A group of trade organizations which represent livestock haulers is asking the DOT to allow their drivers to spend as much as 15-hours a day driving, saying that current HOS rules “were not drafted with livestock haulers in mind.”
If any other segment of the transportation industry requested 15 hours of drive time per day, there’s not much chance that the DOT would go for it. But while livestock haulers themselves don’t necessarily hold a lot of regulatory sway, the agricultural businesses that rely on them spend millions on lobbying every year. Just one of the groups that signed the request, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, spent $466,000 on lobbying in 2017 alone.
Because of that influence, agriculture haulers already enjoy a great many exemptions and regulatory modifications. For example, they are currently exempt from needing to use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs). And while the current exemption is only for one year (beginning this past August), it will likely either be continually renewed or replaced by a longer-term exemption in the near future.
Livestock haulers are also exempt from Hours of Service (HOS) rules within a radius of 150 air miles from the source of the commodity. According to Overdrive that means that they can spend as much time on the road as they want if they stay within 150 air miles. And even if they leave that radius, their 14-hour and 11-hour clocks don’t start until they do so.
Under their proposed rule, livestock haulers would extend that from 14 hours of on-duty time and 11 hours of drive time to 16 hours of on-duty time and 15-hours of drive time. Haulers would still have to spend 10 hours off-duty before their next work day.
In exchange, the organizations propose that drivers who want the additional hours would have to complete “industry-sponsored training programs that include appropriate fatigue management principles.”
Signatories on the exemption request include National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Livestock Marketing Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Association, and National Aquaculture Association.
Source: overdrive, overdrive, opensecrets, beefusa
Thomas says
I don’t think so!!! The cows can be put on a leash while the driver sleeps far as I care! I want that driver rested just like me!
Steve says
I Agree 100% with you Thomas.
Calf Hauler says
People don’t know what its like to haul livestock, they move around plus you are under the gun to only have the livestock in the 28 hours or you face cruelty to animal charges which in some states is a felony. You can’t just stop along the road and let them out of your trailer. I don’t necessarily want additional hours but then I don’t haul as far as some drivers. I just want the flexibility to stop when I’m tired and take a nap and not to have to worry about hours of service citations.
James says
Livestock haulers are some of the worst drivers they break all laws that I would get a ticket for they need to run teams
David Hendrickson says
Some feeder steers could use teams but most of us haul within the 150 miles. I put in on average 80-90 hours a week with the weekend being my reset and my heading to the next load sight so I really dont even get my reset. But when your starting out and putting a $1,000 a week in your pocket you do it.
Mike R says
I don’t agree with your statement about them being the worst drivers but I do think everyone should have to play by the same rules.
gail morra says
I disagree! Livestock is the key word here. You cant ask those drivers to abide by the same clock as the rest of the drivers. Hauling animals is a totally different issue. Be reasonable.
Bonnie says
Get a different job, the way this poor animals are treated on your trucks is horrifying! I wish each one if you that drive these poor animals to their abusive, horrific deaths, had to ride in the back of your trailer with them. It’s disgusting what humans do to these poor animals to feed their fat greedy guts.
David Hendrickson says
So your a vegan? No pork, chicken or beef. No poultry at all?
Otherwise we haul them to their deaths.
Once I drop them off at the slaughterhouse I am off for another load.
I dont see them after I close the gate behind them.
gail morra says
Oh please!
Pnutt says
Oh cry us a handful have you ever followed a bull hauler from point a to point b ?
I seriously doubt it
Alex says
Well beef taste good & often it’s what’s for dinner…. And look at yourself eating all my foods food… Can’t believe you just cut lettuce from the ground or pull carrots from the dirt home they live in they are living too … Go die vegetable brain
Antidote says
I take it that you don’t eat beef.
B says
It’s all about money, not about helping the driver. I don’t care if your load moves or doesn’t, that doesn’t make the driver any less sleepy. The regulations should all be the same no matter what you haul, period. If you don’t like it, go haul something else.
