As the deadline for the hours of service restart rule suspension looms, drivers, carriers, and lawmakers are all wondering whether or not the FMCSA will be able to provide Congressionally-mandated safety data or whether the HOS restart rule suspension will continue past the September 30th deadline.
When the suspension was announced, Congress stipulated that it must last until either September 30th, 2015 or until such time that the FMCSA provided a report on a five-month field study on the impact of the rules – whichever came later.
If the FMCSA doesn’t provide the data by September 30th, the rule suspension will stay in effect until Congress can be convinced that the data proves that the HOS restart rules actually do make our highways safer. The exact language used stipulates that the rules will only go back into effect if the study “demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in all outcomes related to safety, operator fatigue, driver health and longevity and work schedules.”
Since the FMCSA hasn’t given any indication that they’re even done gathering data, let alone analyzing it, it is very unlikely that they will push the report in under the wire, so it looks like the restart rule suspension will remain in place until the FMCSA can get their act together.
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Source: gobytrucknews, overdriveonline
I have approximately 4 million miles otr driving. The greatest threat to highway safety is driving schools that pump out drivers every four weeks that think they are equipped with the knowledge to handle this career. It doesn’t matter where or when I take a day off! IT’S STILL A DAY OFF!
I work in a hiring office that hires men and women straight out of trucking school. Three weeks of training, then out with a trainer. Some take almost three weeks to pass their permit test!!!! We are really scraping the bottom with many of these drivers. Some we get are good, but after 18.5 years of driving over the road, I fear for the motoring public with some of these idiots companies are hiring.
I second it. It is really sad what the industry has come to.
That is correct John. You try to force me to sleep when I am not tired, or capable of sleep, it will cause me to be tired when FMCSA says I am rested and ready to drive ! Of course that is the thing lacking from our ” Misguided Government “, common sense.
FMCSA is finally getting exposed for the FRAUD that they are !!
Nothing is actually safety driven , it’s pure regulation for increased govt. control and revenue!
Omg you couldn’t be more right !!!! I went to a technical college for my license and it was 10 weeks and you had a lot of drive and class time and they were extremely thorough.
Even electronic logs don’t mean squat. They act like if you have that you’re all snuggled in your bunk with your teddy getting full rest.
Go after these idiot cars after all statistics show trucks are less than 75% at fault for accidents with them.
Exactly….ELECTRONIC Logs DO NOT increase safety….at all!!
Statistical data actually shows the complete opposite as it FORCES the driver to have no flexibility as he’s running out of hours….A hard deadline that results in UNSAFE driving!!
Also; ELD’s are manipulated by the carriers at their home office after the driver submits his logs, they can modify them for “compliance”.
What a complete SCAM the ELD mandate is!!!!!!!
These roads has never been so unsafe. Along with the stupid rules you noe have attitude and an overwhelming number if unqualified**drivers** filling the void of professionals says phuck you I’m going home !
Agreed !!
SUSPEND the FRAUDULENT ELECTRONIC LOGGING MANDATE NOW!!
FMCSA is a FRAUD !!
Stupid voice text
I have nothing against newbies. I was a newbie once too. The difference was I ran with an O/O for 1 year before I began driving a truck for him single.
There really needs to be a study on the impact the newbies make on the overall safety record versus saying without old reset in place safety has went down. They still don’t have new driver qualification requirements in place, yet they are concerned about safety, really???
Recently I read where a former admin in the fmcsa stated that Congress has been on the fmsca forever to get the requirements in place. Her response was the fmsca isn’t concerned with the requirements. Yet everytime something happens out here we get a new reg.
The ata and big trucking don’t want tighter requirements on their new trainees, wonder why???
What we need is an 18 year old kid dragging 91 thousand pounds down the interstate! What restart? I’m glad I got out.
If an 18 yo kid can go across the ocean and fight against terrorists or foreign countries, I have no problem of having him driving 90k pounds down the highway.
What is really dangerous is having a lot of trucks with speed limiters. Do I need to tell you guys why?
And being paid by the mile is another reason why they have more people leaving the industry than joining. They keep using a Marxist system to pay truckers.
You have that right, truckers are the most underpaid drivers out there! They should all be paid by the hour, and the highways will be safer.
I get paid 19 dolars an hour with an automatic .50 cent raise every 6 months and capping out at 25 an hour as a city driver. I drive the night shift but am home every day. I will never go back OTR.
In 1976 we made 19 dollars an hour and had a pension. We didnt have automatics back then. Please remember that Truckers have lost alot thru the years. Now you have guys living in trucks for less than minimum wage.
18 year old kids shouldn’t be going across the sea to lose their lives fighting a war that politicians started but are too chicken sh!t to fight themselves!
If they really want to make trucking safer, then do away with log-books altogether. If anybody thinks they are so safe, they should use them in their own car.
I read the report from the fmcsa on another business site. It showed the 2 day restart Is safer. Rated in the following catergories. Fatigue, driving, attention span, alertness, personality/attitude,stress levels and a couple others. So the anytime restart is going bye-bye! It was found it was found that the anytime restart out drivers at a higher risk of being in a crash.
