On Monday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration signed an agreement to review its current Hours-of-Service rules. The FMCSA is committed to submitting its review to the White House within the next 9 months, and changes could be issued to the current rules within the next 21 months.
Current HOS rules permit truckers to be on-duty for 14-hours a day, including up to 11 hours of driving. A 34-hour rest allows drivers to reset their weekly on-duty allotment. Some special interest groups, such as Public Citizen, believe that the current rules increase occurrences of driver fatigue and lead to more accidents. The American Trucking Association supports leaving the current HOS rules unchanged, and cites them as a factor in decreasing trucking-related fatalities.
It is not yet clear which rules are being considered for change, though the controversial 34-hour reset is a likely target, and the FMCSA’s agreement to reconsider the current regulation does not guarantee that any changes will be made.
i should know after thirty years in the trucking industry, that owner operator associations, and trucking companies have no back bones. i really thought this time they would stand up and say enough is enough, but i was wrong. Ontario passed a law that forces every truck that runs throw there province to install a speed limiter on there trucks. they set the maximum speed a truck can travel at 105 kl.(65 mph ) witch is 5kl. ( 3 mph ) to 15 kl. ( 9 mph ) faster than the highest speed allowed on Ontario highways. this means that the trucks can maintain the posted speed limit, while they are in Ontario, causing little problems in Ontario it self. of course the problems o cures when you leave Ontario, ware the posted speed limits are greater than 105 kl, ( 65 mph ). just one example of many is taxes, ware the the posted speed limit on two lane roads are 110 kl. ( 70 mph ). and there are many more province and states, not just taxes that the legal posted speed limit exceeds 105 kl. now you have traffic being held up by trucks, people getting upset and making bad decisions and passing when its unsafe. you also have truck trying to pass, and taking excessive amount of time to get past slow moving motorists placing them selves and other motorists in danger.
these kind of bad laws, and regulations are being placed on the trucking industry and we just sit back and do nothing, so i guess we get what we deserve. like i said no back bone!!!
I don’t think slow trucks is the cause of aggressive driving. Today’s generation of Car driver has the attention span of a 1 year old. Which is about 30 seconds give or take. That being said they get impatient and do whatever it takes to get around the truck. I see this every day and today was no different. I was in the right lane driving 55 which was posted speed limit. Exit only lane opened up on my right. Now I was in Chicago so the highway was 4 lanes where I was. The 3 lanes to my left at that moment were wide open, no excuse. The car went to my right in the exit only lane, passed me and cut in front of me right as the exit lane went to the right and there also was a barrier that the car nearly hit. The driver being an idiot caused me to tap my brakes. Now, in this case there was no accident but this is the cause of a lot of accidents. Police need to get out of Dunkin Donuts and give aggressive drivers a ticket. States need to get off the lazy butts and make a law 3 strikes you lose your license. Basically if you get 3 tickets for aggressive driving you lose your license for a minimum of 1 year in which you have to complete a safety course before you are allowed to resume driving. They also need to make the fines progressive so that people learn from it. first offense $500, second offense $1,000, third offense you lose your license.
oye………….enough with these idiots ,low pay and GPS tracking up the rear, whats next cameras in and outside the cab?
yes you are right. cameras inside and outside the truck. You don’t know how many times I wish I had a camera inside my cab to show the idiots driving around me, nearly hitting me as they swerve over in front of me while texting or talking on the phone or just not paying attention. Especially going to and from work.
Yes guys. These are the type remarks and attitudes that we need representing us and our industry on social media which is openly available to the public and our lawmakers to see and read. Good job
You wanna do something? Go set down with your state representative. talk to them, not to each other. This type of public display makes our cause more difficult. Think people!
They don’t listen. Trust me. I have already contacted my state representatives, elected officials as they are. Nothing is being done. Oh wait, states mostly have passed laws, no driver use of handheld electronic devices, no texting while driving and other laws. Problem is LAW ENFORCEMENT!!! The cops don’t enforce the law but let one of us truck drivers get caught and if you are an O/O its a heavy fine, if you are a company driver you just lost your job.
The public is an unlikely consumer of this thread Peter.
That being said, it is unfortunate that many literate drivers are idiots and many illiterate drivers have decades of experience and enormous common sense yet are crippled in their efforts to express themselves due to the aforementioned educational deficits
So, allow me to toss in my 2¢ worth.
The HOS rules were originally written with safety in mind.
The “old” rules.. pre 14 hour.. were quite functional and allowed for the everyday unpredictability of Trucking.
Of course they were abused on paper. From age 23 to 45 if I didnt work 100 hours/week I felt like I had been remiss… letting down the team as it were. I recall one week that I actually worked 131 hours… Out of a possible 168. Working for 30 hours straight was certainly not unheard of.
Trucking has always been slave labor. Keep the wages low so the drivers will go.
None of the logging changes, including the 14 hour rule, were ever for public safety. That is a false narrative created by those who benefit from being able to crack the whip on these lazy millennials.
Trucking is INCREDIBLY safer than when I started in 1986. Better tires, headlights, antilock brakes and heavy enforcement of penalties for carrier maintenance violations are primary.
Lack of tolerance for excessive over hours driving and better oversight of driver records and carrier performance by insurance companies provided natural market correcting improvements.
The political third rail created by the (false) cries of SAFETY! by dubious citizens organizations, created or at least manipulated by those with profit motive, has kept common sense legislation off the table..
After all, what politican is going to risk being blamed for every “truck related” accident, injury, or fatality?
Speaking of statistics. What a carnival of easily manipulated false agenda driven alleged “statistics” there are.
If there is a fatality no matter whether a drunk drove into a semi, or a weather related skid got folks killed, texted their way into a headon collision caused by crossing the center line or the median for that matter, or just plain died of natural causes while driving…. IF a truck is involved it becomes a truck related statistic.
Malleable fertilizer for anyone with an agenda to manipulate and misuse.
An unfortunately large percentage of the population.. including many more highly educated individuals.. have absolutely no understanding of percentages or statistics at all…. especially I’m regards to recognizing utter crap.
Here’s an example of how electronic logging is demolishing my life, business, health and happiness.
I regularly make a run which takes about 7 hours, I can do two of these a day for five days…. or I COULD until the elogging took away my latitude.
My customer needs these two loads per day and my relationship with them and my continued usefulness and success depend on meeting that commitment.
The runs can’t take LESS than 7 hours.. yet it takes very little to extend that by just a few minutes. I now make less money and work 6 days per week instead of 5. There isn’t even time to go home so I stay out for two weeks then get a couple days “off” as an owner operator I assure you that one of those days is spent on maintenance.
Life used to be pretty damn good. I could run things more or less like we kept doing for all these years on paper.
I wasn’t using excessive hours nor was my drive time excessive.
I had time to take a meal or chat with a friend. Relax for a few minutes here and there.
