New rules coming regarding HOURS?

It's not about steering wheels and drive power. It's about time management. Different types of occupation that only have the truck in common should not be assumed to be identical when designing an hours of service regime, assuming safety is the primary objective. Making the entire industry conform to one set of rules is more about bureaucratic convenience. That was necessary when we were all on paper logs and it could not be expected that law enforcement would learn multiple rule sets. But, as has been argued by the elog cheering section on this forum, it's 2018 and we have technology now.

 

How many company drivers do you think can say they manage their own time as they see fit?

The reason your employer can't force you to work beyond your limits is mainly because of the HOS regulations. Without them the company can easily force a driver to work when he doesn't feel up to it. "Deliver or find another job!". See how easy that was?

This in no way implies that OO's should be subject to exactly the same regulations. OO's don't need the same protections because they don't face the same risk of abuse. Having those unnecessary "protections", such as the 70 hour rule, simply limits how much work can be done. It doesn't serve any useful purpose.

I never exceed my 11 or my 14. That's more than enough driving for one day. I regularly find myself having to turn down freight because of my 70 though. There is no such thing as "cumulative fatigue". If I've had 10 hours of rest and most of it was sleep then I'm ready to go.

And what about the 30 minute rule? I can image a company planner not allowing a driver time to eat lunch, but how does the 30 minute rule make an OO safer? All it does for me is make me work 30 minutes longer each day (for no pay BTW).

 

MAP 21 granted the Ag exemptions and wasn’t a farm subsidy bill.

Am I the only one that thinks it’s funny that since 1938 everyone has had the same rules and now that the ability to cheat has been taken away people want different rules for everyone?

 

It's certainly notable. And I'll bet half the members of Congress are clapping their hands and licking their chops thinking about all the graft their going to make off of this in the years to come.

 

You cannot run fast with governors at 62.

You cannot run hard because you cannot run fast.

What you can do is forget a full 14 hour work day. Turn in a 7 hour driving day and call it quits at 4Pm daily in the nice truckstop before everyone else does the same thing.

Appointments? Call in change requests until you are there.

I had a vision of all US Trucking Industry converting to a day time 8 am to 4PM day just to bypass the increasingly byzantine complications. That will incur fines too excessive to make a profit.

 

The only sensible solution in my opinion would be a more flexible split sleeper option. Simply extending to a 17 hour day would be dumb and would only cause people to sit around and wait more, most of the time unpaid.

Everything is already a crap show with the livestock delays and exemptions so I don’t think there needs to be more confusion caused by different rules depending on what you’re doing or if you own the truck or not.

 

Yeah but the farm lobby gave up some on the subsidy bill to get the exemption on the highway authorizations

 

Confusion for who? Brokers and shippers? Most of them are confused by the HOS rules already. I've never had a broker try to tell me what hours I can run. They ask me what times I can make. Company planners? They know what rules apply to their own drivers and don't need to be concerned with anybody else. Law enforcement officers? That's really just a matter of bureaucratic convenience vs. safety, so I can't concede that one either.

 

I disagree. 11 hours is more than enough for anyone to make a living, 14 is probably to much for most.

I think the 70 should go. But 395 only limits the maximums. People can operate inside of those as their schedule dictates.

 

So after 80 years what’s is the great argument for different rules for everyone then? There would not be a single company driver position left in this country if owner operators got their own set of rules basically allowing them to run when they want. Fleece purchase agreements for everyone! That’s what we all want! Rent a truck and work for less because the rules are better that way. Unless the rule was for true o/o’s running a single truck on their own numbers. And even then saying an o/o needs their own rules because they have to manage their time is nothing but b.s. I’m a company driver and my week is usually dispatched when I leave on Monday, so it’s pretty much up to me to manage my time and get my work done so that I’m home on Friday.

I have to tarp every day so I should be allowed a 16 or 17 hour day then, right? That way I can get all my work done and still be able to max out my drive time? I haven’t had any accidents in 20 years so maybe hos rules shouldn’t even apply to me. I want my own rules too. Well I did have a log book ticket back in 2002 so maybe I should be limited to 20 hours on duty a day with 18 hours of drive time.