Experienced Trucker says
Common sense tells ANYONE that if you’re tired to pull over n take a 30 minute snooze. There’s no excuse(s) why you can’t.
David Hendrickson says
Cant do that with farm animals…In the summer when it is 110 the animals will die while you sleep.
gail morra says
Exactly!
Miguel says
I think we should all be able to get an extra 2 hours of driving if we’re 100 mile radius of our yard/stop.
gail morra says
That really takes away from the driver who wants to be home at night. How ridiculous
Nemo says
If the laws are about safety, how can you have acceptions for some trucks? If truck drivers are going to fall asleep and crash after 11 hours of driving, shouldn’t the livestock haulers be forced to take a nap? We wouldn’t want any chickens harmed just so Tyson can make an extra buck.
art says
amen
worse animal cruelty if driver falls asleep.
what do paper logs have to do with animal cruelty that livestock haulers are exempt ftom the eld.
they might as well have asked for HOS exemption to run wild.
David Hendrickson says
We dont even have to maintain paper logs as long as we dont exceed the 150 miles.
Texas DOT doesnt even want to see us let alone stop us for anything.
They might check insurance, overweight and registration but that is it.
I have pulled 98,000 in the trailer routinely. Thats why we pay extra for the overweight stickers
gail morra says
Wow! You really dont get it, do you?
Taylor says
HOS rules were’nt drafted with any trucking in mind. Since these b/s rules were put in place in order for all of us to get safe, then let’s ALL get safe TOGETHER.
Sick of all the exceptions to what was deemed as required in the name of safety for all. Starting to feel discriminated against out here.
art says
regardless if hauling animals or toliet paper these exemptions are BS. animal cruelty is not the real reason, just an excuse to run more miles…
fix the dangerous HOS for all drivers not special interests! (tyson, cargill, etc)
gail morra says
Whaaaa
George says
I dont haul livestock but yeah I want to drive 15 hours a day! I m hungry for work,I dont tire easily- why should the gvt dictate to me how many hours I can drive? What happened to the American work ethic? Why clip my wings?Why do livestock haulers not use an elog like me? If elog is about safety,every one should be on elog but it’s all a racket to keep drivers under control and like slaves!Sick of all the hypocrisy and lies of gvt!
Taylor says
Amen!
Les says
American work ethics that’s funny HAHAHAHa
gail morra says
Lol. There aren’t any ethics-theres so many “me first” drivers out here it’s disgusting! Welds dont make a safe driver PERIOD!
duh says
They have to make stupid rules because, like George, there are stupid people.
Slaves? Sure. Go out and find another $75,000+ job tomorrow instead of driving a truck. As long as drivers salaries are HIGHER than the avg American HOUSEHOLD income ($52,000), the general public isn’t going to give a crap about anything other than ‘rules’ that politicians tell them will make the roads safer. Screaming about being modern day slaves doesn’t help our cause, and makes you look like a moron. (And leads to the perception that ‘maybe someone that crazy shouldn’t be driving a giant death machine for too many hours a day’)
Mark says
There’s more crazy 4 wheelers driving on the roads than truck drivers. They cut you off and don’t allow for trucks to safely go through roundabouts. 9o% of regular driers don’t even know the laws when driving around semis. Yet if something happens that’s not truckers fault they still get tickets not the 4 wheelers
Bill says
Absolutely right
art says
screw it, might as well ask for 2p hours exemption. nothing to lose! just the animals if driver falls asleep.
Linda says
You don’t like it? Stop eating meat, soy boy!!!
Bonnie says
Exactly!!!
BountyHunter says
Lol love it
TIM says
Safety????? Obviously a cows life is worth more than a humans life.
Mary Proveaux says
https://www.koat.com/article/semi-truck-hauling-cattle-flips-over-on-overpass/23736496
Patriot says
Bet you can find one of those green card holding truck flippers for every 50 Fright Haulers shows bottom of truck to passing highway drivers.
gail morra says
Mary, I’m not going to read your ridiculous article. The % of overturned livestock is low. I pass hazmat tankers in the ditch, and newbie drivers who cant stay in their lane everyday.