To be sure I always got my 8 or 9 off… an absolute hog for sleep am I.
Although if I woke up after 5 hours and needed to sleep a little more there was nothing like a 30-40 minute drive to get me ready for bed again..
I could drop right back off.
Now I must constantly Time every second of the day. Run when I am out of the truck and keep trucking as fast as legally possible at all other times.
The world DID NOT adjust itself to the governments schedule.. Although I must try.
I am gaining weight, my personal grooming has suffered. If I happen to get stuck “wherever” at the end of 14 hours I certainly don’t get to leave that spot after 7 or 8 hours, drive down the road to a truckstop, fuel, shower, have a meal and some fellowship..
By God when that clock hits 10:00 off duty I had better hit the ground running again..
The safety agenda is a lie. Any possible driver benefit is a lie.
The very fact that the “Oh so deadly important for SAFETY” mandatory 30 minute break rule was just tossed out the window with no ceremony whatsoever proves both points simultaneously.
The 30 minute break got real inconvenient when around 2 million trucks had to find a place to park about the same time didn’t it?
Well, get rid of that rule…. (A rule SO important that the penalties for not taking the break.. or my God just forgetting to log the break we’re enormous)…solves that problem handily doesn’t it?”
It is nothing but a lie.
Government solutions, even when all cry out in advance, are always collateral damage on steroids. Fix it later with another foolish adjustment.
Sorry, In addition, as I have mentioned before, when the 14 hour rule and the 34 hour reset went into law the companies handed themselves an extra 1000 hours per year per driver.
The equivalent of TWENTYFIVE 40 hour work weeks.
No additional costs for work comp, or more equipment, or health insurance for additional drivers AND as an added bonus the total ability to maintain wages at subpoverty levels while telling the drivers that they need to work more hours..
60 hours in 7 days… about 3200 hours per year available per driver.
70 hours in 8 days is pretty much a virtual tie.
HOWEVER!
The 14 hour rule with a 34 hour reset gave companies over 4200!
Hours per year per driver..
Each 6 days a driver can work five 14 hour days and get a 34 hour reset.
Giving almost 61 total 70 hour cycles per year.
Safety? Don’t make me laugh.
It’s not rocket science just go back to the old 8 and 10 split it anyway you want take care of the parking problems and never tired sleep when you want rest you want eat when you want
You must all be kidding me. Talk to state reps.? That’s a joke. Do you think anyone cares. The answer is no. Motor carriers, their associations, DOT, troopers, etc… have everyone bamboozled into believing they give a crap about CDL Driver and public safety. How many dollar bills are donated by motor carriers and their propaganda machines to state and federal reps to turn a blind eye in exchange for greed. I read an article headline the other day . It’s headline, “ $80,000. Per year, so why the shortage of truck drivers”. Could it be truth be told, that’s for 80 plus hours per week. Normal people may make that in 40 hours. Work 14 hour days, holidays, nights, weekends, sacrifice your family time, sound familiar?
The harsh reality is guys at 65 + years old are retiring, guys in their 50’s don’t want to do it anymore and younger kids, we tell them to go to college cause driving a truck is a bogus & unhealthy life style.
If carriers actually want to to elieviate the shortage of drivers, start spreading some wealth. Increase pay substantially for less hours and more family time, great health insurance paid by company, 10 paid holidays off, bonuses, etc..,
Also stop attempting to manage drivers by intimidation and holding jobs over their head. All drivers know all these things to be true but have no balls to stand up for themselves or what’s right. It’s a weak minded truck driver mentality that continues to allow carriers, dot, fmcsa( which is a joke itself)(don’t represent drivers and safety so how do they think they should regulate drivers rules)
Unfortunately can’t put real name due to what would be expected black balling and back lash.
The current rules are fine. How can anyone say that 34 hours off duty isn’t enough?!!!
No there not fine they need to get rid of the 14 hour clock
Not get rid of completely but maybe loosen up the rules a bit because there is no bend or flex right now. yeah we got the 8/2 and that has saved my butt many times because I didn’t have enough time to do a full 10 and make it on time to deliver. My point is I have sat at shippers and receivers for 6 hours on many occasions. Even ran out of hours a couple of times. There response was you are professional driver plan better. We have no overnight parking you are trespassing we will have you towed. My response to that was I had plenty of hours and you ran me out of hours. I am not moving, and if you call police you had better get a DOT certified officer to handle it as I don’t talk to local police, they have no authority.
Normal jobs you get a weekend off half a day Friday Saturday and Sunday 34 hours isn’t a weekend
We all know that they can change the laws to improve safety all they want but we all know how to get around the logbook. Thus the reason we call it a comic book. It’s the only way we can make money is to violate the laws they put up and until we get paid a mileage wage we can live on this will continue.
I’m with you on this they can change as many time this law, the fact remains we will cheat the comic book because is just no other way to really make money driving, how can you set there and say that you can feed your family on 2500 miles at 30 or 35 cent per mile, be serious about it. so have fun with your laws, we dont like to break laws but this people making then are a joke, they seat on their $1000.00 desk and want to impossed on something they read or hear about. so “Hasta la vista Baby”.
I haven’t driven in two years because of an operation, they gave me a pengion, from everthing I read thats going on I think I will not return.
I have changed my mind, this retirement stinks, on my way back.
I have been off the road since 5/09,i had to have neck surgery and after seeing how the company dropped me like a hot potato after getting hurt on their trailer,and hearing on the trucker channel on sirius radio about all the stupid rules that will be in force sooner than most people know,i have decided that if i can work after being released from the doctor,it will not be in a truck,or trucking period! i have been in this profession since 1974,and back then we all ran like fools,but we had less traffic and therefor less accidents.back then i was proud to be a trucker,but now i,m ashamed to tell people what i do.i,v been to all 48 states and all of canada.no accident,a few tickets over the years but my record is clean now.we could be the biggest union or organization in the world,if only we had a back bone.so when you are sitting at truckstop on the cb telling everybody that will listen,what needs to be done ,just remember that it,s just words that has no meaning unless it has an action to back it up.all of the drivers that have been driving since the 70s know that the equipment we have today is something we couldn,t even dream about back then.nice equipment now,but no RESPECT…just think about it,PLEASE……drag-n-fly
I agree. Thanks.
It would really be nice if the American and Canadian governments could get together and work on one set of rules and regulations that would cover all jurisdictions.
I deal mainly with Ontario and it is a bother to keep the regulations straight. The U.S. has the 34 hour reset, whereas Ontario has a 36 hour reset. Ontario requires that you declare 70 hours in 7 days or 140 hours in 14 days on your logbook. You can drive up to 13 hours in Ontario vs. 11 hours in all of the U.S.
I believe split berthing is an option in Ontario, but since that is such a useless option in the States, I don’t even bother to use it. It sure would help to have a working split-berthing regulation available (i.e. 5 hours driving, 4 hours sleeper berth, 5 hours driving, 4 hours sleeper berth, etc).
