The FMCSA is sticking to its guns; the HOS changes will go into effect on July 1st despite the widespread outcry against it. The ATA has been the driving force behind the opposition, with an ongoing court case between the FMCSA and the ATA as the proverbial battleground for the issue.
In an attempt to push off the HOS changes so that a court would have enough time to (hopefully) rule in their favor, the ATA sent a letter asking for the compliance date to be pushed back to three months after the court ruling. The goal, according to Bill Graves, president of the ATA, is to prevent any unnecessary training which will be rendered useless when the ruling is overturned.
The FMCSA response letter rejected the appeal, making light of the costs associated with compliance, and citing a concern over ongoing public safety risks.
“Mere uncertainty over the possible outcome of the litigation, which you recognize is a matter over which the parties differ, does not create a likelihood that the industry or the enforcement community will suffer due to wasted training resources or confusion,” said the letter penned by FMCSA Chief Counsel T.F. Scott Darling III. “Moreover, the agency is unwilling to sacrifice what may be several months of public safety benefits from the timely implementation of the rule.”
The letter clearly states that the community won’t suffer due to wasted resources if the decision is then overturned, but the ATA estimates that the trucking industry will spend $320 million between now and July 1st in order to prepare for the HOS rules that may in fact just get overturned. The largest percentage of these costs will be paid by large carriers, but the new HOS rules will have an impact on every single person behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle, from the newest company driver to veteran owner-operators. And as the ATA points out, if that money gets spent and then the HOS rules are overturned, the investment is a total waste.
“If the court agrees, in whole or in part, with ATA that the rule changes at issue must be rejected, those expenditures will have been irrecoverably squandered,” stated ATA.
The new rules –if implemented– would change how drivers can use the optional 34-hour restart to reset their weekly driving limits of 60 hours in seven days, or 70 hours in eight days. Drivers will be able to use the restart once every seven days, but it must include two rest periods from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Drivers will also have to take a 30-minute break before driving more than eight hours at a time.
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Wow. Six-day night shift drivers are down the toilet then. 0100 to 0500 my time is like 1300 to 1700 day walker time. They’re telling me I have to take two working nights off to get a 34-hour reset.
Is Walmart hiring?
Wal Mart is always hiring
This is not looking good.
** I think Walmart is hiring**
Fedex Ground’s rates are surely about to skyrocket from this. Better get all your online shopping orders in now.
Yep, FMCSA, you’re really coking with gas, aren’t ya? A news article last week stated that 81% of the safety issues between cars and trucks on the road were caused by cars, and yet, you’re still stubbornly determined to grind every trucker’s face into the dirt to get THEIR 27% of the equation reduced as much as possible.
Because, as you know, we’re all just Steven Spielberg’s vision (Duel) of how trucks are. Right, T.F. Scott Darling III?
Just why the hell does a government organization like the FMCSA need a chief council for, anyway? Are they afraid of being sued? How could that be? Because according to them, with this arbitrary decision to put this law into enforcement despite widespread professional protest, they’re ALWAYS right, right? And always right can’t be sued, because like, they’re always right! Right?!
Oy. Just somebody hit me in the head with a rubber mallet and wake me when it’s all over.
Man I’m glad I left trucking because government for whatever reason keep changing the HOS rules. I was driving when they first changed them , it was confusing driver and D.O.T they need to leave the HOS rules alone and let the truckers do their jobs. If the outsiders knew the industry, they would know it’s them sorry ass dispatchers who disregard the regulations more than the drivers do. I used to fight with the dispatcher about delivery times and drive time , until I threaten to call safety dept. then they back down. From what I hear from truckers the way the industry is now it’s not worth it to drive anymore. That ‘s a shame because I used love driving and proud to be an American truck driver
i got out of trucking a year ago, best move i ever made! no stress and home every night.
