Just two days before the new year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a list of their top achievements from 2019. But those “accomplishments” are facing tough criticism from the trucking industry.
In a Facebook post published on December 30th, the FMCSA account put out a “year in review.” You can see the post below.
First, the “Historic Hours of Service Proposal” is just that – a proposal. It will likely be years before we see a final rule go into effect. And it probably won’t look much like the rule that FMCSA is working with right now.
“Improving Regulatory Efficiency” is most likely a nod to proposed rules which FMCSA says will save taxpayers money. Rules like the Entry-Level Driver Training rule which still hasn’t even been proposed despite Congress requesting a rule nearly thirty years ago. It doesn’t seem that there were any new FMCSA rules put in place in 2019 which will save taxpayers significant money.
Next, “Critical Grant Funding” is an ‘accomplishment’ in so far that something was actually completed. But the millions of dollars that were allocated to grants nationwide were set aside for that purpose. No actual regulation, rulemaking, or governing was required.
“Supporting Military Servicemembers” seems like a good accomplishment. But it actually refers to the under-21 military driver pilot program which was one of FMCSA’s most glaring failures of 2019. FMCSA couldn’t find enough applicants who fit their criteria (under 21, military veteran in good standing, with training and experience driving heavy trucks while in the service). Instead, they used that as an excuse to start an under-21 driver pilot program for non-military members.
Human Trafficking is a serious issue that needs more public attention. And truckers are unusually well positioned to be able to take a stand against the issue. Non-profits like Truckers Against Trafficking have done an admirable job combating the problem. FMCSA’s 2019 “accomplishment” meanwhile was to create an advisory board to help come up with ideas for what the FMCSA could possibly do to help in the future.
Making it easier to go from a Class B to a Class A CDL might actually be FMCSAs greatest accomplishment of 2019. It will likely help some people and it was actually put into practice already. But “Helping People Find Jobs in Trucking” is FMCSA’s answer to the so-called “driver shortage” which even the U.S. Department of Labor says doesn’t exist.
“Exploring New Technologies” is again celebrating the creation of an advisory board to try and come up with good ideas for how to make the adoption of autonomous driving technologies as safe as possible. FMCSA also published a request in the federal register seeking feedback from the general public on the same topic.
Finally, “Raising Awareness of Large Truck and Bus Safety” is a nod to their “Our Roads, Our Safety” campaign. No results have been published as to what sort of impact the PR push has had, if any.
Well done in 2019, FMCSA. Here’s to a great 2020.
Chao needs to get a new administrator in the drivers seat of the FMCSA. While many may not have liked Ann Ferro but at least she got something done. FMCSA needs a strong leader and the ability to get things done who should have good relations with Congress.
True that!!!!
The electronic logs biggest mistake they ever made.They won’t disclose that the accidents involving
Trucks has gone up.
Why would an ELD cause more accidents? Thats the DUMIST statement I have heard from drivers in 2019. I have been using ELDs since 1998. Get used to them, they are hear to stay.
They are causing more accidents due to drivers waiting at shippers and receivers four hours then have to rush against the clock to make delivery on time. Also, construction and accident delay killing your clock. I have been driving for 10 years and now I own 10 trucks and yes the ELD is causing more accidents due to pressure put on drivers to deliver on time or get penalized.
Harold, the common argument is that by creating inflexible and artificial time constraints, connected neither to the needs of the load (think livestock), the needs of the driver (who is in the best position to determine what those needs are), or the circumstances on the road (weather, parking availability), regulators demand that drivers act against those interests, in order to comply with those inflexible and arbitrary constraints.
I have, myself, felt pressure to drive too fast for weather and road conditions, because if I did not, I might not reach a safe and legal place to park before running out of hours on my logbook. With ELDs, log enforcement action is guaranteed and immediate. Penalties for risky driving are potentially severe, but less likely. Drivers who find themselves facing a potential choice between safety and regulatory compliance, tend to become annoyed at both the regulations and the regulators… 🙂
Harold. It sometimes safer to cheat the logs in order to get to safe place to park. The reason the deaths went up with Elogs is Drivers being afraid of fines. Paper logs are safer because when you tired you go to sleep, and write a new log when you wake up, and nobody would ever know and fine you. E logs aren’t safe, they are simply logging trucking activity around the country and collecting big data someone’s profit
Artificial time restraints, is just another way of saying I was cheating. Well that is what got us into the ELD. Nothing changed on the rules, you just had to learn how to follow them.
