either.
    i'll decide when i'm tired and when i'm awake. not the gooberment.

    but, hey, you want to run yourself ragged. guess that's your choice. just don't go rolling into the ditch. and keep an eye out for them brake lights. we don't want you killing someone becuase your were tired. and don't complain to us about making money when you've wasted your clock at the shipper/receiver. and can't go anyuwhere
     
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  9. Lone Ranger 13

    Lone Ranger 13 Road Train Member

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    The 14 hour rule lacks the flexibility I used to have to make sensible decisions about what time to drive and what time to park. I have been a less rested and more stressed driver because of it. I would like to go back to a more flexible split sleeper break and I think that would fix the problem I have. Unfortunately, when it comes to hours of service rules, flexibility is a bad word.
     
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  10. biggare1980

    biggare1980 Medium Load Member

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    Just like last night for me, I would have liked to lay down for a hour or two for a nap. But even laying down for 45 minutes would have cost my load to be late because my 14 would have ran out before I got to the rec. I pulled into the truck stop with 25 minutes left and it was only a couple miles from where my load dropped at. Still had five hours left till the scheduled delivery time but because of the HOS regs I had to push on instead of laying down for a couple hours.
     
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  11. born&raisedintheusa

    born&raisedintheusa Road Train Member

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    There is a solution to all this if the federal government chose to do so.

    1) Extend the actual driving hours to 12 hours a day out of a 14 hour work day, 7 days a week, changing it to 84 hours of actual driving a week, total work week of 98 hours. The truck driver would still need to take his or her 10 hour break, every day, (or night).

    2) Do away with the mandatory 30 minute break after 8 hours of driving. Let the individual driver decide when he or she needs a break.

    3) Do away with the 34 hour reset after 168 hours altogether.

    4) Also, it should NOT matter whether the truck driver drives during the day or at night time, just as long as the loads get delivered in a LEGALLY SAFE AND TIMELY MANNER.

    God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!
     
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