Make one set of rules that covers North America to truly make transparent borders a reality for truckers.
The split option you are referring to is the way it used to be. My father has been driving for over 40 years and thats how he used to do it and made a lot of money. Now we only have the 8/2 option which is horrible. What’s even worse is the mandatory 30 in the first 8 after going on duty. That one is so stupid because at 9PM to about 5 or 6AM truck stops are packed like a bucket of worms and the only option is the fuel island. I am GUILTY as charged but on the same side of that I hate the idiots that sit at the fuel island and wont move because they are taking their 30 during the middle of the day with 50 spots open.
Lets give the driver a liveable wage ,if you pay them by the mile of corse we are going to run as fast and as hard as possable, pay them for there time out, for what they do. Quick taxing
the hell out of us, lets making driving fun again, Its become to much like work. It use to be simple untill big brother got involved.
The American Trucking Association supports leaving the current HOS rules unchanged, and cites them as a factor in decreasing trucking-related fatalities. Total mouth full of B.S.
The only reason for a decrease of all acidents is less people on the road because of higher gas prices. Earth to ATA! Earth to ATA!
Well, the FMCSA IGNORED scientific evidence that the 34 hour break is not necessary, so I am very thankful that they are taking a second look at the situation for long haul truckers and those in the freight industry. Yes, there is that much at stake, and I posted a three hour long worth conversation about it on the FMCSA comment section of the proposed rule, as well as wrote a book on it.
These over restrictive regulations are not science based, but politically based, and any employer who denies rest to a driver should fall under the review of OSHA, not the whims of Congress. 10 hour breaks are plenty of time for rest for working dads out there that want to make money and spend a few days at home with the family, not spend two days every two weeks because of bad research.
While safety “advocates” always mention the statistics regarding big rigs, they always leave out the statistics that compare the actions of other drivers as being the party that is at fault the majority of the time, which is why I call the argument political, not practical. And if the regulations are not practical, that costs money we should not have to spend.
Everyone in the logistics chain suffers, and keep in mind, if 7500 drivers lost their jobs, that’s approximately 37500 loads a week out of the system if they average 5 loads a week. That is almost 2 million loads of freight, and if the average value of those loads is $225,000, that is $18,000 of lost tax revenue for cities alone (not mention fork lift drivers, accountants, etc.)
That is a loss of $3.6 billion in tax revenue, and if they have to borrow that money to make up shortfalls in budgets, at .04% for one year, that is $144 million dollars not in the economy, but money paid as interest on top of the economic damage?
144 million dollars would upgrade a lot of truck sleeper berths so something better than what they have now? The shipping industry could be more efficient without sacrificing safety and by looking at these numbers, and the quality of life of long haul drivers, I think it is not that hard to see the obvious improvements we can make.
Before you send your hate mail, keep in mind I am advocating that you can take your 34 hour break if you need to through OSHA regulations, and let those who have to pay for these expensive trucks (which environmentalists apparently do not want to pay for) let them do so and have at least a partially normal life in the process.
Happy Holidays.
Nicely said Steven.
If we are loosing 37500 loads a week (signified by 7500 drivers losing their jobs) that is almost 2 million loads a year, and the tax rate revenue lost to cities mentioned in my post is per load, with a yearly loss of 3.4 billion in tax revenues alone (lost retail sales). Lost driver pay is almost $300 million a year at an average $746 per week take home pay.
37500 lost loads a week in the economy at an average worth of $225K is approximately $8.4 billion in lost economic activity nationwide per week? That’s a ball park estimate that is not a very good number, since that means the economy is going to shrink by 438 billion dollars in one year?
Putting the brakes on economic development with all these unknown taxes and new regulations rumoured to be coming down the road is not only scary for business owners and employers, but working dads? We don’t get to elect our economy (or are we?), so I hope these politicians start giving us some predictability down the road? At least give people a couple years before they implement new regulations or taxes so that they can elect new politicians if that is not what they want?
I have faith that Americans can come together to pull through anything, but we first have to be honest with ourselves.
Thank you for posting my reply, and again,
Happy Holidays!
The FMCSA feels pressured to change the HOS again. They are specifically targetting the 34-hour restart. If the rules that are in place now are so unjust and unsafe then maybe we should go back to the original HOS. They worked for 72 years, maybe they weren’t so bad after all. All of the do-gooders like PUBLIC CITIZEN and their friends should go to work for a living and mind their own business. Just like the SIERRA CLUB and the Logging Industry and the Fishing Industry, they should take care of their own not worry about everyone else. The special interest groups should be more concerned with things like how are we going to pay back the money for the bail-outs the government just spent. 700 plus trillion dollars is quite a tab to have hanging over our heads. The problem there is that most of the special interest group members are evidently independently wealthy and don’t have hobbies. They refuse to look at facts and statistics that prove the roads are safer than they were as little as 10 years age. I shudder to think what the new rules will be like. I do however wonder what all of the do-gooders will say when they regulate truckers out of a job and America Stops. That simple phrase is more than just a cute bumper sticker, it is the absolute truth. Everything in America spends at least part of it’s time on a truck. so remember ladies and gentlemen call and write your senators and representatives and let them know what is on your mind. Remember that “WHEN TRUCKS STOP, AMERICA STOPS”.
i’v been a truck driver since 1993 and i have always loved trucking but i just can’t believe whats happening out here now a days…i researched the trucking industry back in the 70’s and the way it was to be a trucker back then….ok, it was great for some but not for others..which is kinda the same thing thats going on now more or less..what got my attention was that back then truckers were a brotherhood. they all had eachothers back..and fought for what they believed was right for the industry…now everything is like…to each his/her own. nobody’s got anyones back anymore..no one cares about what’s happening out here, only that they have a job and make some money to support their famaliys nomatter how politics affect the industry…for the few that do care and want to fix this mess, i’m with you all the way…but don’t try to make it like it used to be in the past…we need to get the truckers together and revive the brotherhood that once protected the industry and drove these hwys with pride and make it better. all it takes is unity and good planning to make a preposal to the goverment that they can’t ignore..we can do this. i believe that truckers of today can make a diffrence, but with the wisdom of the truckers of the past we can change the industry to make it better…only together can this be accomplished..like i said (brotherhood)…
why do you folks hate the reset you don’t have to take it ?
I think it is the best idea they have had in a long time
What’s bad is when you run out of hrs on the road. I did and here I sit waiting to gain hrs again. If ya guaranteed 34 hrs at home, great. But not always the case. If a company wants to run ya ragged then don’t work for them. We don’t need a 70hr/34 reset rule forced down our throats. I ran out of hrs and I’m sitting 4hrs away from home rested ready to drive but the 70hr regulation says otherwise. It’s stupid. I could get the load to receiver and home earliest if it wasn’t for this 70hr crap that had nothing to do with fatigue. In facts it’s messed up my sleep.