I have been trying now for more than 4 months..To get the hell out of trucking .Have been in and around this industry since exiting high school 1976 ….Jobs are as little scarse in these parts…But trucking ..has become a joke….There’s is no money in it..Your not compensated for your time and Unless you want to live in the truck like a bunk rat. The weekly check will add up to sh&t …And that’s the truth….Sorry …Again the truck went from a work tool to a place the live and the industry went to hell….
Our government is so outta control. 23 years on the road and a year and a half ago I said no more. Stress level is at normal living mode and life is good. We respect the drivers out there doing the hard work that they do but for FMCSA to continue to chip away at the drivers and the trucking industry needs to stop. They control from there seats and have no idea what’s really like to be forced to do free jail time in a truck. Only one way this administration will understand that drivers have had enough is to plan an early vacation for 2 or 3 weeks all drivers at once. Companies won’t like it, then again it’s not your truck it’s theirs.
I know it a tough one but probably the best thing would be to have the companies on the truck drivers side. They won’t like not making money for several weeks,the possability of their truck getting damaged from some four wheeler that decides to stop on an overpass and throw a brick over the edge. Get them to have the same issues we do ,then join together and get er done.
Well another example of paper pushers trying to control everything when they cant take care of their own business .They should have to put a clock on their own a???? for a year and let someone set the schedule they work before they can make anty rules
This is starting to get past the point of being ridiculous. Who do these people think they are? They don’t own us, or anyone else. It’s pathetic when you run the chance of getting penalized, simply because you work overtime for your family to have a better life.
Our truck drivers want to send a letter to our congressmen. Anyone have a copy of a letter we can each send?
Michele…you seriously need someone else to write a letter for you? Write your own…explain to your congressperson how the new reg negatively affects you. Putting it in personal terms works much better than sending some form letter that they get many copies of.
We need somebody to start a TRUCKER SHUTDOWN!!!! We need to take back the roads again. Lets see if America can live without trucks! Let us truckes as human beings take back our rights. Most of us are real and true. We obey laws, we help people, we care, DOT only works to take our money as they feel needed. None of them are honest! We need to be treated like people, not dogs!!! Jimmy Hoffa was a thief but he got the job done right. Any offers?
Absolutely agree with Chuck!
D.O.T they need to leave the HOS rules alone and let the truckers do their jobs!
you are falling right into their line of thinking. I totally agree with what you both say but if it gets done and the Govmn’t screws it up worse they are going to blame it all on the truck driver. You don’t think the Gov. is going to take the blame for a food shortage or any kind of shortage ,do you
its those rebelious truck drivers. We have to do something about them.
Actually shutting down the system would do more good in the long run and inconvenient for now. The issue is liberty not economics. Liberty once gone is gone the economy will always recover.
Shut these trucks down in June before they make a decision and they will see we are tired of there BS, they are talking about the money and safety? What about how safe the truck drivers really are and how this will affect our pockets? I will be done with this industry soon. Lord knows the economy will suffer more and our professional drivers will be more tired and drive faster because of these jackasses trying to prove a point, how ignorant!!!!!
I agree we need to do something and quick rite now all our lives are on the line out here and that band of iddiots at the fmcsa wont listen to the ones that know how to fix it and that is “the drivers” the old drivers it was much safer when we had the old rules because we could rest when we needed to and not have to drive when we are tired I am wonder if there is anyway to sue them on grounds of indergerment to knowingly creating laws that indanger our lives as well as the lives of the people around us
In cases like this, drivers around the country need to protest and stop working for a few days. What the government needs to realize is that, driver’s can live without not working for a few days. The question is, can the government? Let see what happens if drivers decide not to drive and transport goods around the country for 72 hrs. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Nothing more to say.
I have been around trucking most of my life. I’ve driving going on 22 years. The feds and law makers have there heads stuck in the sand. I have never had an accident an no other type infraction scents 1994. I dont need and want let the goverment tell me when wherre and how I can drive. Or for that matter weather I can own a gun or what type. I am a independent O/O and would have it no other way. Not to say I have been independent but want go back. I understand some people dont want this for themselves. But you still have a voice dont let those company force this crap down your neck. Stand up , use what God gave you and only he can take away. Trying to keep America free should be on everyones mind. The goverment is working agaisnt us not for us.
