The DOT has announced a new pilot program that will aim to encourage night-driving in cities to see if having trucks on the road during off-peak hours will help congestion.
Rolling out in New York City and Pensacola, Florida, the pilot program will be funded by a $200,000 grant from the DOT that will go toward research, development, and deployment grants to encourage carriers to try the new system out.
For the program creators, it’s not a question of if driving at night will save time and money, but rather how much time and money will be saved.
“The problem of daytime truck traffic is well-known to any major city in the United States, and it’s time for new solutions,” Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau said. “While aggravating local traffic, trucks too have been forced to crawl through city streets – causing businesses loses in time, money and productivity.”
It is also hoped that encouraging nighttime trucking will improve air quality and “help create more livable cities.”
The carriers targeted will be mostly large retailers and food companies whose trucks drive consistent, dedicated routes.
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Now all we have to do is convince the receivers to be open all night for us
I agree
I’ll drive when I see fit, it’s that simple
wont work..
make up their minds.. sleep apnea or drive at night….GGGEEZZZ
The first thing they taught us in school was how dangerous it was to drive at night, particularly between midnight and 6 am, due to a human’s circadian rhythm. They said that no matter how much rest you got, that you won’t be awake and alert when your body should be sleeping. I wonder which one is lying to us for their own gain?
Sleep apnea is totally different.
Idiots large retailers and groceries have been done at night in the cities for literally a hundred years. And ditto. How can you deliver at night when you’re given a 9 to 2 window. The receivers are the ones that set the schedules. And ditto. Sleep apnea is a result of irregular sleep schedules. I know plenty of rail thin guys that snore like trains. Awe. What am I doing. No ones listening anyhow.
Sleep apnea has nothing to do with irregular sleep patterns
It kind of makes a difference whether this all-night driving is encouraged for exclusively all-night drivers (in which case it doesn’t sound so bad), or instead daytime drivers, who are expected to drive all night anytime they pass through NYC or Pensacola. Expecting certain employees to sporadically sacrifice their night’s sleep for the bottom line is one thing (and it’s a big one…I strongly doubt any of the pencil-pushing donkeys behind this idea would consider it an acceptable job requirement for their own selves), but requiring them to spend that drowsy sacrifice driving big rigs around?
They’re kidding, right? $200k to figure out if having fewer trucks on the road in cities during the daytime will ease congestion?
Next week: A $500m study to see if the sun is shining during the daytime.
I guess you didn’t read the whole thing.
“…it’s not a question of if driving at night will save time and money, but rather how much time and money will be saved.”
I hope another point might be made : We could ask for a night bonus.
Truckers do the work but the bosses sometimes ” forget ” to pay . If I work at night and on weekends I should get some bonus for that
I’ve been driving trucks for over 30 yrs and these people who do these studies and come up with these idea’s
They have never drove a truck or ever had to drive all night to get to your delivery point just to be told to go sit in your truck until they decide to take your load , Inwhich means you’re Screwed again to please some Idiots on Capital Hill !
They could start by dropping the requirement that your restart happen at night, on the weekend. I do drive nights, but I’ve pretty much ignored that little rule, simply because it hurts my head to think of it. I have no idea whether I’m in compliance.
Luckily, I’m on a dedicated run where both shipper and receiver are open 24/7. But when I was OTR, I wanted to drive at night, but almost every delivery I had was scheduled for early AM, with the next pick-up either shortly thereafter, or so far down the road I couldn’t go back to sleep. Not much I could do about that.
less trucks = more cars = more traffic . The question of the day would be ,are they going to get the cars to drive only during the day?
Probably not too many more cars, and the reason us trucks cause the congestion is because it takes longer to slow down and speed up than a car.
How is this expected to work with the current hours of service?
Yeah, I choose to deliver during rush hour. Do they think we like sitting in traffic.
Sorry, My 11 is up. But you can come to the Pa/Nj line and get your stuff.
Oh, There is a exception for that. So we have to get there and sit till morning. You cant idle, Cant go to a toilet, Cant sleep and log it. I’m so confused.
And these cities are the ones with truck parking problems. Most safe havens fill up before 5PM, so if you are OTR and deliver at 11pm and you get unloaded at 2am and night dispatch doesn’t get you a load right away and the Consignee has no parking (which is most food warehouses), you’re screwed.
You nailed it! Hopefully they will include the problems you just identified and come up with real solutions. Maybe they can also finally understand why the h.o.s. rules and elogs force drivers to drive at the wrong times.
Heh I could have told them that. Where’s my $200k?
So can I have the $200k since I know the answer? Of course it will save time and money, less traffic at night means I can drive at a normal speed which saves time and fuel (money). Done ad done. Please mail me my $200k. Thank you
The was NEVER a question whether or not it would save time or money. The question is how much time and money. You get zero dollars becasue you couldn’t even read 1 short article completely.
I am not saying that I agree or disagree with the idea, I’m just saying that if you’re going to make fun of something, understand what your making fun of or you open yourself up to look ridiculous.
So can I have the $200k since I know the answer? Of course it will save time and money, less traffic at night means I can drive at a normal speed which saves time and fuel (money). Done and done. Please mail me my $200k. Thank you
This is all good although unless you have driven a truck in winter u know that these are not the best times to drive not to mention other hazards besides the weather ie: animals, drunk drivers, night blindness due to lights etc. Please stop trying to drive from the inside of your offices and get out in a truck for a month and experience it for yourselves! – A Woman Trucker
I can deliver in NYC at night , no problem. It’s once unloaded… what’s the plan ? Unless I have a scheduled reload I will still have to wait for the morning and probably end up driving in the morning rush. Besides, where do I get my 10 hour break ?
First the FMCSA changes the 34 restart to put drivers on a daytime schedule and now the DOT wants drivers to drive more at night. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!!
You are right Matt.They have no idea what’s going on.Shops have closed at night,restaurants have closed at night,trucks stops have closed at night, trucks are shut down for 10 hours.Our government says McDonald’s workers need 15 dollars an hour.The government says federal union workers need another week of sick days.Truckers you need to park 10 and a half hours a day for nothing.We can’t spilt our on duty time we use to.Now they pay people to figure out why traffic is worse than it use to be.