Stevens Transport aviary

Not to worry. The effective date is 2/27/2012 and the final compliance date is 7/1/2013...plenty of time for carriers to request extensions and for drivers to retire or pick other careers.

As many of you know, I work for the FAA (for 5 more days) and our agency is also part of the DOT. We just published the first significant duty/flight time regulatory change in 50 years. It is going to throw FAA-approved pilot training programs into a tizzy, just like the new HOS rules will for truck carriers. But all those changes to safety regulations are designed for one thing - and I know this will solicit some heated conversation in some arenas - SAFETY.

Gotta deal with changes. They are the only constant we have.

 

I deal with things as they come, generally. I watched the changes over the years. These just don't make any sense.
I can agree, a driver should stop and take a break during their day, but a mandatory 30 minutes?
Especially if you're only going to run 8.5 or 9 hours anyway.
I see a lot of violations in that area, especially with electronic logs.
But I'll live with that.

For those of us that run nights, this is a major penalty.
Especially considering time zones.
So if I pull into the TS at 11:15pm tuesday Pacific time, a reasonable expectation, and need a 34, I will have to be there until 0300 pacific time FRIDAY morning.
I missed that 0100 time by 15 minutes, and am required to spend another day waiting.
So how will that affect freight deliveries?
And thing how the early morning driving or overnight driving, which is prevelent in the refer business will be affected.
Think of how much more the truck stops will be crowded due to drivers having to be shut down?
This makes no sense at all.
Ultimately, this will cost the consumer billions of dollars in increased costs for transportation, logistics and compliance monitoring.
Hopefully, a lawsuit from Fedx and UPS will stop this little nugget of insanity from happening.

 

For those who are not very familiar with the way federal regulations are enacted, comments by the public and explanations by the federal regulatory agency must be included in the final rule for publication in the Federal Register. For the HOS rule, that document is here and contains very valuable information as well as refutation of general statements that are made with no basis in fact.

I heartily recommend that eveyone read it, especially Section II, Legal Basis, before castigating the FMCSA based on incorrect assumptions. Remember that the 11-hour driving limitation was not changed.

 

Maybe, maybe not. The new rule limits the use of the 34-hour reset provision to once every 168 hours (7, 24-hour days) and requires that a driver using it include as part of it two periods that include 1:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m. "home terminal time." My guess is that Stevens, with only one "home terminal," will define how that is implemented.

There is no change to the 14-hour duty or 11-hour driving limitations.

 

Read the rule again, Denali. Then do the math.
If I begin my 34 after 0100 home terminal time (11pm pacific time), the first qualifying '1am-5am' period begins the next night.
In essence, I am required to be there three nights in a row (less that 15 minutes of course) to qualify the reset.
Now I realize that in most cases, I will opt to take the returning hours (if any) in lieu of the reset and try to do any necessary reset another night.
It becomes a real issue to those that cannot operate 'normal' hours, one of the practices of the refer industry.
I have been unable to find any substansive data corrolating safety to resets that exceed a straight 34 hour period.
However, this forces many trucking companies to increase a fleet to handle the loss of hours available to move the product.
A move sought by the labor unions that this administration is so beholden.

 

So I have a question if they are so concerned with safety why are they wait a year and a half to enforce this new rule. It states and I quote "Commercial truck drivers and companies must comply with the HOS final rule by July 1, 2013. The rule is being sent to the Federal Register today and is currently available on FMCSA's Web site at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/HOSFinalRule." That makes no sense at all to me is it so after the election they can easily get rid of this rule as over bearing regulation.

 

Hate to change the subject as it is a valid conversation.....BUT..... I got my truck today!!!!! WHATS THAT.....YUP A PRETTY 660 WITH ONLY 100 LARGE. Happy man child today drivers!!!

 

Congratulations Shifty that is great to hear happy for you man great job.

 

Walmart, and target are both looking at suing over the 34 hour provision, as they move freight efficient with the current 34 hour reset, where the driver runs hard for 6 days, and then is home for a 34, then back on the road. The 168 hour rule puts an end to that practice.
And the two overnight periods is totally absurd in a 24/7 world. show the rule was written by 9-5 desk jockeys.

Now if it is tied up in court again, as it has been since 2001, nothing will change again.

And the 30 minute break is to keep the teamsters happy. But they did not get the 10 hours of driving.

Be July before we have to adapt to the change, and probably not even then.

 

Sorry to disagree, but these changes have NOTHING to do with safety....they have to do with appeasing the loud mouths who hate trucking, because a member of their family died in a tragic accident.

And it is to try and bring the rest of trucking into the teamsters own rules, of 10 hours and a 30 minute lunch break.

The data shows the current rules are the safest the trucking industry has had.