FMCSA has announced that they will be adding a group of working commercial truck drivers to an advisory group which helps to advise FMCSA leaders on regulations, programs, and the state of the industry.
Between 20 and 25 truck drivers will form a new subcommittee of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC). The committee already includes representatives from enforcement officers, trucking companies, and labor groups.
According to the FMCSA announcement, the drivers will come from all different sectors of the industry. They will include “tractor trailer drivers, straight truck drivers, motor coach drivers, hazardous materials drivers, agriculture haulers, and more.”
“The Department of Transportation and this Administration believe in listening to our drivers and hearing their concerns directly,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck. “We know that many of the solutions to the challenges we face don’t come from Washington—they come from the hard-working men and women who are behind the wheel all over our nation. This new subcommittee to MCSAC will further help us hear from America’s commercial drivers.”
Source: truckinginfo, fleetowner, overdrive, ttnews, fmcsa
About time they actually used someone who has actually driven a truck
Maybe I’ll able to get to Walmart dock in the middle of the night without brake HOS
I hope they dont use any patch wearing ATA suckups.
Don’t be taken in. These ” drivers “? Will have NEVER chained down a load, nor have the pulled anything wider than their fishing boat. They will, mark my words, have spent their entire careers, pulling doubles on a schedule. They RARELY had to worry about packed truck stops. They hook up, drive 250-300, swap trailer and go back. Just like their mentors, the polly-titians that have never been in a truck, let alone driven one. These “drivers” are going to be mouthpieces for the ATA and such organizations. Not ONE DAMNED THING will change for us. Sorry to be the voice of doom n gloom, but those will be the facts.
You my friend said it right
We don’t need baby sitter’s we need more money and the companies that make us drive 350 miles before we can stop .. the government has his hands in our pockets a $1.000.00 pay check doesn’t go very far when you have a family and Bill’s to pay and the cost of living on the road is high as hell if you stop and think about it 85% of our check goes for taxes I’m 53 years old
I don’t have any retirement and what about the trucking companies that make us do things that are not safe
If we don’t do it. We get fired and the good companies don’t want to hire someone who gets put out of service
The D,O,T needs to address this people like me have to do what ever we can to take care of our family
Where do I sign up?
It’s hard to justify “beaching” about not being heard, if they offer to listen, and we’re not willing to speak.
Yeah, it’ll probably turn out to be nothing, but we’re “beaching” and no one’s listening, now. At least if it does turn out to be nonsense, we will have tried to do something and failed, instead of just doing nothing and “beaching”.
Who will these “drivers” be? Who chooses them? How were they chosen? How does one get into this pool? Will they just be yes men/shills?
I don’t buy it!
Could be those computer drivers that sit behind the desk and control the driverless trucks
Wait now they could be waiting for those 18 year old fresh out of driving school to join up with them.
Well it about time maybe they will make these PhD educated idiots correct their way of thinking. And maybe get Hos that actually works
Respect is hard one for us and sometimes speaking softly but wisely gets heard more.
It’s a step in the right direction. Hope they get a good cross section and let them speak freely.
Please don’t allow any non-driver company executives. Believe or not people, your companies are lobbying against you. Unreal, but true.
I think they should let us see pictures of all employees of the FMSCA and let us know their background experience in trucking and any education or certifications of the people who are making these rules for truck drivers.
That would be rejected as an invasion of their privacy. When you know that you’re doing wrong, you don’t give people (or the public) the means to track you down.
This is why you have to give your home address (not a PO box) when you get a driver’s license. The government wants to know where to find you, and where you keep your family and your stuff.
Amen to that
No one cares about what I have to say.
Great news! Long overdue!
Worries me though that truckers actually fought against letting us pause the 14, or changing the 30 minute break. Depends on who they get. I know some that said if you take the 30 away when can they have lunch..or 14 is already a long day.
It’s like they don’t understand the driving is up to you..
Not for everyone. Employers have the option to fire you for the choices that you make, whether in the interests of safety or productivity. When the two are at odds, you can’t win.
Worse, unemployment insurance won’t cover you if you’re fired for cause, and both are legitimate cause to dismiss an employee. Effectively, an employer is now free to fire you at will, and deny you the safety net of unemployment insurance, by claiming one cause or the other, depending upon which way you went.