James Moore says
The reason behind the exemption for cattle haulers is due to the cattle that may die. The ventilation is not enough if the truck is parked for extended time. Hauling the cattle is every bit important to market cost.
Bonnie says
I hope the price of meat goes do high that no one can afford it. We could feed the world’s hungry with the grains raised to feed the livestock that we horrificly MURDER!!
art says
true reason is special interests controlling freight costs. tyson cargill jbs hormel etc… all the big lobby companies.
if the animals must get there faster a team can be used just like when critical medicines must move (while dot hos complaint)
Mud Eye says
With water troughs that get filled at stops, and belt fed grain troughs to keep cows nourished, and to hold their weight while in transit. The regs and exemptions are all BS because this can be done. Beef is expensive and the markup is LARGE. Safety is Job1. NO EXEMPTIONS. Producers need to belly up to the bar !!!
David Hendrickson says
water troughs?
Grain belts?
I take it you havent seen the back of a cow hauler.
Some of the feeder trucks have a misting system but they are few and far between.
Patriot says
So, you don’t mind a nice hamburger with 50 pounds of antibiotics in it? Or your just ignorant. if you off load those cows in a location in a state not of origin they have to all have new brand inspections, inoculations, and quarantine. Your cows who may not have a disease can now get a rare disease doing it your way. You can spread disease of different strains that way. So yeah, lets do it your way.
Patriot says
Great, lets team up. All you gotta do is sleep in my cow crap splatter covered sheets while the truck is being hammered with cows rustling around 24/7 and you having no where to park due to regulations. C’mon, get your boots on, we got a wash out right over the hill.
Mud Eye says
We hall perishables in refrigerated trailers. Why then, shouldn’t there be special livestock trailers with temperature and ventilation control. Surely less expensive than reefers.
morongobill says
Here’s another way to look at it. If he ain’t driving, that truck is parked. Lot of states say no more parking on ramps. You want those cows and hogs right next to you at a truck stop?
Bonnie says
You should have to smell them if you’re going to eat them!!! They go through Horrific torture before they make it to the plate.
David Hendrickson says
but some of the best brisket comes from Texas. Melts in your mouth . Bless your heart.
Patriot says
So do fat chicks of any species!
Daniel says
I’m asking for livestock haulers to be charged with cruelty to animals, but apparently that one wasn’t up for debate..
Bonnie says
I agree, the horrors these poor sentient beings go through is sooooo wrong!
Marcus says
Please explain the “cruelty” these animals go through before slaughter. I’m thinking you don’t have the first clue how cattle operate, and moreover not a single clue how the transportation of cattle is done. We strive to make this as stress free as possible for any and all livestock we load. If you don’t like what we are doing, I would suggest minding your own business!
gail morra says
The comments in here regarding cruelty are protesters. Paid ones.
Andrew H says
Cattle is a visibly perishable load with narrow delivery windows.
I know the rest of us haul that kind of stuff every day too, but these are live.
Plus the longer a cattle truck sits, the better chances a liberal protester will muck up the works. I’ve seen too many stories of cattle drivers threatened and harassed by mobsters, when all they’re doing is trying to make a living wage like the rest of us.
Maybe if they start making exemptions for one type of trucking type, more will follow, and eventually get back to square 1.
David Hendrickson says
The longer a cow is in the trailer the more likelihood of weight loss or death. If a cow goes down inside the trailer for any reason it will most likely die from being trampled.
Now want to compare cattle to the reefer trucks.
Drive a load of ice cream without the reefer running. Now how time important is it?
gail morra says
Agree!
Scott says
It’ll be a cold day in hell when cattle haulers are actually forced to drive %100 legal. Eventually the government is going to be tired of them whining like babies about how special they are.
Bonnie says
They deserve no extras. There need to be places where they can let the cows/pigs out to rest. They are going to a horrifying death, they should not be made to suffer so much on the horrid trip to their deaths! These whinny A– drivers, need NO SPECIAL favors. They ALL drive too many hours as it is!!!