I can say that congress is More concerned about when the eobr mandate will be finished. This is what they care about the most. So get ready for e-logs everyone. The only exemption from the eobr rule. Is concrete mixer trucks. They stated that concrete mixer trucks don’t go far enough, operate enough to be included into the rule. Granted state used trucks and emergency vehicles are also excluded from the rule.
What I’m pushing for. Is a major change in the work hours and days part of the rule. I by reducing the hours a day worked from 11/14/70 in 8 days. To 10/12/70 in 7 days. With 2 completely clear rest periods that can be used.
1. 8 hours off duty/sleeper before starting the next on duty period. if the driver is going to exceed more then 6 hours on duty/driving.
2. A driver can split the off duty time into 6 hours rest periods. If the driver uses less then 6 hours total on duty/driving time.
And I also agree that the 30 minutes break should be changed. Where the driver must take a 30 minutes break during the driving period only.
Last month driver can work/drive no more then 70 hours in 7 days.
I came up with these hos. Years ago before any of the changes were made. And e-logs were being put in the trucks. They will help with safety overall. Help get the economy going. Help load planners and drivers have an easier more understandable way to plan loads and trips. And they will also help secure a more stable future for America.
What makes the government think that EOBRs can’t be cheated?
More like; What makes the FMCSA think that mandating ELECTRONIC LOGS is any different…..It ACTUALLY HAS A STATISTICALLY PROVEN NEGATIVE EFFECT in every MEGA fleet that uses them !!
I like my two day restart and 10 hours off between shifts. But I’m a p&d driver. OTR with only 11 hours drive time a day? That’s not enough. At least give them 14 or more. Plus when I’m OTR I live in the truck. I don’t need 10 hours off between shifts. My living area is literally right next to my work area.
What we have here is a failure to admit your wrong by the fmcsa! I have a 25 yr. Safe track record and it had nothing to do with regulations the fmcsa mandated. They are too stubborn to admit that their over regulating is causing numerous problems. Plain and simple!
They can make all the rules and regs they want, but until someone gets into the fmcsa that has actually drove a truck, it will never make sense. And until we get our own lanes with un governed trucks apart from the 4 wheelers, there will always be wrecks.
After 30+ years I finally got out of trucking….The real problem. As time went on the truck became a place to house a driver. Not a tool to make money with. That is what completely destroyed the driver to make money. Why do you think we came up with the term “bunk rat” years ago. All the technology today. None of it used for any common sense of the movement of freight and driver home location. Biggest problem that for some reason the trucking industry completely fails to address..
Fatalities are up over 14 %.They can make laws that nobody follows.Everyone is speeding and tailgating also a driver doesnt have to sleep on a restart as noticed in the Wallmart crash .
I have been a commercial driver for 30 years. I spent half that time OTR, but the trucking company’s won’t even look at me because I had to come off the road for a while to take care of a terminally ill parent. These companies want to send out these new drivers rather than an experienced driver. Despite totaled out rigs and cargo, as well as lost lives, there must be money being made from these hiring practices.
FMCSA should leave things alone that they clearly know nothing about. I know when I am tired and need rest. Of course, the federal government is full of incompetent bafoons that are in charge of things they know nothing about.
FMCSA IS A COMPLETE FRAUD, just like the BS MANDATE FOR ELECTRONIC LOGS…….it has ZERO proven effect on SAFETY, actually quite the OPPOSITE !!
Take a look at some of the trainers,( if you want to call them that) some of these future drivers. Some look like they just got out of training program themselves so then they pass they’re lack of knowledge and lack of experience on to others and the companies embrace some of these companies embrace these policies.
These companies hire their sons and dauthers that’s ok but they have no I deal what trucking is all about, put people in there that know what they are doing because your kid don’t know squat.
As a new young driver I believe big mill companies are sending most out too soon. However, in my four months I have witnessed seasoned drivers pull very rookie moves. I believe it should be more about how serious this job is taken by the indiviual. My husband and I treat the truck and cargo with as much respect as it demands in everything from driving to parking to maintence.
As for the HoS, I find it ridiculous for the same as many others. I can not sleep on a timer. Before we learned about the HoS, my husband and I made our own psuedo schedule of each driving or working for 6 hours and then the other jumping in for 6 and so on due to us finding around that 6th hour of staring straight at the road that we began to feel drowsy. If one of us wanted to drive more and felt safe to, we would. If one felt tired before theb6th hour and the other was okay, we would switch early. Because we know ourselves and have common sense, we have worked well together even in the HoS rules.
The HoS has caused more issues for us than anything else. There have been times I drive my hours and my husband’s hours to make a load because he was sick and been fine even after driving 15 hours. Just as he pushed into my hours when I am sick to make a delivery due to the company giving us a rush load after informing them we needed a solo run due to being sick. The HoS needs to be tossed out and drivers just need to use common sense and safety instead of rushing to get another load when they are clearly in need of rest.
Elogs can be cheated remove that fuse wit engine off when putting it back in be In the same place with engine off