This rule if not overturned will directly impact negatively my family income. My runs are all overnight and barely have enough time to return home now. This new bureacratic nonsense will directly cause me to loose 1 or 2 loads a week because I cannot turn the load and pick up another load. I will not be forced to sit in the truck free an additional 10 hours away from home because of the 30 minute rest rule.
I will have to search for other work
The U.S Government has become a tyrannical monster loosed out of its Constitutional bounds and must be defunded.
Damn, someone like ATA or OOIDA organize a strike already to tell washington to leave us alone already!
OOIDA or any other Company or Organization will NEVER organize a Strike! They will be sued and destroyed to the last person. I can’t say that I blame them. Everybody wants somebody else to get the ball rolling. Well nobody wants to be the person that goes to jail and loses everything for the sake of the many.
And that wasn’t an attack on you, Bud.
well new rule is all truck drivers fought because you cant get 2 drivers to get together on nothing but to try to fight and cus each other like 2 little kids so their ant no reason for us to win and cry about it . we have the power in our hands to stop all this goverment bs but no one wont do shit about it except win and cry about it .all we got to do is park the dam trucks and let them do with out . and see what they can do with out us truck drives that keep the world going.
This is exactly what it is coming to. The only thing is ,they want it to happen.When it does all the blame can then be placed on the truck driver not the gov. We as truck drivers are now going to be the fall guys. Anything that they can blame on the truck driver they will. Remember the CDL license? Well the insurance companies wanted it and passed it as law before the truck driver ever had a chance to say anything. Seat belts,the same way. Don’t , I repeat don’t anyone have an accident of any kind . The driver is ( guilty now ) what is going to happen then.
Well it looks like a nother cut in pay. A few years back when fuel prices went sky high the company I pulled for governed the trucks to 62mph. Well I figured by an average I was loosin between $300 to $500 a month as I cannot achieve my miles need. It’s always somethin to hold you back from gettin the ol pot of gold. The Gov loves to throw the ol wrench into things n screw up a good thing. Heck I still haven’t totally figured out all the changes since last time they changed it. Haha
I haul petroleum an as many know we usually run at nite. Well I guess I have another night off, thanks to the Gov. I think they want us to just be like the ol dog in his cage. Stay put n eat what they throw to you n behave till we decide to let u out to run. It only makes it harder on all the drivers nationwide to cope financially and makes them even more stressed out worrying bout feedin the family. Well I guess they want enraged, stressed, starving, but well rested drivers on the road!
I’ve had enough of the crap. I have enjoyed my ‘office with a view’ for many a year. 21yrs no tickets n a lifetime of no at fault accidents! Don’t get me wrong. I love to drive, always have, but it has its beauriatic costs. This will be my last driving position and may only be for another yr or two at that. I have bought an RV and plan to see the things I could never go to see in my rig. Plus there is no shortage of parking for an ol guy with his RV! Keep the faith n hopes things will change.
Does the half hr break every eight hours need to be segregated or can you run it with the delay, detention or off duty time you use during that day. I suppose next they want food receipts time n date stamped to prove you took the 30minutes.
Walmart IS looking for a new Door Greeter!
I’ll keep my paper logs and continue to operate as I need to and not as the govt dictates I should! If I have to use eobr’s some day-I will figure a way around that as well! Good luck fmcsa!
Yep. The dips they put in the DoT cars these days are too stupid to catch it anyways.
this new 34 hr re-start ruling doesn’t effect me I get two days off anyway.The way they have it set up is bull because they are complaining that the ( professional freight re locator )doesn’t get enough rest then when he shows he has they tell him you have to work your HOS thusly in order to get the rest you need.Its a crock of schitt,no matter what color they paint it. I am glad I only work 9 hrs per day , 5 days per week.This is going to cause mass confusion and put lots of dollars into the hands of the D.O.T.