David Hendrickson says
Ok that works now just explain how 1 driver is to unload/reload. Loaded cattle is like herding cats some days. I know I have the busted ribs, blown out bicep tendon, hoof marks on my head and back from being stomped by a 1200 # cow.
Marcus says
Why is it that everybody assumes if livestock get on a trailer they’re going to slaughter?
duh says
It’s almost like different specialties require different rules! Whoa! What a unique concept that only applies to truckers because the entire world is out to get them!!!
OR… right off the top of my head…
“we’re all football players, how come its a penalty when the punter/QB gets blasted after getting rid of the football?”
“How come police officers get to speed and drive unsafely? We all have driver’s licenses, heck mine says I’m a professional driver!”
“What’s next? You’re going to tell me that my cardiologist should go to JAIL for checking my prostate every time I see him?”
Different jobs, different rules.
Get over yourself – and go work at a truck stop if you think your country, your job and your customers don’t care about you and treat you poorly.
Oh really? says
I think everyone commenting should haul livestock. Run the 8-900 miles but take your 10 hour break after 11 hours driving leaving you about 3 hours short of your delivery. Hey cows can sleep in the heat and cold right beside each other, no problem.
When you unload the cows, and the dead ones are laying there, get out the calculator and add up how much it just cost you for the dead animal. (500 a piece sound fair?) Grab a tractor or forklift and a chain and drag it off.(Shouldn’t be a problem, right? Unloading at a ranch, sale barn or feedyard in the dark with no one around) Go pay for a washout, and think about how rough the people hauling dry goods must have it.
David Hendrickson says
Amen
gail morra says
I’m still laughing at Bonnie comment that the livestock should be let out along the way!
Kenneth harvey says
All these comments from from recent drivers, say what you want. You want to run under these hrs,11-14-70, fine,unlike most of you.I come pre cdl.let us who run with split 8 hr brks continue to do so under exemption like was proposed years ago.
Patricia says
I don’t see a problem with it if the driver is up to it, what I do see is the companies taking advantage of the drivers. I’ve had several times where I could had kept driving but instead was forced to stop due to hos. I didn’t get more rest as I would go to the truckers lounge and watch a movie or just stay up reading in my sleeper. IMO the hos is a joke and it doesn’t improve the alertness of the drivers. Its just a way to control a driver but at the same time companies will run you 24 he’s if they were allowed
art says
if the cows must arrive faster utilize a team like the rest of industry.
either we all use elds or go back to paper.
keep the playing field level…
thanks
Art knows nothing about cattle hauling says
Art,
You could have prefaced your statement with “I have no idea how livestock hauling works”. Livestock pays good, but not enough for a team.
gail morra says
Most commenters are clueless to the livestock industry.
Mike says
I use to work at a feedlot and alot of the cattle drivers bragged about using caffeine pills and monsters to keep awake. I looked at them like your one dumb piece of crap. You should get rest and not drive on energy pills and drinks
gail morra says
Most teenagers and college students are pumped high on the same crap. What’s ur point?
Jude says
Rules are rules. If one party is exempted from the rules, every other party is expected to live by, THERE ARE NO RULES. Why not make separate rules for every industry utilizing trucks? Wouldn’t that make for a fun DoT inspection?
KEVIN says
Hi I’m a Canadian livestock hauler who’s on e log and yea the e log stinks but If you plan your trip you can make any logbook work weather it’s e log or paper no need to break the rules to get the job done e log is part of our world now just because you haul any type of livestock dosent give you the right to break the rules it’s easy if you can’t haul livestock legally go find a new job that 15 driving crap is a load of bull shit have a awesome day tks Kevin 20 years hauling livestock
gail morra says
Uh huh!
Wayne says
They are no different then the rest of the industry is. When those type of job requirements came up , we had to either do a relay to another truck or we were forced to run teams. Why cant they adapt the same???