Well that sounds like you’re with the worst company accident wise out here which is Warner if that is the case you are a clown there accident rate is higher than Swift
Well, thanks for the insult. I am not with “Warner” (by which, I imagine you mean “Werner” – and although they are by no means the best; trust me, there are worse companies). I did do my first year as a truck driver with them, and if you must have something to insult me about; they fired me for failing my annual safety review. My next job was with the Federal DoT, if that tells you anything about either employer, or about me, but honestly – whatever you think that it tells you, is all in your head, and irrelevant in any event.
I would also like to point out that I said that I had felt the pressure; not that I had caved to it – but one makes me unsafe, while the other makes me illegal – which comes back to my point… that the common objection to Hours of Service rules is that that they create situations in which drivers may be forced to choose between compliance and safety, and that is the best argument that I am aware of, against Hours of Service rules. Without them, ELDs become irrelevant, since their only purpose is to enforce Hours of Service. In this sense, it is arguable that “an ELD [may] cause more accidents”.
If it helps any… Roger, you are correct in your belief that Werner has been using ELDs since the beginning. It is my understanding that Werner was an early investor in Qualcomm, and received special dispensation from the Federal Department of Transportation to use the Qualcomm system, while it was still being tested in the field – so yes, Harold probably did drive for them, and may still do so. That doesn’t make him (or me) a clown, or make Werner “the worst company accident wise”.
Harold is a super trucker, me, I’m parking the truck. 30 years of this, and clowns like Harold, I have had enough.
And yes, fatalities and accidents are up, and the spike in both of these areas has been over the past TWO YEARS. Talk to an insurance agent lately Harold? Well I have, and my bobtail/liability on a tractor that I have valued at $30,000 is costing me what I used to pay for one million dollars in cargo insurance. Call an agent and ask them what is going on in this industry, educate yourself Harold.
And I do have a clean record, and I want to keep it that way. I do not see that continuing as the ELD and inflexible HOS have taken my safe driving habits and thrown them right out the window. Time to move on, the stress of all of this is just not worth it.
1. You haven’t been using ELD since 1998. ELD didn’t exist in 1998. That was an AOBRD, formerly referred to as an EOBR. They are not the same thing.
2. If you have been using an EOBR/AOBRD continuously since 1998, you are and always will be a mega carrier steering wheel holder, full stop.
It causes truckers to rush a whole lot more going against the clock…their should be a way to break up the time….especially when your sitting for hours on end at shippers…that’s the real problem.
Heres a great example of why they are more dangerous. I was driving to odessa, tx from okc. I got to the receiver at 1 am. They knocked on my door at 8 am and said to pull in the yard to unload. I went on personal conveyance (which is legal for a yard move.) 3 hours later at 11 am, I was finished unloading. I was well rested and had only one more hour before I could go back on duty and head home. My pos eld put me from personal conveyance to driving though, gave me a violation, and made it to where I had to wait ten hours to drive again. So, 8:00 pm rolls around and I left for okc and got there around 4 am, dog-tired. I could of waited another day, but I got to make money. Tell me how that is safe? I’m an independent owner operator. I dont need big brother dictating every decision in my life, causing me to lose money, and making me tired based on some bs that doesnt work. I cheered for them as well when I was a company driver with my eyes shut.
Adam,
PC or “personal conveyance” ELD setting is not legal for a yard move or when unloading or loading (because you are under load and PC cannot be used while under load). Just saying. It doesn’t mean you won’t get away with using PC for that purpose. Just depends on your next DOT stop. you will get put out of service at the very least. It is considered falsifying a Log.
I agree with you about everything else you said and the hours lost at shippers cannot be made up and it is utterly ridiculous to have to worry about this or feel you are driving while tired. inconsistent Circadium rhythm and lack of proper sleep are the #1 reason for accidents and poor driver health. All issues made worse by the use of ELD’s — your post describes a very common scenario. Thanks.