What was wrong with the previous HOS?
When is enough, Enough?
How long will it take them to decide these new rules aren’t enough?
Are they the ones over the road days and weeks at a time not seeing their kids?
Are they the ones driving over mountain passes and have to put chains on?
Who is funding these tyrants?
The Government is out of Control! FMCSA needs to be Shut Down! Immediately!
The Federal government is destroying this country by PUNISHING the working people.
When is it going to stop already?
We need to shut down!
The oddity is that all this money has been spent; all this trouble caused over HOS but are there any numbers (statistics) showing any improvements directly related to the HOS changes? I haven’t seen any. Just more confusion created allowing more tickets being written due to confusing and stupid laws. It has NOTHING to do with anyone’s safety. The old HOS with 10 hrs driving and 8 hr break and allowing a split sleep time – where I could take a nap if I needed to – was a lot safer and more workable. The powers that be have not improved on this HOS plan regardless of the money they have wasted on “new” HOS. In fact, I feel all the changes made to HOS are less safe than the old system.
Yes, all the new rules suck, but if the big trucking companies would stop taking government money to train then hire a new driver (that never should be passed and given a cdl), these changes wouldn’t keep happening like drivers are babies. If only we could go back to the good ole’ days when being a truck driver meant you knew what driver etiquette and safety was, not to mention the pay was good. We retired last June and are loving it.
Now with the eob’s and such, take a look at England’s CSR. Isn’t it amazing that you can have a great score for HOS because the stupid box tells you when to drive, eat, sleep and play video games. Now look at their Unsafe Driving score. Wow, if our government and the rest of the companies that are fighting these new rules ever did a realistic study of the who and what the real problem is they may actually see it. STOP THINKING ANYONE CAN DRIVE A TRUCK BECAUSE THEY PASSED THE CDL TEST!!!! Maybe new drivers should be on probation like new companies are when they first get their authority. 18 months and you are out if you can’t comply. I am not talking about things like speeding either. Safe driving, repairs and maintenance and all the things that any responsible driver should know before getting behind the wheel. Just spend some time on the sms site and look at the bigger companies scores. Something I find very humorous is Dan England, a big dog with the ATA and his companies scores. Maybe Dan does need rules to tell his babies when it’s time to take a nap. It’s a shame that it’s going to cost him so much to train the obvious. It’s ok, the drivers will just run for less money per mile to pay for all the training.
It’s special interest groups like MADD that
lobby and pressure congress to legislate
this crap! I’m so glad i’m not OTR any longer.
Driving within my 100 mile radius of the house
is the only way i’m still behind the wheel!
Jus’Sayin’……
Once they force out all the good drivers, they need to ask themselves just who are the companies going to put in the truck then. The road will become much more dangerous once us drivers who have been out here for years leave. I am still driving, but I’m at a point where
I don’t care if I get fired. I’m sick of the nonsense.
I don’t understand why you would need a 30 min. break before driving 8 hrs in the first place.
didn’t we just get out of bed and have breakfast?
This is crazy, The cars should have to drive a truck before getting to drive a car then they would understand how there driving is effecting us all.
i been driveing over the road for 15yrs.100% perfect record,mvr. im sick,tired of of stupid new rules from the fmcsa. its time we as truckers to shut the trucks down. nothing else seems to b working. it is time to do what is right. GO ON STRIKE FOR THE BETTER
They seem to forget that their HOS rules don’t deliver freight, drivers do. Every driver is different and a driver is much more effective with experience. It seems as though those who have heavily invested in the railroads are more interested in getting experienced rivers off the road to force more rail traffic and maximize their profits. They have succeeded in making it extremely difficult for any owner-operator to make a decent living wage. A trucker STRIKE for just one week might get the attention of the idiots who think that they can make a perfect world. If we don’t deliver freight then they can’t stay in business. When people don’t have jobs they can’t spend money and the economy suffers. Who will they blame then … The President?