Ok I can see if they are talkin about safety, but when was the last time you heard of tighter regulations for the idiots behind the passenger car going 80 down a freeway changing lanes like they were in a rally or something. The hours of service is fine, hell for me the most groogy I am is when I first wake up, and I have trouble going to sleep right when I get off the road. I have no accidents or anything on my record and I have been told they way I run is illegal but yet the drivers straight out of these “driving schools” have been in more wrecks. Why punish those that don’t get in wreck and punish those that do. Hell everything is connected to our CDL by DAC or MVR, it should be easy to use it for a change instead of beating those that keep america running. Soon america will be fall apart due to WAY to many regulations against CDL professionals.
I just read a comment that America is will fall apart due to regulations. America isn’t falling apart because of over-regulation…it’s falling apart because of lack of regulation. Ever heard of, “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile”? That is the case here. What would eliminate a lot of the cheating on logs would be to offer truckers an hourly rate of pay. I am currently out of trucking however, when I was driving I got so fed up with being “on the clock” or having the vehicle under my control, being considered on duty and not being paid for that time. I have been held up for endless hours at shippers and consingees without a dime of compensation. Shippers and consignees know it and many of them take advantage of the drivers. If truckers were paid at the time they enter a dock, delays would be non-existant.
There are many other ways the trucking industry could be regulated to the advantage of the drivers. Unfortunately, drivers are not the ones lining the pockets of our wonderful politicians and regulations to protect them will never come about.
10 HOURS of DRIVING is enough.I have been driving for over 25 years,ANY one that has driven knows,that you are wore out in the 11 hour with the amount of traffic on the road. THE 11 HOUR DRIVING RULE GETS DRIVERS HURT,AS WELL ,THE PUBLIC.COMPANIES SLOW THEIR TRUCKS DOWN,so it takes 11hours,instead of 10. 10 HOURS OF DRIVING IS ENOUGH,AT WHAT THE SPEED THE COMPANIES ALLOW THEIR TRUCKS TO RUN.THE 11 HOUR RULE HELPS THE COMPANIES,NOT THE DRIVER.THE ROADS ARE UNSAFE,DUE TO DRIVERS FATIGUE.
SO, you haven’t seen the research that pretty well conclusively proves that the number of hours (10/11/12) doesn’t matter.. most accidents occur in the FIRST hour of driving.
And, as has been pointed out by others here, most accidents involving trucks are initiated by idiots in automobiles.
For my money, the current rules are fine. You don’t need to take the 34 hour reset if you can schedule your runs appropriately.
Well driver I’ve been driving over 25 years as well (since truckin was fun an sex was safe)and I used the 15 hour rule all the time you just have to know when to go to bed.I mean hell I’m a grown assed man I dont need someone else to tell me when I’m sleepy or too tired to drive.
What I wonder is why anyone wants to drive a truck anymore? The CDL has been criminalized for quite some time. When was the last time you saw a cop/dot officer walk into a building and cite your wife,girlfriend,brother,in-law for making a simple mistake on the job? Never…….,and never at their desk. Werner’s logging system,illegal,and don’t say there isn’t a trucking company out there that doesn’t run illegal. The government ‘book’ is there to make money off the driver,amongst other things. It’s all about command and control,and the FMCSA isn’t the first agency to bend the rules to follow the political wind. This forum is as likely a place to protect your interests as any.LOL! How many politicians follow this? This is a place to gripe like all drivers do…… . Then someone will claim we are “brothers”. Isn’t that a code word for ‘union’ ? The unions won’t save you,look at YR,and the forums for their drivers that are online. Total inept management.One company circles the other,with
the smell of blood in the water,and strikes when appropriate. Now the freight is ignored,in the yard…setting for weeks,YR then sells off the logistics to stay viable and people are out of work.
By the way,how is it that anyone with a medical prescription(most anyone at any time) don’t have to get a medical certificate to get a driver’s license? Work a ten hour day,then get in your car,go to the bar,wherever,while not taking a random or pre-renewal drugscreen. Just the truckers/pilots,ya know…
US! The Supreme Court ruled long ago that that was fair,not discriminatory(legislating from the bench)
and you know who put them in power and keeps them in power…..the politicians. And politicians are bought and sold by PATT/MADD and others of their ilk. A lot of the 34 reset pressure is coming from
The Teamsters also,as reported by Fleet Owner magazine and others like Refrigerated Transport mag.
The CDL is the Criminal Drivers License.
Wing
Food for thought! We as truckers are in the worst shape we have ever been in. And yet we keep doing the same stupid things over and over. When do we as a people say I HAVE HAD ENOUPH? Here’s what kills me. I was a U.S. Marine. And I did this on my own. But I did this cause I felt I needed to do my part for this country. I believe this. After traveling in the corps to many different countries I found out America is, in my mind the greatest nation in the world. I still believe that. BUT I also have lost all faith in our government. But what really bothers me is we the people. We the people seem to be putting our heads in the sand. Why would we ever want the government telling us what we can and cannot do in every part of our life?
Think about something here. We are killing babies by the hundreds every day. But shut water off in CA to farms for a minnow that’s from Minnesota. “Kill a baby save a minnow?” Something in my mind seems wrong here. People are losing jobs by the thousands in the U.S. everyday. BUT we want to raise taxes on the people that make the jobs. (Hell if I were rich I would pack my business up and move out also.) Why give the government more money to spend like a drunken fool? I would rather spend it on myself; I’m the one that made the investment. I’m going to be the drunk. Get this one millions of people out of work and we are going to a point system that’s going to take around 200.000 drivers off the road and out of a job. States are broke so what do they do? Go after the truckers who are about broke. They call this safety.
This is like Drugs in the U.S. Do any of you really think they are trying to stop drug addiction. Nope! Look at what the government takes in a year on drug dealings. Look at D.U.I. Look at how much money you pay the government after a D.U.I. THOUSANDS. It’s to save Lives. YA OK! BUT Killing babies is ok. Babies have no choice.
Unions dang they had a place at one time. BUT not today. We talk about C.E.O.’s of banks ripping us off. The union leaders have bankrupted almost every major manufacturing company out there. (Big wages and low output) Question? How many drivers out there have pulled into a union shop and about went nuts cause these people move like you have all the time in the world? And then complain cause they have to work so hard. Last time out it took them 12 hrs to load my truck and 14 hrs to unload and not one dime for 26 hrs of my time. But they would not work for nothing. UNION?