Kevin
Adam, same here. No flexibility and no way to correct a situation like you, and I, have found ourselves in. I have lost too much revenue with this set up, Forced to sit when I am able to work, and want to. Forced to park in areas that are not safe, or lose the ability to outrun say a winter storm… Now, forced to shut down, and wake up in the middle of something I could have very easily avoided. The list goes on and on, it is getting to the point of stupidity out here and quite frankly, no longer worth it. I found a 9 to 5 job, parking the truck, I can no longer afford to operate this truck, not keep it maintained to my standards and still make a living. Going to be 31 years of safe driving, blood, sweat and tears. Look for more outfits to close their doors as insurance rates skyrocket this year. It is just no longer worth it.
That’s the easiest question to answer in the world
The answer is simple because drivers are now rushing to get from point A to point B,I see it every day even in the parking lots ,flying thru to get out and back in the road.and its xaya8ng slot more accidents
They will absolutely admit that truck accidents are up, which will reinforce, falsely and ridiculously, that the trucking industry needs speed limiters. Be careful what you wish for.
A administrator with a working with a class A CDL . Not one that just to say I have one but one that he made a living with. Having a CDL does not make anyone a truck driver. There are many qualified truck drivers that could do that job better in the FMCSA than any one has so far.
A good leader would be getting some things undone. New regulation choke-holds on truckers have proven to make trucking less safe by limiting the time and freedom of human beings to care for themselves and others they travel with. The theme of FMCSA has become “feed the industries that feed at the trough of trucking regulation”. Look at all the new industries you are paying in order to comply with new regulation. If someone in between is getting rich, the regulation was not about safety. It was about lining the pockets of bureaucrats for allowing the middle industry to put its nose in the feed bin.
That’s exactly right and that’s exactly all that is because there’s not one ounce of it for safety
You are correct…and it all stems from Big Government! The democratic presidential candidates are talking exactly that, they want to run our lives. They want to tell us what to do, when to do it, what to do, how to do it, why to do it, who to do it with…which are ELD’a in a nutshell. But they are looking to do the same with everyday Americans. Michael Bloomberg said that exact thing…he told Net Yorkers how to live and he thinks he did a good job, he now wants to to the same for America. Trucking has become the governments puppets. ELD, DEF, Governors, etc. They know we can’t do anything about it and the owners of mega carriers are so far up the governments but they will do anything to line their own pockets.
Spot on, that is exactly what is happening, and it is all very east to research. Sleep Apnea is one interesting story as to its origins. A venture capitalist and a savvy marketing company with ties to DC. Just one of many, and I am sure there are more to come. Just remember, it is for the children.
This is all just bs and we all know it
Accidents up, fatalities up, insurance through the roof and trucking companies dropping like flys! Mission ACCOMPLISHED!
Amen driver
75% of the trucks I encounter are idiot drivers. They follow to close, drive to fast for conditions, and talk on the cell phone. Maybe truck drivers are the problem, not ELDs.
I agree with you sir!
Oh and don’t forget the flip flop wearers with a foot on the dash!
You are right there definitely driving faster they’re trying to make a dollar it hurts a lot of guys have these eld’s but it did not make anything safer because guys are pushing the clock constantly your small fleets and owner-operators outnumber all the mega fleets two combined so now you’re pushing them to the Limit they still need to make money and I’m still betting your Warner driver
Yep, pushed to the limit, doing stuff I would never do out here… Then the rates, they are the same as when I started 30 years ago, and when you figure in inflation, we are talking ridiculously low rates, darn near free for the customer. They love this system.
If you are an owner operator, and not making $1000 a day minimum, you are best to get out of this racket. Because you are going to wake up one morning and find yourself living under a bridge. Me, I’m parking the truck in a few weeks, going on to other things, just waiting on the phone to ring.
You got that Right. I’m making less money now then I did in 98.Fuel,s high paying to park at some truck stops and food is crazy expensive anymore.. I got $2 a mile going to Portland from Houston and leaving Portland is $1.50.Everytime I think loads can’t go lower I find out they can.Be Safe out her Wyoming is a mess be careful
EXACTLY RIGHT TO THE T !