Dale Anderson says
They are already some of the most dangerous drivers on the road. Completely rediculous thinking you are going to make them more dangerous. Their exemption needs to be over. Everybody on same rules same page.
gail morra says
They are good drivers. Just get out of the way!
gail morra says
They are good drivers. Just get out of the way! Jezzus
tom thompson says
Anyone that says livestock haulers are the most dangerous drivers on the road should do some researching. We are ranked in the lowest category I seen. Yes there is fewer of us but Not every driver has the mental capacity to do the job. No offence to anyone.
Mike R says
There’s no excuse you can give me as a driver or the cattleman’s association or the government that would convince me it’s all about the livestock. If the livestock can’t be on the trailer for extended periods of times run as a team if you can’t sleep because the livestock is moving get out of livestock hauling it’s that simple. The rules were supposedly made to keep everyone safe and insure everyone gets their rest but from the very beginning the cattleman’s association and the agricultural association has been getting huge breaks and benefits from the government and it needs to STOP. A football or baseball team doesn’t get to have more players on the field than the other team or or get to play by different rules just because team owner has more money than the other team so why should so carriers be allowed to play by different rules just because they shell out huge amounts of Money to the government.
Gerald Nash says
Rules are rules….yet money talks…yes i drive:25 years…driven tired….sat all day…driven tired….got my loads there….yes played the game….comic books….now ELD…RULE…WE SHUD BE ABLE TO REST AS NEEDED…YET NOW PULL FOOD GRADE TANKER….PRAY THAT DRIVER THAT IS HUNGRY…..KNOWS WHEN TO PARK IT AND REST….YOUNG BLOODS 4GET….IT ONLY TAKES A FEW SECONDS TO GET THAT UNWANTED NEAR MISS…..BE SAFE…GET THAT REST….KNO WHEN U NEED A BREAK….:30 minutes can b that freshness to make tht delivery
Jerry says
I can see their point. I haul propane, fuel, and anhydrous for the farmers and we’re exempt within that 150 air miles period. Use to be 100 miles and seasonal. As of last year, it’s year ’round and 150 miles. We can drive /work for as long as we want providing we’re not fatigued.
If you don’t like it, YOU get another job. I like my pay checks.
Jerry says
I sense a lot of jealousy here. Suck it up butter cup. Your whining here isn’t going to change a thing.
Tom says
I want that too. If it’s good enough for a smelly bull rack, it’s good enough for all of us.
Tmtbob60 says
Sounds so easy for the rookies and those that haven’t a clue about livestock to say we need to run team, rest them for 10 plus hour, or build climate control trailers that carry feed and water. Can you guys afford to eat meat if those implications were forced on us. Who will pay for the extra driver not to mention I’ve never seen a team make the time I can on long hauls cause someone will always have to stop. Who will pay for the feed and water to rest them and also the pens to unload them. Nobody will let us use their property out of the goodness of their hearts for half a day. Don’t forget the added stress you are putting on the cattle just by loading and unloading them again (I don’t care how long you rest them the stress is there) that results in more weight loss and more money they will cost also disease they might catch or spread to other cattle from a public set of pens. What about greater death loss from the added stress being forced on them. feed and water bunks is the best one I don’t think I’ve ever heard of before. What about the space in the trailers this will take up. The extra weight we will be carrying from the feed and water will greatly reduce the number of head we will carry adding up the cost per head. Having to keep up with where we can stock up on feed and water and paying for it will be added cost and work for the driver. Who pays for all of these brilliant ideas? The consumer. Meat will be outrageously priced beyond affordability. I’ve been around livestock my whole life and long hauling them from Georgia and Florida back to Oklahoma and Texas. Some have been over 1300 miles non stop other than fuel and to check them in back. They handle it best when they’re loaded when healthy and you keep them moving until they make the final destination. In the end it doesn’t bother me what rules are forced on me to get my cattle delivered cause I’m still gonna get them there. Making it harder is just part of the job anymore.
K.C. says
If we haul frozen hamburgers, can we get an exemption also???
Farmboy says
What’s a logbook