PLAIN AND SIMPLE WE NEED TO STRIKE….THE RULES ARE GETTING JUST TO RIDICULOUS ..I WILL DO IT IN A MINUTE… I DON’T CARE IF I GET FIRED ANYMORE…I AM WILLING TO STRIKE ..ANYTIME ..ANYWHERE..I HAVE BEEN DRIVING 15 YEARS.. I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE DRIVING BUT THIA B S IS GETTING TO BE MORE THAN I CAN HANDLE.. THREE DAYS.. THAT’S ALL IT WOULD TO TAKE..
I was an O/O for 2 1/2 years and just got sick of the Ad verlum etc. Small thing I know but Arkansas and Kansas were double taxing me! The amount of government intervention in this industry is just sicking!
The company I’m at now uses PAPER LOGS and could never operate under the new rules with the amount of trucks we have now. We deliver to Home Depot AT NIGHT! This new set of HOS regulations will cause a company, our company, with 21 trucks to need 6-7 more. They have already FORCED a few guys into running teams which they all hate.
I’ve done the math and if we run under the new regulations most guys will go from $950 a week down to $600. Most will leave and in my area it means they will be replaced, like is already happening wit guys who can barely speak and darn sure cannot READ ENGLISH.
This is what they want!
I’m glad I’ve got a college degree to fall back on because I’m done with trucking too!
I’m with everyone I WILL STRIKE IN A HEARTBEAT! I can’t think of a better way to crush this or to leave trucking if that’s what it comes to!
This demonstrates, once again, the government and the people in it have no CLUE as far as what they’re doing.
We Should strike starting……July 1rst. And give them what they want!
A 30 minute break before starting an 8 hour shift? What sense does that make, it is like the 10 hours off. I go to sleep and about 5 hours later I am awake and ready to go to work but I have to spend another 5 hours wandering around or whatever till I can go to work. Then mid-day when I need to be sharp I get sleepy but I have only 14 hours to get my days work done and so far with loading, unloading or whatever I had to do I haven’t had time to take a break to eat or take a shit or whatever and I have to keep moving to get to the next stop or home. I get sleepy but have to keep going and fight to stay awake but they made it so I have to do the same amount of work in 14 hours that I used to have 24 hours to do it. And they call that safety? Bullshit!
You actually only have 13.5 hours. That mandatory half hour break doesn’t extend your 14 hours
VOTE THE BUMS OUT.
Write your congress(person) if they can’t support you on this issue you should not support them in the next election. Dem or Rep they are all crooks now. They all need to be replaced with real people.
The new HOS rules will not affect me, I also haul fuel Noon till Midnight,with loading and unloading I never drive more than 8 hrs on my 12 hr shift. I also work a 6 on 2 off schedule. But I do know it will put a hurting on you OTR drivers. I am glad I only have 5 mores yrs before I can collect my money back from Soc. Sec. if they are not broke by then.
My advice to you OTR guys is get your X endorsement and find a gas hauling or crude oil job. You can be home at night and make 70K plus a year.
Good Luck Y’all
I would like to have gone owner op but not after reading this no way .I take pride my country, but Im ashamed of my government,and the buffoons who run it.,I thought I might share this.,FMCSA 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington. DC 20590,phone # 1-800-832-5660 TTY 1-800-877-8339 field offices, copied verbatim from there web site. use it as you will.