There is no “driver shortage”. Rookie drivers are being hired to run roughly 2000 miles or so, if, theyre lucky. The big 4 or 5 dry van companues are just out to grab the biggest market share and drive out mid-level fleets or absorb them. And of course, crush independents and small fleets, or leave them crumbs. Its similar to what a handful of big techs, steel, media and manufacturing sectors have been doing for decades. They “run” this country and world to a degree. Its quite incredible to watch so few, control so much
Personally I think it sucks and as long as people keep going to these companies they’re going to keep getting bigger and they’re going to keep sticking it to the rest of us just like FMCSA as long as we take it they’re going to give it When we don’t say anything or do anything they love it because they think we like it and they’re going to keep sticking it to us shoving it down her throat’s because they feel we are all scared not going to do anything about it which they’re pretty much true
between them and insurance company’s the should be proud on how many company’s and independent truckers they have put out of business!! Bravo!! Bravo!!
Driving a truck as a living is the best way to destroy your health and before you retire, die of heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes, or a traffic accident.
The solution is to get men out of trucks and start growing crops for local consumption on their own farms.
Dont find a solution to millions of men stuck in trucks 24/7 and there will come another war that will get rid of huge numbers of men..either that or an epidemic of ‘flu virus.
FMCSA admits the eld makers made over $2 Billion by their mandate.
Omnitracs admits the eld is a Trojan Horse in 2016; and Omnitracs shut down for several days in 2019, even tho they swore to fmcsa in 2011 their system was so safe (they were begging drivers to come back)
In 2016 a Landstar driver wrote the Omnitracs MCP50 shut his engine down in 60 mph traffic for a reboot.
NHTSA warned the eld could shut down whole fleets when it was hacked. The eld violates Title 42 of the U.S. code for unwarranted electronic surveillance; the eld violates the 8th & 14th Amendments for criminalizing our status as drivers. Way to go fmcsa! The best scenario is for fmcsa to be decommissioned and form a new transportation committee made up of real world drivers who will immediately declare drivers get paid for all hours worked and declare that all miles be door to door (thanks Google). This would eliminate the wage theft that the eld keeps allowing. It would also allow us to be assured of a decent living, reduce our fuel costs and make us the Knights of the Road once again. Oh, yea, way to go fmcsa.
Can’t say I disagree with the comments on this thread,or the article. That being said,went truckin’ today for 10.5 hrs(short day). Slugged some chain,pulled some binders,climbed all over a couple loads and I loved it! Truckin’ for the better part of 23yrs+ now. Don’t know what else I’d rather be doing to make a living.
If you’re local that doesn’t even count.
Amen Jeremy.
I don’t like some of the regulations that is getting thrown at us and damn sure don’t like the ELD’s but like you said Jeremy I can’t think of anything else I would rather be doing
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 Ain’t that the truth, Jeff, thanks for reminding us.
Who cares
THE GOVERNMENT DON’T GIVE A DAMN. UNTIL WE ALL GET TOGETHER THEY ARE GOING TO KEEP WALKING ALL OVER US IN THE NAME OF SAFETY.
When you Gross 170,00 and net 24,000 there’s a problem! To many tolls and Government fees and taxes! I’m starting to understand why there are so many system dwellers in this Great USA Let the working men and women pay! 2.5 years to go, if I don’t stroke out first!
I did 153,000 in 7 months $90,000 net before the government gets their share if I decide to pay them how do you get the government’s attention take their money
Roger, when you take the government’s money, they come and take your stuff, and sometimes also take your freedom or your life. That kind of attention from the government will not get you anything that you are likely to want. The only way that you do tjus, and don’t lose, is if you are so insignificant as to not be worth the cost to crush. For a lot of us, that’s true – but the moment you start to achieve any success in life at all, they will come down on you like a ton of bricks. I would not call it a win, to get through life being so insignificant as to not be worth crushing, but I suppose that you have the freedom to do so.
So far.
The trucking industry is over regulated,and severly under paid,been driving 38 years,and its now a race agai nst time with eld devices,its truly getting worse everyday,healthcare costs,trucking companies not paying what you are worth.
ELogs will just increase semi truck related accidents. Put paper logs back on and remove pressure and stress of truck drivers.
