The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration updated industry stakeholders on its studies, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, into driver compensation and detention time, as well as upcoming Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse changes, at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The agency highlighted the progress of its studies and efforts to inform drivers and carriers about how they should comply.
Driver compensation
FMCSA must study driver compensation and its effects on safety under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The FMCSA has entered into a contract with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) to conduct a study on the impacts of various methods of driver compensation, including hourly pay and payment for detention time. FMCSA sponsors the study, but TRB is independent under the National Academy of Sciences. All correspondence between FMCSA and committee members is subject to public record. The committee has one truck driving experience member, Stephen Burks, and heard from academic, government, and industry experts, including ATRI and OOIDA. The driver-compensation study is set to conclude in July 2024 and will be peer-reviewed by a group of independent experts.
Detention time
FMCSA is studying driver detention time as part of the IIJA. Chief of FMCSA’s research division Jonathan Mueller said detention time is a high-priority issue. Research shows it costs drivers $1.1-1.3 billion in lost wages and the industry $3-6.5 billion in driving time annually. Previous FMCSA studies used an unofficial industry standard of detention time > 2 hours, but a 2014 study showed 11% of stops exceeded this by 1.4 hours on average. FMCSA’s ongoing study aims to differentiate loading/unloading from wait times, using ITS data from fleet telematics/onboard monitoring. Research questions include costs of detention time, mitigation strategies, etc. The final report is planned for July 2025.
Clearinghouse
Bryan Price, FMCSA’s chief of its North American Borders Program Division, discussed ongoing Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse changes, including phase two of the Clearinghouse final rule (effective Nov. 18, 2024). It would connect clearinghouse results to state DMVs and the process of drivers returning to duty after a violation. Price said less than a third of drivers with at least one offense has completed the return-to-duty process. After the substance abuse professional determines the driver is eligible to return to duty and the driver tests harmful, their clearinghouse status will update to “not prohibited.” They must complete a follow-up testing plan. Insurance companies will check CDLs at the state level, bringing revoked status to employers’ attention. Regardless of its legal status in a driver’s home state, marijuana use is still prohibited by federal law and can result in being placed out-of-service via Clearinghouse rules. Cannabis is the most common Clearinghouse violation; cocaine, methamphetamines, and amphetamines appear in about one in three tests, and a “fair number” of drivers have violations with multiple substances simultaneously.
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