The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a new “acting administrator” who appears to speak truck driver.
After Meera Joshi left for a New York City position, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety Policy Robin Hutcheson stepped up to lead the FMCSA, an organization that hasn’t had a sworn-in Administrator since Raymond P. Martinez left in October 2019. But year after year, the person sitting in the FMCSA hot-seat heard trucker concerns about the lack of safe overnight parking. And although lip service has been paid to trucking organization leaders in the past, Hutcheson appears sincere about addressing the issue.
“It’s one of the top two or three issues that we hear about. Letters have gone to the top of the U.S. government highlighting this issue. It’s not anything we didn’t know before, but we’re really feeling the urgency of the situation,” Hutcheson reportedly said at the recent Mid-America Trucking Show. “We know we need to work on this. We know this needs to be addressed. We hear over and over again, ‘I would be a safer driver if I had a place to rest.’ That’s up to us to make sure we’re focusing on that and doing everything we can.”
Hutcheson has worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation since January 2021, following a 4.5-year stint at the Minneapolis Director of Public Works and a prior post as Salt Lake City’s transportation director. Although no newcomer to administrative positions, Washington, D.C., could prove less forgiving. Truck drivers and industry leaders have come to sound like a broken record regarding the safe parking issue. Although research indicates truckers typically have one legitimate space per 11 rigs at any given moment, little progress has been made on parking infrastructure.
During negotiations for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending package, additional parking was included at the behest of the American Trucking Associations and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association leadership, and money was earmarked for this purpose. Politicians yanked the funds before the final bill was passed and signed into law. Hutcheson freely acknowledges that she holds little power over Congressional or DOT spending. But she did recently advocate for several truck driver concerns.
For example, the acting administrator appears onboard with amending the Fair Labor Standards Act motor carrier exemption that allows companies not to pay truckers overtime. She indicates that studies are underway, and the results could prove to be a linchpin to further trucker rights and pay equity. Those are big gets, and taking even an interim stance on such issues represents something of a D.C. culture shift.
“We’re partnering with external professional institutions to do these studies,” Hutcheson reportedly said. “I recognize that because these issues are so big for the industry. Eighteen months seems a long time. We’re looking for ways we can report out along the way.”
Should Hutcheson remain in the position long enough, her recommendations could affect policy changes and get truckers the parking they deserve.
Sources: overdriveonline.com, landline.com
No one wants to do anything about the elephant in the room . The government! We have to drive when they say drive and sleep when they say sleep, so we fight for parking to sleep at night. Truckers are held accountable for the, weather conditions and the traffic and accidents and shippers and receivers, they all hold is up with click rule thing they got us on. There is no driver shortage, Just get the damn government out of our back side and let to drivers do what the government has no clue to what it takes to keep the world moving. Until then nothing is good big yo get better only WORST, Ask yourself has it gotten better since they stuck all these rules up your ….. NO!!!!!
So far it’s been ALL TALK, NO ACTION, DO NOTHING POLITICIANS. Let’s see what happens with this new one.
The government has never cared about the truck driver side here that delivers their goods we are locked out and we are forgotten
Quit whining. At least the Russians aren’t bombing us. We have so very much to be thankful for in the USA- so it gets old when I read comments about how terrible it all is.
If you don’t like your freedoms here then go to another country and see what you get.
Well, you told her. That solves everything.
With comments from people like you (who obviously know nothing about trucking) plus bleeding heart liberals and the likes of Biden, Schumer, Palossi and many other so called “AMERICANS” it is now wonder that America continues to go to hell in a hand basket.
LETS GO BRANDON!!!!
“Whining” is one of those freedoms that Dianne is perfectly entitled to exercise. She’s also right.
Amen
Poor you, the current admin is doing the best it can. Just say thanks
If your right, that’s a pretty scathing review of the current administration.
Personally, I think they’re complete failure is intentional, the same as the rest of their destructive agenda.
Sure thing I’ll hold my f—ing breath more government BS sure we will help you assuming you vote for us oh I forgot I said that before you voted for us
Sure thing I’ll hold my f—ing breath more government BS sure we will help you assuming you vote for us oh I forgot I said that before you voted for us
When we affect their bottom lines…hint stop delivering loads. They will hear us real quick!
To implement ELD policy and parking for safety maybe later 😂😂😂😂….this is what I call the American politicians way,
Yet a huge majority of drivers are forced to violate HOS and as probably was noticed,speeding and deadly accidents increased too due to many reasons including issuing CDL A to just about anyone able to hold a steering wheel….and many don’t even understand English….wondering how they passed the written test and how they communicate with officers for road test or even how they communicate with their instructors?