The problem is really the Hours of Service rules. “ELogs” serve only to provide an easy way to enforce Hours of Service, so any suggestion that ELogs be removed without also removing Hours of Service is generally viewed as an admission tgat without ELogs, drivers would simply disregard Hours of Service, and falsify paper logs as needed.
What you are really asking for, is relief from Hours of Service rules. Ask for what you want, rather than what will enable you to get away with it. The bandit trucker image is both what got us regulated by Hours of Service, and why those regulations are enforced through ELogs. To be relieved of these burdens, we need to be perceived as responsible knights of the roadways – not irresponsible roadway bandits in the night.
Exactly.
Also, thousands of idiots idling trucks all day when its 70 degrees out got us a bunch more “regulations” along with “emission controlled” engines.
……plus the morons with their black smoke from the exhaust.
The folks who idle their engines when condirions are mild, are probably asleep at the time. It would be nice if all over-the-road trucks had APUs, or if APUs were cost-effective, but then it would also be nice if you could recycle televisions without having to pay by the pound, or drive out of your way. It would be nice if Impossible Whoppers didn’t smell more like death than the real thing, or if they didn’t cost more than the real thing. Doing what’s believed to be good, isn’t often compatible with doing what is believed to be economical, and this can be true for a wide variety of reasons. But the tires meet the pavement at the truck, and if a driver goes to sleep when it’s 40 or 90 degrees outside, he may still be asleep when it’s 70. If he didn’t have an APU or a bunk heater with a thermostat when he went to sleep, he probably still doesn’t. If he’s a company driver, he probably didn’t get a choice, and if he’s an owner-op, his choice was probably dictated by his economic circumstances and his need for sleep. It’s unfortunate (for everyone) that one gets pitted against the other, but that’s the world that we live in. The emissions regulations that you speak of, seem to come from places that benefit from the cost differential between what is “right” and what is “economical”, so perhaps a better answer would be to either close that gap, or stop allowing people who benefit from it, to use legislation instead of economic incentives, to influence people. But none of that is any more likely than getting people to stop acting in their own (perceived) best interests.
If you’re mad about how other people’s behavior has imposed emissions regulations on you, it probably means that you were not previously meeting the requirements of those regulations, and you still don’t want to. That makes you as much the problem as those other polluting people – and it’s entirely likely that the problem isn’t you or anyone that you are complaining about.
Better that you blame the guy parked next to you, than the guy making billions of dollars off of emissions requirements imposed on you both.
Jim, you take the cake. Idling trucks on a 70* day? Have you ever been in a sleeper on asphalt on a 70* day? It can easily get to 100* inside of that truck. That black smoke? I am talking black smoke from a big truck, not some kid in their pick up, that smoke is normal, these are Diesel engines. Sure, the new emissions got rid of most of that, and destroyed what were once easily maintained and essentially bulletproof motors. That was the EPA Jim, not my puff of smoke out of my exhaust. Jim, this is the same group that wants to ban you from BBQ’ing in your back yard. Use your brain man. We are dealing with insane government folks here, do not join them.
The article should probably be labeled as an editorial. While I can’t really disagree with any of the opinions presented, they *are* opinions, and should not be represented as news journalism.
This is an editorial opinion piece – an “op-ed”, and it should be represented as such.
There isn’t a trucker shortage, but there is a “Hireable Trucker Shortage”. With so many drivers hopping from one terrible company to another terrible company every 30-60 days, they become unhireable for most carriers that don’t cut corners.
And seriously to the job hoppers… if you feel like all companies suck, and they all lie and cheat you, why do you keep changing to the same types of companies? If they are doing “Same-Day-Application-to-Hire”, they aren’t verifying all of your employment as required per DOT rules. They aren’t collecting all your accident info and Drug& Alcohol testing results.
So if they are obviously cutting corners right in front of you, why are so surprised when you find out they are cutting corners elsewhere? Like Safety, Equipment, Pay, etc…?
Point all the fingers you want, but if you keep jumping companies…and they keep on getting worse – who’s really making the bad choices? You are going to hop yourself to “unemployable” in 2020 after the Jan 6th Drug&Alcohol Clearinghouse rules go into effect. Those terrible companies are going to prevent you from being able to job hop, and then what are you going to do?