I guess I could go on for hours about stupid things but I want to get to my point. We as truckers and farmers for that matter have the power to make change. If we all would shut down for a week or so, the coasts! east and west would starve. And pay about any price we wanted for food, fuel and water. And as I see it, now is about the best time there ever could be to make our point. I here this all the time from drivers. I CAN”T AFFORD IT. Well in my simple mind I don’t think there is a bank in the world that wants to own a truck today. In my mind there is no bank wanting a house back today. And in my mind welfare will give you food if you are so broke you can’t afford it. And also if you look at it like this! The government is going to run us all out of business anyway if they get all these stupid laws into effect. Think about people. I know I am not a writer but I think you get my point. DAN
Dan,
You’re right…you are not a writer and keep your day job. I can’t believe how you rant about unions and yet what you are asking truckers to do will require union organization in order to protect you from job losses when you stand up against whatever it is you are fighting for. Your republican and tea party talking points have nothing to do with trucking at all. I don’t quite understand what it is you ask truckers to do in your comment.
By the way, if it weren’t for the sacrifices of our union fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters we would still be working for the “company store” and owing our souls to it. There is still much need for union organization in this country. It is the only way of standing up against corporate abuses America. Corporate America loves having you in their corner too Dan. The unions have not torn the financial fabric of this country apart. Where in the world do you get your facts on that one? The reason companies shut union plants down is to save money for their stockholders. These companies don’t give a rat’s behind about the working folks that have give years of loyalty to the companies.
Companies have moved overseas however, we still buy the garbage that they are making overseas. We lose jobs to these moves and we still purchase from the companies that have turned their backs on America.
Yet, people like you Dan seem to support these companies more than the plight of the union struggle. You need to take a close look at what has happened to the unions and where we stand when it comes to labor laws. It is pathetic that people can be fired for no reason whatsoever. It is a shame that in you can miss a day of work going to the hospital to take care of an illness and be fired over it.
So, I ask you Dan… What is it you suggest we do if you have “had enough”? What are your plans to make the trucker’s world a better place to work in? An hourly pay? Union representation? Less working hours and more hometime? I could come up with all kinds of ideas that would make a trucker’s life better….but, it would take a union to accomplish that or my employer would fire me for attempting to improve the lives of truckers.
Just my two cents but if the rules have work for the last 50 years but yet they wanna change em again but just maybe its not the truck driver that is unsafe just maybe its the genrall public that flashing his lights and passing on the shoulder to get around a 65 mph truck in the hammer lane who is actually doing the speed limit but if he runs off the road the big time Lawers wanna send me to jail for just trying to do my darn job so maybe if we enforced some of the traffic laws on the way the 4 wheelers drive it would be much safer
well if companies cared about there workers they would make sure me /truckers are at home and pay for sitting at these companies not making a dime if trucking companies would charge we might get paid but these bigger companies r scared they ll loose the account well if the truck is sitting there for 26 hours it looses money they dont understand that way nor do they understand the driver looses money and home time no man or women should have to live in a truck for weeks its not rite i bet u if we came together shuttling trucks working to gether things wood come together for us instead of racism or shit on the radio how about team talk ps stay away from berner trucking
The feds change the rules all the time,there’s nothing a driver can do about it but bitch.So unless you have some master plan you might as well accept changes an go with the flow.No driver out there is gonna stop his truck cause someone said lets stop freight not gonna happen,never has.The changes going on is evolution of the industry we work in.Does it stop raining cause you say so?NO.
Thanks American Trucker.25yr OTR VET……
Anyway you look at it, it’s another law. When another Big Shot with a nice suit is in that chair, this law will change, and another law will be in place. Then he will feel all powerful because he just made a law that affects lots of people and say, “now the roads are more safe”. Even if the H.O.S. changes, it will eventually change again. The main thing here is don’t drive tired. As if a law was needed for people to not drive tired. That’s like the sign on the door of the tractor…….use both hands and climb out backwards. Do we need a sign to tell us how to get out of the truck? Do we really need laws to tell us, don’t drive tired? These laws make my IQ go down really fast. I can feel it. I just lost some intelligence. Every driver knows not to drive tired. This law is making me tired. If you ask me, making more and more laws is a safety issue. It makes the driver distracted, and worried, am I breaking any kind of law right now? Can I park here? Will I get a ticket? I am new into trucking (with some experience), but this law which is supposed to keep me from driving tired is actually making me tired.
The only way to be safe from every law is carry a lawyer with you in your truck. Some companies allow pets. I would like to take a lawyer with me….just to be sure I am not breaking a law I didn’t know existed.
Someone in Congress heard you and now they are working on a law banning “The transportation of attorneys inside of the cab”.
These rules and regs are a joke 70 hours in 8 days I average 70 in 6 days then im forced to run illegal 48 hours chicago to cali and cali to east cost im out of hours and what im suposed to sit on strawberies for 34 hours so I can deliver my produce is any body going to pay me for thoses wasted 34 hours I dont think so these laws suck and after I deliver my produce why cant I get paid for it because some dumb ass made a law that I cant file against the brokers bond if its produce so if some truckdriver goes to the freight broker and shoots him for non payment then they will blame the truck driver and when nobody wants to drive trucks no more then what is the national guard going to do it ?
We need change and reform but it wont hapen because we cant bribe oficials like the bankers did and thats the whole point in the trucking is keep the trucker down pay him slave wages brokers get rich goverment get rich and the poor trucker gets pluked with out soap now they want to do the emissions where they force us to buy newer trucks that are so pis poor counstructed they are in the shop more then on the road why so they can put the poor trucker out of buisnes they dont need us hopfully they wake up soon they need us more than we need their slave ass freight I as soon as I pay everything off im out this the dot can drive theyr trucks them selves and be away from their families for a week at a time I used to love it out here but not any more nothing but imigrents out here beating the rates down working for free the hell with this I will do something else cause its just wasting my time and life away in a truck every thing is so dam expensive when they need us it will be to late but till then they just dont care no fair rules the truck is always at fault you can get hit by a drunk driver and its your fault wtf pis on this thank you for reading 🙂
Well I read most of yer comments here, not sure if yall gave much thought to the reason they really want to change these rules.
What I have seen is a downward spiral of wages over the past 40 years. The people who are in DC are afraid the other countries will stop buying from the US if we do not get our wages down to where the rest of the worlds are. Unions worked hard in the early days to increase wages, standard of living, and conditions for workers. They were so effective that US wages far surpass the rest of the world.
Now before yall jump all over me for shouting the union praises, please understand I AM NOT.
At some point, unions were too effective for their group of employees and the rest of the workers got left behind. Truck drivers, except for those high dollar union folks, made better wages then most laborers in days past (Based on weekly pay.) Today, typical union wages today are 2-3 times comparable non-union wages (Same job, union verses non-union.)
The unions have been on full scale assualt of the truck drivers that are committed to be non-union (ie. non-union companies, O/O, etc.) They have put politicians in office that they can control, they have sued companies and organizations for doing business with non-union drivers and companies. They have made claims that non-union drivers are less safe because they do not follow as strict a working format as unions (Perception, not fact.) Politicians are the people making this happen, unions, anti-truck groups, enviromentalists, and those with billions of dollars and rail companies are all providing the motivation and financial support to push this effort along.
