As EOBR mandate, CSA 2010 loom, on-board technology takes center stage

So lets just toss the HOS rules out the window? And might as well throw the substance abuse rules out too, so you can go back to taking little pills and staying awake for 4 days straight...

 

No, not toss the HOS, just make them logical! Bring back the ability to stop the clock. I think that is the biggest problem with the HOS as they are right now and with the changes proposed. Being able to stop the clock would be the major change that needs to be made that will actually help drivers be able to run safely.

 

OK, back to the old question then, how to make it work for every different trucking job. How many different sets of rules do we need? The old rules were written pre-interstate system when 300 miles was an all day trip.

 

??? Ive re-read this 3 times and yet I dont understand the point your trying to make,I have ?'s for you to clarify okay
1.you make the point that you drive your ENTIRE HOS(11hrs) and had to take a break at 5pm,check
2.Now you are "Forced" to take a break(10 hrs) check
3.Cant get to sleep b4 10,,,check

Now i understand what your saying but for some reason your Implying that you are Now "Forced"? to drive at 3am
Then you say you could have still drove till 8pm and then got the proper amount of sleep until properly rested,ok

So with that being said(by you) if you got stopped at 5pm,why dont you just sleep until your "properly rested",nothing is "forcing"(other than a load schedule if that) you out of the bunk AT 3am,it just says under the rules/law you are available to drive after a 10 hr break at that time,(you can extend your break for as long as you want really)

As for the HOS you say should be voluntary,i think your saying it from your point of view only.Let me give you a scenario then;

Now the HOS are voluntary for ALL drivers(which you implied should be) now drivers with little and or no experiance are doing the same

Your phone rings one night with bad news as a driver who thought he was okay to drive fell asleep and ran over your family(which in NO WAY I WOULD WANT TO HAPPEN TO YOURS<MINE OR ANYONE's)

You Sir sound like a professional driver, and everyday your looking out your windshield at other drivers and the way they drive/carry themselves,can you honestly tell me and others that you would be okay if all of us out here didnt have to follow some type of guidelines?

No set of rules fits everyone,but the current hrs seem to fit most of all of us.

 

No i am not saying the HOS forced me to drive tired at 3:00am what I am saying is its my common sence that would make me stay in bed resting even though the HOS and the EOBR said I can now drive.. The HOS and EOBR have done nothing for me.. but tell me that i can now drive regardless of weather i have rested or not.. I'll give you a scenario..TRUE STORY i am in faucett Missouri, out of time for the day, running on my recap. I drove seven hours and was out of time.. now I am parked at 3:00pm I started my day at 8:00am.. now im going to sit for 10 hours. and gain 11 hours back being able to drive at 1:00am.. I rolled around in the bunk trying to rest for a couple of hours when I said this is redicolous.. I got up and drove to columbia missouri.. went to bed when I was tired and got up in the morning properly rested.. the HOS, if I had followed the rules and been in compliance would have had me driving tired, at 1:00am! and as I said what did the HOS and if I had one the EOBR do for me? I believe guide lines are important, but mostly for new inexperienced drivers that have not learned there limits ETC.. This is what I believe the HOS and the EOBRS should be used for, Training new drivers.. I have many Examples and scenarios that are real.. from weather and traffic where the HOS just made for unsafe driving conditions..

I do like the current HOS except for the 14 hour rule, and I think the 34 hour restart is good but that 34 hours is too long to sit in laramie wyoming or some other undesireable location.. and for EOBRS I will never support that for any reason whats so ever.. If we have to have HOS I think they should be left alone except eliminate the 14 hour rule.. I would not complain about HOS anymore.. but they could also get rid of the recap. What does what I did a week ago have to do with today? ideally if we could just do 11 on 10 off with never running out of hours would be fine with me..

 

Just leave them as they are but eliminate the 14 hour rule.. i would be happy with that..

 

Need bring back the ability of the driver to stop the clock also.

 

Not trying to argue with you here bossman but in this true story i dont know where you had to be and when,but I have a observation or 3 for you to think on okay?

YES you know your body better than anyone else.,but what about the
"What-if's"?
What-if you had a accident after you left Faucett?Go to Jail ,Go directly to jail
What if you had a moving Violation?Out of hrs,then your really shut down& ticket
What-if you were pulled for a roadside inspection? Your placed out of service&ticketed
WHat-if your at the Petro In Columbia and some one backs into you? or you back into someone else? Logbook not complient=Ticket and placed out of service

And thats under paper logs as you have it right now,your story is just like the last one,again nothing is saying that you have to go into the bunk and get up at 1am,you again could have just took your regular sleep period like you like it and left when you wanted

You chose to drive up to Columbia for what sounds like conveinance,not that you had to.If you only had 7 hrs to run for the day,instead of starting your day at 8am,why not 11am-noon(or later),that put you in Faucett at or around 6-7pm(and if memory serves thats the time you like to stop correct?) so lets see your at faucett at the time you like and you have run conplient with the HOS(No EOBR needed,lol)

HOS are just "Guidlines" that we as drivers must fit into our day,you make your day fit within the HOS

And on you other points
34hr reset;do you know why its 34hrs?,when this idea was put out for study,it had but one mandate,it must include a break time between the hrs of midnite and 6am(like when you like to sleep right?),any other or less time you could actually skate around that time,matter of fact at the time when they were doing the sleep studies one important fact guided them,the majority of DOT reportable accidents happened in this time frame

14 hr clock; this was devised really for your protection as testimony after testimony concluded that carriers "MADE" drivers drive when they were tired,again they used the Actual accident data to support this finding,so the 14 hr rule was made to ALL carriers inline

HOS&EOBR's for new drivers only? Okay so i guess that when you or I came on that was ok "BACK then" and now somehow its differant? Its still the same criteria,you say the 11-14-70 and EOBR's are not safe for you,but its not only OK but should only be used for the training inexperianced drivers? where is the logic in that?

And before you bring up weather and traffic its very simple,if its not safe,dont drive

And the "What does what I did a week ago have to do with what im doing today" so under your idea you have just added 7 more hours to our work week?(77hrs vs the current 70)(88 in 8 days instead of 80?)

So if you were asked to work 7 more hrs a week for the same pay your receiving now your okay with it?

 

thats what i mean about eliminating the 14 hour rule..

 

I said the HOS could be used for inexperienced drivers as a training tool. and if neccesary the EOBR used as well.. but the eobr be added to drivers that are proven unsafe by getting tickets etc.. I think this is my wife here she likes to argue like this..LOL... just funnin...