They eventually leave the industry, Duh. This is why turnover in the industry is so high. They keep job-hopping because, as their resume loks worse and worse from previous hops and previous carriers whose equipment maintenance and safety policies resulted in citations and fines; they no longer meet the employment requirements of better companies. We all know that they exist, though it can be hard to sort through all the deception and ignorance out there, to find them. Many entered the trucking field because they were pushed out of the career that they trained for – engineering and manufacturing is often where they come from – and trucking is often the best hope that they have, remaining, of making a living wage. When they realize that they aren’t making tgat living wage (especially in the first year), they start looking for a better employer – but the employers that they are able to get interested, aren’t the ones that pay living wages and keep up their equipment, and run legally and safely. Of course, they don’t tell that to the driver, so he finds out after orientation, and he starts looking for a better carrier, again – and again, finds someone who feeds him hamburger and calls it steak.
Eventually, they learn – or something terrible happens, and they get hurt, killed, or become uninsurable and therefore unemployable – and they give up on the dream of living wages, to go work at Wal-Mart, and feed their kids on food stamps.
The cycle continues as megacarriers buy far more trucks than they need, so that they can cry about all those idle trucks and how terrible the “driver shortage” is, in the name of government subsidies to train new suckers – er, drivers – into this same churn of deception and suffering. Just enough of us make it, to keep the cycle going. The middle class is shrinking just fast enough to keep the industry supplied with people bith desperate and trusting enough to walk into the meat grinder.
Don’t hate the playa. Hate the game.
That is the most ignorant comment of the day. Job hopping? There is a reason folks do that, and in more than a few cases it has nothing to do with drugs, alcohol or safety on the hoppers part. You hire in and discover you were lied to after jumping through all of their hoops. It is common out here, too common. Don’t blame the driver, it is this industry as a whole, it is broken. The regulations are all in the wrong areas, they are geared for the driver, not the industry. We need to go back in time, regulate the industry like it used to be. Make it extremely difficult to obtain operating authority along with forcing companies to insure their business in the open market, no more self insuring. Let’s level the playing field and get EVERYONE on the same surface. We need real regulations, regulations to straighten this industry out, not punish the driver or single truck owner operator.
If most of you didn’t take cheap freight the money would be better I just read 1 comment were he stated he took a load for $1.50 a mile..That’s the problem..don’t get me wrong I hear that rate or worse all day long from scum brokers and might have to laugh and hang up and make a hundred calls but by the end of the day I’m loaded with a fair price. STOP TAKING CHEAP FREIGHT
Regarding the complaints listed in this article, it sounds more like bellyaching over minor issues. Government is a huge machine that changes slowly–unless, of course, they want to dig into your pockets.
Regarding the ELD’s, They are not the problem. I have kept honest paper logs for years. Have I ever slipped? yes, but I logged it. There is a problem, though, and yes, ELD’s can cause accidents. I’ve been in a truck stop while a truck charged past, poking into an empty slot. Why? his ELD was at the point of violation and he had to get parked NOW!
Another problem I have had is that I can get tired about 3-4 hours into my driving shift. All I need is a 15 to 40 minute nap, then I am good for the rest of the day. But if I stop that soon, I’d have to take two breaks instead of one. So, sometimes, I push it until the five and a half hour mark. The artificial mandates do not stop drowsy driving, they make it. And don’t worry, I do stop, but it’s sad to lose that extra time, just because my body clock does not agree with Washington’s.
But my biggest complaint is not with the FMCSA. It’s with the nation full of liars and cheaters who call themselves “professional” drivers. If this industry had been honest all these years, maybe we would never have had ELD’s.
I once thought elogs would work out but I was wrong so I don’t want to insult anyone. Does anyone actually log things as the rules say? Is all time at the customer logged on duty or on duty from the moment arriving at the customer until leaving the customer? ELDS cause me to break when I’m not tired or sleepy and having to drive when I would normally pull over.
I don’t think the drivers who support elds are being honest about why they say certain things.
Duck it all…
Gonna retire on disability..set in my shop..and recondition old Gravely walk behind tractors..
Why?..
Because I want too…