Would very much like to see older O/ O’s on this , especially those that have experience with flatbed, van, rgn, and various other trailers. You get more by talking to the horse’s head than to its #ss !
30 minute 10-100. It used to be 8 hours off broke up. The load got delivered. Now it’s 10 hours and stores and customers complain .maybe they should put toilets and showers in those new Tesla Trucks. Keep us home where we belong. In the truck in our corner. Automatically lock us in so we can’t escape. Living in the Twilight Zone.
Many lists put out. And true unemployment insurance is a fraud it shouldn’t matter if you were fired or not you should be able to collect your unemployment. If the company fires you it’s their decision. But there are Lots of companies who think their drivers are disposable. And can hire and fire at the power of their finger tip. Right or wrong. Getting a kick back from government for hiring newbie’s. Someone needs to start a storm on unemployment.
Totally agree with you J. E. Your right on the dot. Intrastate drivers. Maybe class B. Who knew. But your absolutely correct. Maybe a diesel mechanic with a class A to move the trucks around the yard. Yard goat specialties.
CMVs in the Left Lane?
If I were on the board, one thing I’d like to propose questioning the logic of restricting of the “Left Lane” to trucks. It seems to me that the preferred lane for trucks should be the Left Lane for many reasons including:
A. Helping overall traffic safety by clearing the transition lane/slow lane for merging and exiting vehicles from highways and freeways etc.
B. Helping to reduce the number of times Semi Trucks have to move over for police/emergency or distressed vehicles pulled over on the right.
C. In towns, Trucks on the left would also free the right hand turning lanes when stopped, as well as enable cars to enter/exit freely from driveways etc. further enabling traffic in general.
D. Increasing distance from the right side of the road in all areas increases the distance from pedestrians, animals, parked cars, falling objects such as trees or rocks, even other cross traffic entering intersections that fail to stop in time, giving additional reaction time to the lanes on the left. For larger vehicles, this is even more helpful.
In my opinion Trucks tend to remain generally on the road longer, and there should exist a “Truck Safe Lane” that allows them to remain in for the meat of their travel time, in order to have fewer lane changes, which translates into fewer opportunities for traffic accidents. It would facilitate the merging for ALL vehicles if the largest and most difficult and slow to maneuver vehicles/were already out of harm’s way, or not where most of the transitioning is done..
I don’t propose restricting small vehicles from being in the left lane, but they should move out of the lane if there is a commercial vehicle within 300 feet behind them, allowing the commercial vehicle to pass before re-entering the “Truck Safe Lane”.
The next lane to the right should be used for passing, rather than the far left. This seems to be contrary to established the wisdom of passing on left side rather than the right side, but here is my counter argument:
If indeed the LEFT lane was established as the “Truck Safe Lane”, most of the time commercial vehicles would remain in that lane and not merge right unless preparing to exit the the highway, So, the “active vehicle” that is doing the passing, has a better view on the left of the “passive vehicle.” that is being passed. It seems that it stands to logic that the passing vehicle should be afforded the better view since the other vehicle more than likely, is going to remain in that lane long distances, or until they apply a signal first to show intent to change lanes before transitioning. If the passing vehicle, notices the signal, they can inform the vehicle being passed through a horn toot, if they are positioned close to the cab (blind-spot) or passing fast, or they can slow down and back off allowing the vehicle to transition/exit, which in turn, allows the passing vehicle to then merge into the “Truck Safe Lane” which is most likely what their goal was anyway. An advance signal of at least 3-5 seconds before exiting would be optimal for the exiting CMV if not required for safety, whenever exiting the “Truck Safe Lane” especially, as well as other lanes.
In conclusion, it seems to be plain to safety logic, that if priority should be given regarding dedicated lane purposes:
Priority SHOULD be given to EVERY vehicle on the road. For EVERY vehicle enters and exits all roads. This proposal accomplishes all of this by clearing the most common transitionary areas likely to cause accidents, utilizing a “Truck Safe Lane” rather than having a dedicated “Fast Lane/Passing Lane” for only SOME vehicles convenience, and for the most part to appease their belief that “Everyone else is in their way.”
I love driving it’s what I do best if it wasn’t for truck drivers what would the people do
The people depends on what we do but they have no idea what we go through,or they just don’t care all these years for over 200
We have been taking goods across the world in bulk and that will never change