FMCSA wants to see how 2005 HOS rule affects drivers
3/21/08

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The Truckers Report Merchandise

I will be sending them my comments. Attempting to regulate a person's sleeping habits on a daily (24 hour) basis is idiotic and counterproductive.

The HOS regulation should require a driver to log On or Off Duty.

Drivers should be allowed to be on duty for 24 hours in any 36 hour period with no other conditions or limitations on weekly hours.

Provisions could be included to criminalize driving while tired to the point a person isn't in control same as we do with drunk driving, but those provisions should require something more substantial than an arbitrary limit on driving hours.

And, should include a hefty fine and possible criminal penalties for any employer who penalizes drivers who refuse to drive while tired.

HOS regulations do not improve safety and should stop being promoted as such.

I think they should just leave everything as it is, except allow drivers to split the old way (prior to 1-3-04) and make all companies teach the drivers to split instead of saying they can't! I bet you will see many drivers running legal and happier .

If they all run legal that spreads them loads out more!

You don't need to cheat on them logs if they bring the old split and companies train the drivers to understand it .

It's easy!

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"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."

Absolutely, and we wouldn't be forced into situations of running tired or not making the delivery, or cheating on the 14 hour rule. If we are running a long run out and back, any unforeseen delay puts us over the 14 even though we are driving less than 11 hours a day.

The logging rules are outdated in my opinion and should be abolished if we have to eat $4.00 a gal fuel lets run what we want.

that really only helps the teams, if they are really about safety they need to allow single drivers at least to stop the clock for naps, meal breaks ect.

Exactly! Stopping the clock would be the way to go. Guys push the limit because the clock is ticking. Tick -Tock.

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

The HOS rules were changed primarily because drivers couldn't be trusted to log their loading & unloading times truthfully (amongst a couple other things).

The feds (Congress, DOT, FMCSA etc) were pushed by all these lil PIA pseudo-safety orgs to enact legislation to placate all these lil pia pseudo-safety orgs.

They had to, it's their job to handle petitions.

Ideally, the answer would have been to pay drivers for their lost time at docks & other drive time wasting activities.
Unfortunately, neither the FMCSA nor DOT have any control over pay regulations or methods so they couldn't enact anything as mentioned.

Their only choice was to come up with a plan to stop or at least minimize the lying about certain off-duty activities & sleep habits.

That's where you are today.

There was nothing wrong with the old, original rules...except...drivers abused the honor system to make up for lost driving time.

I did it, we pretty much all did it.
We were expected, in most cases admonished, to do it by employers & shippers.

There was no strength in the laws to protect a driver who didn't want to do it.
There's only now a change in the court system to strengthen those laws protecting drivers from these expectations.

You can thank the likes of [the more visible] Attorney Paul Taylor (Opie) of the Truckers Justice Center & numerous other attorneys spread around the country that are putting / pushing these laws in the face of OSHA, FMCSA, DOT, Supreme Court & government in general.

As drivers excersize these laws more often, the laws get stronger.

In my tiny mind there's only one reason left to keep the feds from going back to the original rules.
It's the same reason the HOS was changed in the first place; Namely, log cheating.

The laws can protect you from your employers demands to keep going or to cheat.
They cannot protect you if you volunteer to do it.

I would propose to bring back the old HOS in its entirety & then add a "realistic" pay mechanism to cover all the times when the wheels aren't turning.

That pay method would be tied to your log book accuracy.
If you logged the loading/unloading time accurately, you would be paid like you were still moving.
This puts it on the company to motivate the shipper/receiver & removes the burden of your having to cheat to make up lost drive time.

If the weather gets crappy & you decide to stop, you shouldn't have to feel like you need to press on unsafely just for job security or the money's sake.

Let the company eat that. It's their load, you didn't book it & probably didn't have a choice anyway.
They chose to handle it knowing where it was & the likelihood the weather would go bad.

I think this is possible.
Look at Washington State.
Their courts make the trucking companies pay overtime for drivers.
That's unprecendented in non-union OTR.
Till now, there's been no reg saying drivers had to be paid anything except minimum wage.

The Sec of Labor basically disavows any knowledge or control of the trucking industry wage mechanisms because it falls under HOS regs (except min wage). The FMCSA et al proclaims no control over trucking wages also.

That pretty much leaves truckers without anything to control or assure wages except the companies good will & employment contracts with their drivers.

Good will doesn't guarantee food on the table & contracts can always be (re)negotiated.

What I see is a clear field for someone to propose a different/better pay mechanism because there's no government agency claiming any ultimate control or prohibitions against such a petition.

So far, I don't think anyone has successfully beat WA state's new rule on OT.

I would bet every company tried to.

But you know with proper planning you can deliver and operate under the law legally and get plenty of rest and still be safe.

It's all a bag of worms no matter how you look at it. You've got companies that would push the drivers beyond any reasonable driving time and you've got drivers that don't have the sense to stop when they're tired.

What we need are truck drivers being the loggyist and not the idiots that have no idea. Pass some laws where the drivers could make a good living and not kill himself doing it. I would never go back on the road after being paid by the hour. I believe it's criminal the way the OTR drivers are paid. Just look at all the time that driver is away from his home or even look at the working hours and it's ridiculous what he's paid for all the regulations he must follow.