The bad news is they will win in the end. Now you may not like hearing that, but less than 5 percent of America know what it will really mean. 75 percent of Americans are scared by those big trucks moving down the road beside them. I regularly hear some grandma grey bush say “I don’t think they should be allowed to use the roads.”
You and I know how laughable that is and what it would mean, but they don’t. Our Constitution and Bill Of Rights provides protection for the people to use public accesses and roads for carrying out commerce. However, no where does it say grandma grey bush may use them to drive over and see little Timmy. They do not get that.
You are in the big scary truck. You are loud. You are smelly. They pay so little attention to their driving that they are often starled to see a 70 foot long, 13 1/2 foot tall truck heading for them as they look up after tuning their radio or from their text message (never mind they are on the wrong side of the road.)
The rules are here to stay. Bad drivers and companies will go away. It will cost the good drivers money.
WE WILL HAVE TO BAND TOGETHER TO PUSH SHIPPING WAGES HIGHER. FEWER DRIVERS, FEWER COMPANIES = MORE OPPORTUNITY
The day is near when a driver will be able to say, “I will not drive for that, try again.”
Stay clean to be able to take part.
I’m new to trucking too, I’m still figuring out how all these laws work in the real world. I’m becoming of the opinion that they keep changing laws to try to keep truckers and companies from exploiting the loopholes. I think for this reason electronic logging is going to become the standard. It eliminates logging by miles, plain and simple. If the truck moves, it starts your clocks and there’s no way to change it. You can only fudge non-driving time and not very much of that. At first my attitude was, “How can I make any money this way?” But now I am reconsidering. If we all work way more hours than we are actually logging, how much are we actually making??? If you think $1000 a week is a good check, reconsider if you have worked 80 hours to make that $1000. That is exactly the same as working TWO full time jobs for $500 bucks. That’s not good money in my opinion, that’s working my ass off for a few extra bucks.
If I can legitimately run 2400 miles a week working 10 – 12 hour days, to me THAT is a good check. Maybe that is what the regulators are really after?
Everyone is saying that lawmakers are trying to regulate drivers to death. Ever consider the flip-side of that argument? These regulations are also binding on the carriers, they also have to work within these restrictions. Maybe the regulators are not out to “get” you, maybe they are trying to make companies more realistic in their requirements for drivers?
Maybe I’m just new and optimistic. Perhaps with enough time I’ll have be cynical. Right now I’m trying to stay positive. One thing I know for sure, hands down this beats any job I’ve had in the past. I like driving a truck. I enjoy the lifestyle. Yeah, I miss my family but they sure are happy to see me when I come home and that feels pretty good. I’m making decent money for just starting out, I really can’t complain about that. My company treats me as well or better than any manufacturing company I’ve ever worked for in the 20+ plus years I’ve been working.
Am I that “new generation” of truckers I hear everyone complaining about on the CB?
If Canada’s rules upset you, Don’t go there!
Thats pretty funny how all you company drivers think that the trucking companies could afford to pay the drivers so much more. I don’t know for sure about in the states but here in Ontario, Canada the rates hardly cover the trucking companies costs never mind giving the drivers more money. The rates are shot to hell and if you want to attempt to survive as a trucking company you have to do it or else your out of business because there is no such thing as a trucking company making a rate anymore. You do what the customer tells you or you don’t do it at all. Cause if u don’t someone else will and before you know your trucks will be getting towed out of your yard or you’ll be haulted due to not being able to make your insurance payments. I see the rates and costs of having a 10+ unit trucking company first hand and all the drivers that think theses companies are “making” money are just plain stupid. I’m done.
I personally like the 34 hour reset, it seems to be the only way Swift will get me home on a weekend.
I work like a mad man Monday thru Thursday, then tell them to dispatch me to home town as I will be out of hours by the time I get there.
The problem IS the low pay, Swift pays .25 per mile… their justification is that is what rookies driving experience is worth. I wonder, since I have been on time every load for past 3 months, since their planners promise the impossible (JIT pu past an hour before dispatch sent,) since their dispatchers dispatch horrible time costing, fuel eating routes, and since I still make it work out, since I still have managed 0% service failure, is that still only worth .25 a mile.
No, it is not Hours Of Service rules that cause accidents, nor is it new drivers. It is in fact drivers needing to get the miles to earn money. If you boot strap a driver into a no pay for sitting at dock situation, they are going to have to make money by pushing the 14 hour clock and driving on “their time.”
I am in favor of changing the pay structure for drivers… PERIOD!
Think about this, ALL other professions that pay based on performance still have a base salary as a foundation. Base salary or hourly wage plus production incentive (Mileage.)
If a new, fresh out of school driver, earns $7.50 hr plus a mileage incentive of .10 per mile, there is not as much incentive to push that 14 hour clock or tell stories in their comic book. With all the on board tracking that takes place, it is very easy to track the number of hours a driver is actually working. Because driving and mileage pay are incentives, current laws do not even require paying additional overtime pay. Companies could implement this without additional legislation.
Swift for example pays $16.00 an hour for each hour at a dock beyond first 2 hours. Sounds great, $16.00 an hour to sit! However, if the dock takes 2 hours and the load is 200 miles (50 mph @ .25cpm) and 2 hours to unload, you just worked 8 hours to earn $50.00. That is $6.25 per hour. McDonalds here in Columbus pays $9.00 to flip burgers, and they sleep in their own bed at night, eat dinner with the family, and tuck their kids into bed. Where are the Dudley Dorights that yell, scream and picket for the minimum wage employees on this issue?
Under the same scenario as above, a driver sits at dock being loaded, drives 200 miles in 4 hours and spends another 2 hours at dock unloading the pay works out like this: 8hrs@ $7.50= $60.00 + 200 miles @ .10cpm= $20.00, driver ears a total of $80.00 for the trip. This does not even figure for Pre-Trip Inspection, In Route Inspections, or Post Trip Inspections.
$80.00 instead of $50.00, $30.00 difference is insignificant in the cost of moving a load and would not increase cost of goods by more than a penny in most cases.
A scenario where a driver runs a drop and hook, 45 min to clear gate, pick up trailer, pre-trip and collect Bill of Lading, drive 150 miles and complete same process at drop. Total time is 4 hours. At just .25cpm driver earns $37.50, a bit better than minimum wage, but still does better under base plus incentive, which is 4 hours x $7.50= $30.00 + 150 miles @ .10cpm= $15.00= $45.00 for the trip.
For the more experienced drivers, like all other professions, as experience increases and load requirements increase, so does pay.
Bottom line is that when pay per miles increase, drivers have a bigger incentive to push that extra mile when they really should be shutting down for a rest. However, when you pay someone only an hourly wage they will fill a time card with face time and are rarely productive.
Since 70 hours in a week is the cap, it would not be enough incentive to get drivers to drive after the 70 if they are only making a dime a mile for it.
