No APU, 5 minute idle, 90+ degrees - is this legal?

Not trying to be a smart arse, (at least not this time) but merely asking a sincere question.

Is an employer required by law to provide a safe working enviroment, free of potential hazards?
And since we are "on the job" anytime we are in the truck
and it is a well recognized fact that fatigued drivers are unsafe
and most people find it extremly difficult to sleep in excessive heat/cold conditions,
is the driver able to get rested enough to drive if he is too uncomfortable to sleep???

Trucking companies are required by law to do many things to ensure the safety of the public (they should be!) I can think of several examples:
Maintain their equipment to certain levels, drug and alcohol testing for drivers, road testing of potential new hires, securing the load...well the list is quite long!

So following that logic, and in the interest of public safety, to prevent the possibilty of allowing a fatigued driver on the road,
Is it encumbent upon the truck owner to make sure that the driver is safe (in this case NOT FATIGUED) by making the truck warm/cool enough to promote adequate rest???

I am not an attorney but it seems logical to me that if a driver is required to spend a portion of the day off duty or in a sleeper berth that the driver should be able to spend that time out of the cold/heat to enable him to get some rest.

 

I have asked this question to the FMCSA and some DOT officers as well.

Most Company owners do not see it this way.

 

So, a company has no obligation to the safety and health of it's employees.

Using your same logic, why should ANY employee care about the welfare of any company equipment and/or operating costs?

If I was treated like that I certainly would not care. Heck, I'd burn out a clutch a week if it made my work enirvonment safer or better.

 

Excuse me for butting in your pissing match, but I want to offer my 2 pennies.

If youre dumb enough to put yourself in danger for someone elses benefit, then you deserve to suffer the consequences. Your stupidity is your own fault, not someone elses. Time to be a big boy and stop pointing the finger.

Ok, now back to your argument.

 

Right, time for the big boy panties... I didn't like the situation I was in with Western Flyer, tried to fix things, it didn't work, so I left. To stay under those circumstances (safety and illegal running, bad equipment) would have been very stupid of me.

There are quite a few people there that are proverbially "trapped" because most other companies won't hire them, and WF seems to have a special place for felons and people with bad driving records.

 

Here is what I don't get.

Truck owners are required to have a minimum size sleeper berth if they use the sleeper berth to comply with HOS.
They are required to retain records for 6 months to prove HOS compliance.

FMCSA can (and probably will at some point) require the truck owner to install some sort of EOBR to ensure HOS compliance.

So the truck owner is required to ensure that we have the room to obtain adequate rest, they are going to have to be able to prove that the truck didn't move for the proscribed rest period, and they are required keep the records of HOS for 6 months. All this is necessary to make sure that fatigued drivers are not driving.

BUT there is no requirement to make sure the driver is actually resting or to make sure the truck is comfortable enough to be able to rest.

The FMCSA already requires truck owners to spend quite a bit of money to ensure safety, what is a few dollars more, IF IT IS REALLY ABOUT SAFETY, to make sure the driver is able to actually rest.

 

Agreed 100%

 

Excuse me? We all must be really really dumb, as we put ourselves is danger every time we run a load. Stupidity aside, companies need to keep it as safe as possible...and in most cases are required to by law. This should also include a safe place to sleep if the company expects the driver to use the berth.

Ok, back to the pissing.

 

Well no not really. If we legislate a "comfort regulation" where would it end.

With the driver that needs a cpap to not be fatigued, or a bariatric chamber? His medical condition is the companies problem how? It is not.

In my opinion it is incumbent on the driver to find a company that will provide the set up he requires or allows.

Do not misunderstand me. I would not work for the company the OP complained about past the point I told them fix it or I am gone because I can not get the rest I require.

But it is and should be the owner of the vehicles choice how it is used when not in transit.



Now people come up with stories of abuse, illness, and persecution to gain sympathy for continuing to work for someone that would treat them this way. I have none, and further believe people are soft and tend to excessive requirements for their "comfort".

To those I say, buy your own equipment or find somebody who will let you have the comfort you feel you deserve. But quit whining about your treatment when your sitting there taking it!

 

So companies that take advantage of drivers that literally don't have any other options available to them should be allowed???

That is tantamount to slavery!!!

" You'll take whatever I give you and like it!"

Somehow I don't think that you would have that opinion if you were the driver being shat on and had no other opportunities!!!