we have shut down our company as of the 1st of March and though we were a small company with only 6 trucks and 9 drivers that re now out of work and are looking for a job…Gov rules and what drivers pay and trucking companys pay is what made our decission to shut down…good drivers are not there anymore, divers dont give a shit because there is another driving job next door and as far as HOS paper logs are the only way because you cant make it with the rules in place…freight rates are low and the big companys take shit rates to push there trucks and make a promise that the drivers cant keep with out ajusting there logs….it needs to stop but where do we start…most drivers cant afford to shut down for 2 or 3 days because they need to eat and feed there familys…any ideas what to do im all ears and waiting for sugestions…nothing to do right now…i flew to washigton to protest and there is nobody there to see you to hear our complaints…so whats next….looking for emails to get somthing going…
I’m with ya Robin, I start at midnight and unload locally for 10 – 13 hours, and now I’m supposed to take a 30 min halt so I can return to the rig finish my deliveries and then drive my car 50 miles one way home. I am fortunate to get to sleep in my own bed and not in a sleeper. This makes me more tired. This industry sucks but I started in 1983 and 52 yo. The DOT sees us as a great money making target for minor infractions. These DOT cops should have spend a week riding in a truck to see how the 4 wheelers behave around us as part of their training.
My main concern is the control level these d***k heads who are in charge have, they think we’re second class citizens who need there expert guidence with something they no little to nothing about, our fine upstanding morons( I mean politicians) who pay ( with our money) these so called experts thousands of dollars to tell them what they want to hear, then use this to justify their actions, and you as an individual have no right to contess or speak out against their mandates. These mini Hitlers have total control and they intend to abuse it to the fullest, these people would make Joe stalin proud, they’ve stomped all over the constitution to the point it’s nothing more than toilet paper to wipe their ass’es with, it’s not about saety or whats right it’s more about control and money, they take bribes from lobbiest and special intrest groups who have their own agenda, not to mention the big truck ing companies that abuse the education programs that we pay for, getting ride of the undesirables and putting more complient surfs in place for less money .
The under handed method profilling individuals that make mistake has crossed the line of morality, they say it’s only to be used in the hiring process, of course we no better than that it’s a way to weed out the one’s they don’t want, those of us who have individual thought.
EOB’S are the ultimate control of you’r time, I,ve found that all their good for is making you late for you,r appointments, and giving the govenment thug’s the tools for harrasment, the bigger companies have no problem with this because it works in their favor, as driver’s go there are good and bad one’s in every profession, like it or not, it is what it is, a strike would’nt solve a dam thing only make the public hate you more than what they allready do, the thing’s they take for granted that magically appear on store shelves are there when needed, because of the effort you the driver, their opinion is give me what I want then go away, It is and always will be a thankless job nobody gives a dam what you think just make sure you’r on time even if it cost you’r life , I agree with most of the comments on this site, but what are you going to do about it? there’s to much indifferants to unite, were affrade of unemployment, can anybody come up with a viable answer, I have none.
I just don’t understand American workers/drivers. In France, the drivers unified and staged a shutdown and caused the powers to be to listen! Anywhere around the world the people mass together in droves to get their point across, but here all you get is handful!
We bitch and moan a mouthful so lets’ commit and follow the path of our fore fathers!!!!
I followed my dream started driving in 94′, and love it to death.
PARK ALL THE TRUCKS!!!! Park Park Park. Why is it so hard to get a huge bunch of guys constantly getting screwed to get on the same page. Oh, that’s right, ego’s, attitude’s, little kids who still want fight at the drop of a hat. Ok, so the rest of you park. It’s simply unreal how you all sit there and b#tch but won’t do anything about it?!??!?! Do you not realize the combined power of just a couple few days would??? Organize and execute, simple, not hard. Establish a website outline a plan, set a date, wait & collect commitments, and DO IT!!!
my local days are around the corner, i cant wait..otr driving is a waste of time and energy these days..no real money anymore
I recently left a large company driving Dedicated OTR to start with a company delivering equipment to crews on job sites. Although I already miss driving OTR, with all this BS, I am glad I rarely have to experience HOS issues. Just like the direction of our country, soon too trucking will face an uncertain future.
Not a organized strike or shut down that’s illegal. How about we all take a vacation at the same time.
Or we organize our 34 hour restart at the same time then decided to take a few days extra after our restart for some vacation time needed.