Remember, fatigue is the number one cause of truck accidents. Please do not drive tired.
I’m new to the industry and started with a school and then driving as student for warner quitting in six weeks. I felt like a fool driving for warner for 400. a week at 70 hours. Every other industry has to pay over time. But as a piece worker in trucking getting paid by the mile I felt cheated big time. I think I have heard it all in the two years I’ve been driving sense. I now drive by the hour moving heavy equipment (heavy haul) from job site to job site. I get my over time and work my butt off, but love every minute of it. My thoughts are that most drivers out there are getting screwed by the powers that be. I would encourage you all to keep looking for the better jobs and don’t be afraid to quit the crappy employers. This is one way to help raise your pay and get the slavers to wake up. Reilly
They should really consider offering more then 1 logbook format for truckers to try. Especially since there are many different kinds of trucking from OTR, to Regional, or Local, or Team.
1 log fits all is kind of absurd. I’d say go ahead and keep the current log available but come up with other logs for us to try that make more sense for all these different kinds of fleets.
Also there is of course the Electronic Log which I see as an opportunity that I hope isn’t wasted. I’d like to see an electronic log that is flexible. I mean if you go over your 11 because a customer kicked you out and you were looking for a parking spot then have the Log’s Software automatically penalize your time for tomorrow or make you take a longer break when parked. Surely we can find ways that Electronic Logbook Software can regulate but also be reasonably flexible.
Here’s a simple solution for the trucking industry (that will, of course, never happen)
Hourly pay regardless what driver is doing (driving,getting loaded/unloaded, etc.) This way there will be no need to cheat the logs.
10 HOURS DRIVING, 14 HOURS TOTAL ON DUTY, 10 HOURS OFF, 36 HOUR RESET
(a 1 hour food stop should be allowed and not be included for the 14 total on duty hours. 1 stop per 14 hour period)
Sitting at a warehouse waiting for hours at a time to get loaded/unloaded and not being paid for it is one of the biggest crocks I’ve ever heard of. (Detention after the first 2,3,or 4 hours … yeah, right … another daydream.)
Drivers should be paid from the time they enter the property until the time they leave. (15 minutes before appointment time until done) This should be billed to shipper or consignee. Maybe if they have to start paying, they’ll be less likely to keep trucks waiting for hours at a time.
Lumpers ..another joke. Here’s a message to the companies …you ordered the stuff, I delivered it. Now you get your crap off my trailer at your expense. This should be mandatory.
Why drivers and/or trucking companies need to pay to have their trailer unloaded is beyond me.
Elimination of DAC reports (which is a big joke in itself) Companies can put any lies they want on there and drivers can’t do anything about it.
Just my opinion of the way trucking should be.
Skip
Oops, I forgot something in my previous post.
The 36 hour reset only for being at home.
Otherwise ,on the road, one full 24 hour period for every 70 hours worked.
I would like to comment on TERRY HUNTs post.I have been around the trucking industry all my life and have 10 years OTR myself. I have experienced that waiting to complete the ten hour break has added to my fatigue more than the 11th hour. It has been proven that the roads are much safer with the current HOS. Also I have found that the 11th hour has been financially beneficial to me, example allowing me to arrive at a shipper to load that day rather then wait until the following day. If the 11th hour is making you to fatigued for service feel free to pull over and take a break as we are all trying to make the highways safer for everyone.The 34 hour restart has helped with and has now become essential for are operation.
i have had my CDL-A license since 1996
when the hours of service changed from 10hr driving 8hr rest to 11hrs driving and 10hr rest and the 14hr rule? what’s that all about?
basically the log book became a time card in my opinion with that 14hr rule, punch in at 7am punch out at 9pm or what ever time your day begins since there is no regular schedule for OTR drivers.
as far as pay, having to log things on duty(working-not-driving) and not being paid for it was a joke.
fueling,scaling loads, pre-trips,post-trips etc,time spent at shippers and receivers and no compensation for it?
when they changed the rules the companies should have changed the pay from mileage to an hourly wage.
the common OTR driver starts his clock ,goes to the customer to pick up his load and is kept waiting around for 6 hours and not driving he is losing money by the minute and his time card is still active but he is not being paid for it? thats BS.
well things will never be perfect but what sense does it make to send a driver to a customer to pick up a load that is not ready?
whats even worse is the receiver setting an appointment time for you then you do everything within your own power to get there obviously expecting them to be ready to receive there product but you end up spending hours on end waiting for them to unload you?
anyways, just ranting i guess, keep on dreaming of living in a perfect world cause thats the only way it will ever happen.
good luck to all the drivers out there, we all walk on common ground.
I dunno about a sure strike of balance between any of this.. so many details. What I will comment on is the post about the driving differences between otr/regional (stay out for a while driving) and local/ltl (go home every day driving). When I was out OTR I thought that the basic 14/11 rules were alright. Pay was another issue, but the HOS rules were ok. I heard many truckers complain about the HOS, but i wonder if they ever thought of what it would be like without them. Their company if they drove for one would have them driving 26 hours a day with negative breaks !!
Out OTR I rarely used the restart. I logged 8-9 hours a day every day and that was that. Reasonable, constant (as i could make it) working schedule. Sure, you wanna work every day that yorue out, but if youre running over 9 hrs a day avg youre going to run out of hours eventually and either take an hour limit hit for a day or just take the full 34 and completely reset.
The 34 hr reset, although i feel is reasonable for a reset rule, can be debated, but ONLY in LESS THAN TAH WEEKLY situations, because when out in your truck the only thing you can do but drive IS rest. After a great sleep youre probably ready to continue on down the road, in which the 34 would kinda prevent you from doing.
The same with the 10 hr off duty. I feel its quite resonable. Take an hour or so to eat, 8 to sleep, etc. when youre out in the truck just about the only thing you CAN do is rest if yorue not driving, so most of that 10 hours goes to catching z’s.
Thats not the case though when youre working locally 5 days a week, 14 hours a day.
When i changed to a local job, the company still followed the same HOS as we had to keep logs. The current HOS, in my 3 +/- years driving opinion, sucks for local (5 DAY A WEEK) work. – Its a way for them to get you to work 12-14 hours a day with no overtime. The 34 hour restart enables them to get away with this every week and start you off with fresh hours, so youll have a fresh rear to ream out the next week. This is JUST CRAZY… ESPECIALLY in jobs where youre hauling gas. Liquid flammable hazmat, loading/offloading being out in the hot sun, its tough to keep up with that.. 13-15 hours at work when its all said and done, sometimes more for ‘safety meetings’, 1 hour plus or minus commute time to and from the terminal everyday. Youre at home maybe 8-10 hours a day. thats K-RAP!! Boy, it would really throw a wrench in the mix if the govt took away that beloved 34 hour restart!! Then they wouldnt be able to work you 14 hours a day 5 days a week! Doh!
