New Hours Of Service

Each 34 is limited to at least 168 hours apart and you have the option to eject a 34 if you choose to run on recap hours. A little more technical, but it will grow on you over time. It seems like more mental labor without the extra pay; trucking life.

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Right on. I'm new to this forum and not sure how to use the "thanks" option, so, thanks

 

I believe the rule says if you're behind the wheel WITH the engine running, then you must be on Drivr Line - and if docked at a warehouse, then you must be On Duty at all times (because you must be ready and available to remove trk/trl at any given moment).However, if your brakes are on and you're off the highway you probably want to do a short enroute inspection and then stretch/relax a few to avoid fatigue, and if you go into the sleeper at a customers facility while they unload: should you lie and not log sleeper? maybe they should come up with a new line: SLEEPER BIRTH/ON DUTY ...LOL ---- but i've never heard of anyone ever being cited for either of those violations.

 

The rule says off duty can be in a non-moving CMV . It doesn't specify anything about the engine running . http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos-proposed/hos-proposed.aspx

 

You can believe all you want but you are wrong. Since Feb 2012 ANY time inside a parked truck, whether it's running or not, no matter seat you're setting in, can be logged off-duty.

 

My biggest problem is the inability to split my break as I see fit. I liked the flexibility we used to have. I would sometimes pull over for a meal and/or 3 hour nap. Then wake up feeling great and drive into the night, which is what worked for me. Now if I start in the morning I have to work all day straight and hurry up and get my truck parked for a 10 hour break. The flexibility allowed drivers to take a break when needed for rest, to avoid rush hour traffic, to sit out bad weather long enough to let it pass tbru. I hate the inflexibility of our current rules. The freedom to work your own schedule was an advantage that trucking had over other jobs. Now, forget thinking and trying to make the best driving time decisions based on many considerations and just drive or park based on hours of service rules. I do miss the freedom to make the smartest, safest decisions possible. Example: there are times that after sleeping I have to waste hours just waiting for a 10 hr break to end. I am less safe and less rested adhering to these rules. By the way my last company gave me a plaque for 15 years safe driving . A compliant driver isn't necessarily a safe driver.

 

My company gave out "safe driver" awards also. That didn't mean the drivers were safe or compliant. Often times they just wouldn't report damage and hope they wouldn't get nailed. At one point it wasn't considered an accident if it didn't do more than 3500 dollars worth of damage.

 

VERY WELL SAID!! CONGRATULATIONS on your 15 yrs of safe driving.

 

I wonder... in the future these HOS will be changed again. Instead of 11 driving hrs they may become 8 hrs... why not? Why will the mandatory rest break be 30 mins? How was that determined that we need 30 mins to rest? Why not 15 min? Or 1 hr?

 

True. But that is the misconception that many fall in to.... that compliance implies safety. Same lack of logic that folks use on the anti-gun discussion. Legislation banning firearms necessarily will make folks safer. Virtually every effort by government has nothing to do with safety, never did. It has always been about control and a way to garner revenue. No one in the national government above the level of a clerk has any feeling towards actual safety. After 13 years of working for the Federal Government in both the military and as a civilian, it was crystal clear that what was going on had more to do with power and control. State and local governments, to some extent actually are concerned for the citizens. Federal government, safety is not their concern. But they do sure know how to milk it out as if they were. Welcome to the Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels line of playing the citizens. Actually, all the credit goes to Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527, for developing the modern form of political thought that manipulates the citizenry that what government does for them is always right. So much so that the citizens will agree enmasse. We are witnessing Machiavellian philosophy applied quite effectively.