Get over yourself i drove a big truck and there is not enough parking for them so really what does Russia have to do with truck parking get a life go look for yourself and you will see what every driver has to deal with everyday
I’m doing cross-border fluid hauling for the past 13month. Considering the parking scenario in some provinces in Canada, the US has way more and a much better parking infrastructure to offer. Whether you look at Rest Stops or Truck Stop/ Travelcenters. Of course more could and should be done to account for increasing Truck traffic. I wish that more Truck and Rest Stops were in place in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
They should not have to many regulations on us if we all stop for 3. Days they will listen to bus but I mean stop all trucks
This is just more lip service from another idiot. Parking is about 10% of the issue. The FMCSA is a fraud and full of crap. Elds have increased accidents but they’ll stay in the trucks because of corrupt money. The HOS is complete crap because it’s a 1 rule fits all and that never works. The new 18-21 year old program is the most dangerous program ever. The discriminatory practices of this government towards trucking is complete bull crap and based on lies. They don’t enforce laws already in place about writing, reading and speaking English. They issue work visas to foreigners that don’t belong behind the wheel. They allow brokers to screw owner operators out of millions in fees and bidding wars. The FMCSA IS NOT ABOUT SAFETY ITS ABOUT FRAUDULENT MONEY PAID BY COMPANIES LIKE Werner who get unsafe exemptions pushed through. Don’t like the truth to bad.
WOW! You hit THAT nail on the head! I agree with everything you said. It NEVER was about safety but about how much $$$ fat cat CEO’s can make.
$$$ is the American way, anything else is socialism and we cant have that
One piece at a time, any progress is progress
As far as labor laws, there is a shortage and that tends to dictate
Well said, this past week I was pulling a load that was paying me 2950, with effort the broker agreed to raise the original rate from 2550 to 2950, after I picked up I learned that the owner of the load was paying 5000. So yes, the brokers are keeping more than what they are supposed to.
Bringing drivers under the fair labor standards act would be the biggest safety improvement since the invention of air brakes.
Don’t worry.Autonomous and electric or combo’s of both will render all truckers obsolete in…2020?! WTH!! Looks like the fraudsters of Swindlers List who saw fit to bilk investors and the public purse aren’t making out so well,these days.Musk spouting off ‘Go Truckers’ out of one side of his mouth in regards to protest action a few owner operators embarked in in Canada,then turns around the next minute and spouts from the other side of his mouth ‘…electric class8 endeavour on hold,all resources will be concentrated on autonomous’. Fraud!
Not going too well for Elon Musk and Tesla.One of Musk’s buddies got spanked for $34 Billion scam with a ‘green big truck’ scam late last year,too.Trevor Milton of Nicola Motors indicted.These guys even likr to use same name reference.Nicola Tesla.Unbelievable! Quite a mess this ‘green clean burn’ garbage has made over the last 20 or so years.Non of this crap actually works.Bush admins clean burn initiative has sent more big trucks to the shop than anything else over the past 20 years. Everybody is going to suffer,immensely,for this in a big way.
So let me get this straight. If a super trucker has a learning permit. He /She cannot drive without a licensed supervisor being in the truck. Unless the super trucker drives a werner truck .then its fine ..Money Talks.
Totally agree with you my brother ELD sucks and just came up to do things more difficult to us and to be under more pressure with the time.
I see more trucks speeding on this days than before and I think its for the pressure on the driving time 👍
“Appears to speak truck driver”. I’m already suspicious
Yes, Give the rabbit a carrot while you prepare to slaughter him; They are preparing to put unique black Box identifiers in every truck and trailer to do more aggressive inspections to put the small companies out of Buisness, and Govern the speed to 65MPH. Total Annihilation for the owner operator.
If these drivers had more parking, there would just be more jugs of piss and bags of shit strewn all over the area. I think they like the smell of it honestly, maybe that’s why they hardly bathe? I know one thing. Keep parking in front of those pumps after you get fuel and I’m going to either disable your shit or take it one the two, disrespectful pieces of shit.
As long as truck drivers still have the freedom and will power to band together as a Brotherhood and shut this country down to make their points heard loud and clear, we will ALWAYS be a constant threat to their agenda and money flow.
They are working hard to shut us down before we shut them down. Wake up drivers of America. Our chance to do right is slipping away fast.
NO GARYH POOR YOU CAUSE ITS SOUNDS LIKE YOUR ONE OF THE BRAIN DEAD LIBTARDS THAT HELPED VOTE THE LOUSEY ADMINISTRATION IN OFFICE MORON….AND NO BIDEN’S NOT DOING THE BEST HE CAN IDIOT!!!
I meant GARTH not GARYH.