Regionally speaking, TAH weekly more specifically, the same company exploitation of the 34 hour restart can happen as well. Hell, ANY driving under the current HOS that has you back weekly is grounds for driver exploitation. I worked in a regional job for a year or so too. It was great, well kinda. Great maybe except for the long hours damn near every day and the 35-45 hrs TAH every week. Not worth it to me, but it would be WITHOUT the 34 hr restart. Without the 34 hr restart, in the case of the place i worked for, they HAVE to give you at least a couple days off every week or not shock you with work during the week. Part of fatigue remains as cumulative and so should your working hours. The 34 hr restart erases your used hours, but does not erase your fatigue from driving/laboring 14 hours a day all week. Without that restart, theyd either have to work you a max of around 11 hours a day or just give you 3 days off to compensate (fatigue wise) for the reaming.
The entire debate over HOS and the restart has too many sides to debate without considering just the basic ethical stance companies take over it.. the company wants to puch you to the max and pay you the min- truck drivers work a lot of hours and get paid no overtime. (and look around, the pushing you to the max and paying you the min is commonplace now everywhere!!) In some cases, pay or revenue made turns out being less than minimum wage when viewed with respect to per hour pay. .. Someone has pointed this out in a prior post in comparison to fast food workers or other minimum wage jobs; as well as the fact that meeting minimum wage and debating about it is of utmost importance for menial, 8 hour a day, home everyday, low responsibility jobs, but what about for the trucker? Gone most of the time for OTR/regional, high responsibility, and damn sure more than 8 hours a day, logged on OR off duty.
What a wake up call it would make to companies if they took that restart away. heh. In my 3 or so humble years 1 OTR, 1 regional, TAH weekly, and about 1 local, drivers need to be a little more respected and paid better for what they do. I feel that many drivers that brutally hate the govt HOS havent considered the paradox that kind of has been materializing in trucking since before i got in it- which is having companies get used to the amount of work we do yet cutting back pay. ie, in order just to get the ordinary pay, it is expected that you work extra ordinary hours. Thats no good. No HOS? wed be working 1000 hours a day somehow and earning even less $$$.
All in all and back to reality it would be funny to me to see what the last couple places i worked for would do if they took away the 34 hour restart. Heh.
Thanks.
The 34 hour restart and HOS are fine just the way they are. If the Government wants to reduce driver fatigue, allow more flexibility for the driver and start working toward ending the long waits at docks including making finding a way to end the lumper fee hassle and take it out of the hand of the driver.
If they want things to change, quit expecting the driver to do the enforcing for them.
I think the 34 hr. restart is the only good thing to come of the last regulation’s change. Really in my mind the worst thing to happen is that when you start for the day that starts the dreaded 14 hr clock.When i sit at a dock for more than 2 hrs, not only should i get paid waiting time but should be able to stop that 14 hr clock because , out of boredom, or because im tired, im probably sleeping Now im loaded after sitting there, either loading or delivering with only a little time left on my clock i’m done for the day because i sat at a dock for hrs . (unpaid of course) Now i’m rested and cant go because of the clock what do i do? I’ve rested so im not tired, can’t go anywhere because of the clock, so i stay up and when i do get tired my clock can start again but now i’m tired, so i go anyway because i have to to del. on time. Where’s the saftey?
the hours of service rules were better with the split sleeper birth option to drive 5 hours and spend 4 hours in the sleeper rather than having to do all you can in a 14 hr time period, that just puts pressure on the driver, its not like we do not already have schedules to keep. the 14 hr rules has no flexibility what so ever and while the 34hr rule that allows you to re-set your 70hr 8 day week is nice for local/regional drivers that get home each week it is not much good for long haul drivers in my opinion, meaning i know when i was doing long haul i did not want to be sitting anywhere more than 10hrs. anyways if the law makers on the hill would just switch the rules back to 10hrs driving,8hr rest break with the split sleeper option and leave it alone it would be much better for drivers or at least allow it for the long haul drivers as it would benefit them more.the drive 11hrs and rest 10hr rule is not bad but the 14hr day rule is what kills it i am better stop there or i will be writing a two page report, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth of opinion, keep on truckin’ drivers.
I would like to see brotherhood again. If we had brotherhood we all in 48 state to park the truck or stay home it mean no load not just one none not to move and we all stand up at white house and strike and get what we want if they turn down our right we still strike but one main problem is everyone need fuel that tanker should not move also so I promise you they will change this. I know no one won’t do this why? No one got no gusts to stand up and fight there right aman
Comments is just airing frustration what we need is solidarity. Years ago the Ontario government announced it was going to raise taxes on fuel. Truckers complained but their voice was a passing breeze and nobody noticed and the government didn’t care. Because the industry knows how to divide and conquer truckers stand alone with no support for each other. So we stopped our trucks on all major highways especially in Toronto and Ottawa and brought morning traffic to a stop. Then and only then did the government notice and stopped the tax hike. They lost more money in one day in tax revenue than the tax hikes would have made in years. Complaints do nothing but action like they say speak louder than words. Johnboy
I came back to driving after being 20 yrs away. My first week this week I ran out of my 70hrs. I’ve been sitting at a truck stop 4hrs away from home for over 20 hrs now. I gain 8 hrs after midnight. Yet what’s there to do sitting here? I took a 10hr break lastnight and was ready to drive today and could have easily delivered my load safely on time but had to stop after 3 hrs when the 70 ran out. Now there load had to be rescheduled. All I’ve done today is take short naps all day and sat around. Its 11pm now and I cant sleep. This rule is supposed to be for safety? I just don’t see it. And I don’t understand why there isn’t more talk about dealing with the 70 hr rule by either doing away with it or adding hours to it so it works in the real world, but again what is it realy for? Frankly this rule has NOTHING to do with fatigue. In my opinion its causing me fatigue by disrupting my regular sleep. I feel strongly the 14 hr rule and 11 hr rule is more than enough. I say make the 11 hrs 10 hrs so it puts us on a 24hr clock at our discretion. Add sleeper split rules as needed and hold shipping and receiving companies accountable for detention. Allow drivers to decide when they need to take a break while permitting it to stop the 14 hrs during such breaks as long as the 14hrs doesn’t exceed a 24 hr period. An article mentioned 3 hr breaks at their discretion. The 70 hr rule doesn’t prevent fatigue. Frankly it’s causing it. What its preventing is me meeting my load deliverys, screwing up my sleep patterns and stranding me out on the road so I cant get home where the real rest happens for 1-3 days. It’s alot to ask but comeon Washington, its not rocket science it’s called something you don’t seem to know much about. Common Sense, for once leave your silly politics aside. Perhaps you need limited hours of service guidelines!
Why is it that we as truckers are always the target Of road problems.when is our govn.s.going to get tough with our 4 wheel drivers non.cdl persons.and put them on a dot ck.point and see how maney of our citizens are taken off our roads.