I’ll bet it seemed like a good idea when Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers. Never thought it would come back to haunt you did it ! Remember, they weren’t asking for more money or benefits. They were asking for better working hours and conditions to help keep the skies more safe and address their high suicide rates. These moves are to get the old guard out, the new ones in that don’t know any better, and to make the transportation end of the equation the least profitable. Big outfits will make it on pennies per load, small ones can’t, then the rates go up; passed on to the consumers. Welcome to the Thunder Dome America.
All they are trying to do is force the long haulers off the roads. They want to “dumb” down trucking to day cab, slip seat operations. Large loads will move by rail and container and “day drivers” will shuttle the stuff 8-10hrs hand over the keys and go to a bunkhouse or home. They will make bullcrap hourly wages and work cheap.. No more need for overnight parking, HOS enforcement, truck stops big rigs with sleepers, etc.
The only hope we have is an outcry of receivers and shippers who will have to return to the old days of warehousing materials rather than todays “on demand” abilities of having a product arrive in time to keep the process flowing w/o having to warehouse alot of stuff.
I agree with each and every one of you. The shutdown worked for the drivers in Europe, but the problem here is you have too many drivers living from check to check that they cannot afford to shut down for two hours let alone a week. Along with that as foreign guy in this country who came here when I was 15 years old i am a strong believer that they should retest some of these guys who don’t speak a lick of English, can’t pass clip the DL. I will shut down my truck anytime everyone else does. One thing that really pisses me off is every time i turn on my cb i hear these guys talk about the America the land of the free but yet we can’t seem to stop these guys from telling us when we sleep, eat, drive, and shit. So my question is HOW FREE ARE WE?
Shut your truck down for a week
Stop pulling freight for cheap just to be pulling or get the load over the next guy
Take the road back or let them take it from you
Until these things are all met your freight will always be cheap you’ll have someone else telling you when to drive and how much. Not to mention your living in a not so free country.
It ‘s an ongoing epidemic of Government claiming the public wants tighter restrictions on drivers they should look toward these companies that are doing mass hiring’ anything that Makes money the government has their meathooks into. the people that end up on the short end are the drivers.
As far as wages and and time out on the road. I’m a company driver and have been forced into a life of 8th day hour recovery to keep my self moving on the road after the 70 runs out and dispatchers don’t listen to the laws that have been put in place to protect the driver and the public. 34 hour restart and home time seems to go to the wayside when it comes to a load having to be some where the next day. I have been put in this position to many times and for one I’m getting to a point of saying no to the knuckle head at the other end of the Qual Com. they don’t care as long as the load gets there.It’s a shame this job used to be something all people respected
now it’s just a political DOT Mess that some people just have no idea how to control’ Just like our U.S. Debt No one knows how to fix it or they just don’t want to. The trucking industry is going in the same direction. no one cares or they figuar more sticter laws are the remedy Government is way to big already when do we say enough is enough.
A few years back on some trucking raido shows an anounce was made for trucks to take a basic strike I believe it was May, 98 to take a week off. As an O/O I did and put my truck in shop for some repaires. Needless to say I live in Ga. 7 miles off interstate 85 at south carolina, went to interstate to see progress and truck after truck after truck keep on trucking. port haulers have attempted to strike but failed for no support. Its like this ,as an industry make a petition ( list ) likes, dislikes,demands, just as an Union would, present it to all truckers to take a stand and take a week off all together. Goverment may thereten you but your truck is in shop for repairs. Even new truck need service for safty issues,this is not illegal. In the mean time while waiting on repairs for ther is a back log repair shop are booked so it takes time. Now present demands to TV and the nation and the INSURANCE Companies ( they have a big hand in rules ), stand together and WIN WIN WIN
You can place the blame for this squarely on The Teamsters. They filed suit against the FMCSA in the District Court of Appeals for Washington DC in 2009 for the appeal of our current HOS rules. The court sided with them and here we are four years later.
Thanks a lot Hoffa!! You stuck your foot in it again. Happy now? Your drivers are going to suffer because you couldn’t leave well enough alone.