Let's Hear Your "New HOS Rules" Proposal

I usually did 10 hours straight. But in my time that as it, no 11's then. That came later.

If I had to drive now under your 11 hour rule I would run the 10 straight through as hard as I can do it against the governor. Maybe allow it to drift up to 85 on the western texas mountans.

At 10th hour I quit for the day and look for a spot. Park there and go to bed.

That way (Usually planned on the old 550 mile blocks of days on 10 hours..) the 11th hour is useful but prefer to use it like a bank. Conserve someting across the board.)

The 14 hour rule is useless entirely. Once you start unloading you are not going to stop for another 24 to 30 hours sometimes under the right loads you learned then to allow in your trailer only once in your life time you will have sworn by god you will never work that hard for 100 dollars ever again.

 

Most companies hardly give a driver 2500 miles a week.

You need a bunch of breaks to do that?

10 days to get to California, really?

Back in the day I knew drivers that did 3x what drivers today do.

They didn't cry, they enjoyed what they did and as all the laws kept changing, the good drivers that could afford to- left the industry.

Now look what you have...

Take it back to the old ways.

 

It does not matter what stupid rules you make, you cannot force people to sleep, only to take a break away from the wheel and make trucking suck more than it has to.

People miss time with the family for a chump pay check and every barney 5 thinks he is $$$$ in the bank along with all the fruitcakes looking for a free insurance ride in life.

No rules needed in my book.
If you mess up bad enough your in prison or your life is ruined.

 

I'd be much happier if they'd let us break up the drive/break time into segments. Who can sleep 10 hours at a time!?

We get on these frac jobs sometimes.... short haul from sand plant to location. Many times it's 20-30 miles. Sometimes even less. Some jobs go fast, but some go slow. We may sit for 6 hours before we can unload. Now run back and get another load. Takes about an hour and a half to go load and get back to location, where we sit another six hours before unloading. These jobs may last 3 or 4 days. If you haul 4 loads in a day, you worked/drove anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. The rest of the time is off duty. Usually in the sleeper. We get all the sleep a person could ever want on jobs like this (16-18 hours of rest for every 24 hour time period), but still can't log it legal because of the spacing of the loads.

I know this is not a huge concern for you OTR guys, but it really needs to be a consideration. The FMCSA's "one size fits all" rule book just flat doesn't make sense for a lot of us.

 

The other night I had to avoid having a nice sit-down-dinner-rest at a restaurant I was parked near because my 14 would be up by one hour by the time I reached home if I didn't immediately leave. I was tired, had already taken my 1/2 hr break earlier in the day, and was hungry but I pushed on so I could get home and not have to sleep 10 at a truck stop just shy of home. I missed a good meal, drove tired, and arrived at home exhausted as the clock ticked over to 14. Odd thing is, I had only driven about 7 hours that day.

That's just one example of many times where I had to rush and AVOID common sense rest stops because of the 14 hour window. The 11 in 14 has the same problems...as does the required 1/2 hour "break".

I believe the HOS regs lack common sense and actually serve the opposite of their supposed intent---to make truck driving and drivers safer. I think the HOS caused as many, if not more, accidents than they presume to prevent. Why?

#1, Because they attempt to put all drivers in one box. Whether you are young, old, healthy, sickly, good MVR, bad MVR, a "nightowl" or day person, need 8 hours of sleep every night or 3 hours, part or full time worker, hauling iron on a flatbed or marshmallows in a drop n' hook van, required to load or reading a Playboy while lumpers do it, ---we are all under the same regs. This makes no sense. Does a 20 year old need as much rest or recuperation time as the 70 year old with the history of bypass surgery? Yet the 20 year old may lack the experience or wisdom of the 70 year old and be a worse driver. Same HOS rules for both.

#2 Because the HOS regs are created by those who either lack direct driving experience, or are motivated by a desire to substantiate their institutional worth by creating the appearance of doing something of value (aka--justifying a fatcat job), or have a vested interest in hindering the efficiency of trucking---as in a competing industry like train transport of goods.

#3 Remember folks: Statistics come from the worst drivers. So why do we model our HOS regs on statistical studies which don't accurately reflect the habits and common sense of the everyday driver? Remember the 1-5am on the 34 reset requirement? That brilliant deduction came after studying a very small sampling of people and deciding that the evidence showed our biological clocks to absolutely need to be asleep between certain hours or we wouldn't be properly rested. Age, sex, general disposition, or physical condition were not considered in the study. Yet there was an immediate implementation of the results of the study and we had more regulations which, by some miracle, were later dismissed.

My conclusion and belief is that the HOS rules (and more) have become oppressive and out of touch with common sense when they endanger responsible drivers. All non-commercial drivers are allowed to operate large vehicles using only their presumed common sense when deciding where, when, and how long they should drive. Why are professional drivers with more training, expertise, and safety insight not allowed the same latitude?

I vote no rules at all---except those normal rules we are all under when we drive our personal vehicles home from work. Rules that make sense more than they oppress freedom is all I ask. </rant>

 

No 70/8 or 60/7, no 14 hour clock, 15 hours in any given 24 hour period, to be utilized as the driver sees fit.
I would never complain again. Granted, rates might be pressured down because the trucks would be so much more productive. Might be easier to find a place to park though.

 

You guys and your wishing.

Just return it back to the way it was.

 

I wished HRC wouldn't get elected, so who knows, maybe?

 

The logs were and still are there to protect us from abuse, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, however using elogging with the 1962 rules would give us the best possible situation for us to make money and be safe.