Representatives from affiliates and member companies of the American Trucking Associations and other trucking industry speakers told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Friday, Jan. 22, that the current hours-of-service rules are working but need flexibility in the sleeper berth provision.
America’s Road Team Captain Ralph Garcia, a professional truck driver who has driven more than 2.5 million accident-free miles, was among more than 40 speakers at the FMCSA listening session in Dallas. This was the second of four being held around the country as FMCSA again considers HOS changes requested by the Teamsters and safety advocacy groups, including Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Garcia, an over-the-road driver for ABF Freight System, said the current HOS rules are working. “When the current rules took effect, I noticed that I started feeling better,” said Garcia. “I wasn’t as tired.” He added that he prefers nighttime driving because there is less traffic congestion and less stress. Garcia did note that there is room for improvement in the current HOS rules. “Sleeper berth provisions make it difficult for drivers, who prefer more flexibility with their rest,” Garcia said.
He added that flexibility is important to all drivers who know when to take breaks. “We are more in tune with our body’s time clock than most people. Our safe driving is a testimony to that.” Garcia, who has driven professionally for 30 years, noted that just this week the U.S. Department of Transportation released 2008 figures showing that the truck-involved fatality rate decreased 12.3 percent from 2007, the fifth consecutive year the rate has declined. “The American truck driver continues to keep America rolling,” said Garcia. “We are better trained, better informed and improving the safety of our industry every year.”
John Esparza, president of the Texas Motor Transport Association, an affiliate of ATA, told FMCSA that most of the current HOS rules are working well and most should be retained. “Various aspects of the existing rules – including the 11-hour driving time, 10-hour off-duty time as well as the 34- and 24-hour restart for different industry segments – are likely to be at least partly responsible for the decline in fatalities,” said Esparza. “These restarts provide drivers with the ability to gain quality rest.”
Representatives from ATA member companies Dart Transit Co., FFE Transportation Services, Groendyke Transport, Rawhide Trucking Inc., Roehl Transport Inc. and Schneider National also offered comments at the session.
Remaining listening sessions will be held on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles and Jan. 28 in Davenport, Iowa. FMCSA officials said they will consider adding an additional session that will be limited to truck drivers. For time and location details of each of the sessions, go to http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/TOPICS/HOS/HOS-Listening-Sessions.aspx.
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Kevin makes an excellent point. When I use to drive, I took a break at rush hours especially if I was on one of the coasts. It just made good sense. Why waste my drive time sitting still and becoming frustrated. Grab a power nap or stop for a bite to eat. Now with the "new" rules, that is not possible.
My issues with the HOS in general, it is does not properly address the varying needs of each different group of drivers. Regional, OTR and local drivers have different needs. Hazmat haulers, oversize haulers (permit loads) and FAK loads have different needs. Some of these differences may be very small while some are night and day. Still their needs vary and none of this is addresses. Add on the no idle rules and all the new EPA laws, this adds to the confusion and lack of proper rest.
Drivers are harassed about where they can park, when they can park and how long they can park yet the government says the wheels must stop for 10 hours straight. Well then, the road side parks need to remove the 4 hour limits and truck stops need to expand especially in busy urban areas. The excessive pay parking in these tiny truck stops in New England, Atlanta and CA need to cease.
More importantly, shipper-receivers and dispatch/trucking companies need to work together. This hurry up and wait all day at a dock is a major issue. The unload at 6 am but sit until 3pm until the dispatch and the broker get done arguing price needs to end. The hourly call backs and just the general mode of operations that drivers have come to accept needs to change.
In order for the new HOS to work or any HOS to work, trucking needs to come to a new level of organization. We need shippers who are ready to load us, receivers ready to take our goods and a dispatch system that keeps the wheels turning. This way drivers can make the most out of their limited hours and everyone can make a buck. The cut throat operations of the past need to change into a system of integration and compliance. This would remove the broker game issues, keep the wheels turning and do wonders to improve the industry as a whole.
Has anybody ever done a survey as to what a driver is doing while on a mandatory break? My experience is that they are not tired and they are on the internet, playing video games, and just waisting time because they are not tired at the time of mandatory sleeper birth. It would be alot safer if there was a HOS rule that would require a driver to take a mandatory 6 hour break between 9PM and 9AM and require a 10 hour sleeper birth in a 24 hour period. This rule would not apply to a driver who opperates in a 200 mile radius, these drivers would be on a time clock. Every profesion in the world has a break in the middle of the work day. why is it that in the trucking profesion that if we want to maximise our mileage we are forced to drive. If we were allowed to take breaks during rush hour and weather related events , that would make for safer roads and safer drivers.
Have you coonsidered how much it would help everyone if they just did away with the whole thing. I wonder how many bureacrats would be out of a pay check???
All they need to do is split sleeper berth time. I personnaly have a hard time sitting still for 10 hrs straight.
What do you mean it is a new law? I have been filling out these useless log books for parts of 48 years. They were just as useless then as they are now. They serve no purpose other than giving some worthless bureaucrats a pay check.
If they are so good, then why are truck drivers the only ones to suffer through this. Try getting all the four wheelers to do the same and see what kind of response you get.
The last time I checked, big trucks are only responsible for 1% of the accidents but suffer 99% of the harassment.
Hey guy's it's a new law and everybody knows that the Goverment never get anything right the frist time. So let all chip in and help send emails and call your local senetor and congress man to complain.
Has anyone ever checked the cost of all this BS about HOS plus the cost of the so-called enforcement of a totally unconstitutional and totally unecessary bunch of bureacratic crap?
Saying any of this has ever saved a life is just like all of the other government programs that have nothing to do with reality but are still hyped as being great even though the statistics supporting it are being manipulated to suit their purpose.
Get government out and we will all be better off. Their only goal is to make everyone a inefficient as they are.
The current hours of service would be perfect if the two hour segment of the split would stop the clock. As it is, we discourage a driver from stopping and taking a "Power Nap" because of the current rules. With the upcoming change to electronit-on-board recorders, this would be even more valuable with the industry down time at loading docks, traffic, etc.
Thank-you,
Doug Daniels
Safety & Personnel Director
A&M Transport, Inc.
NY state just announced that it is closing a bunch of rest areas for public use and parking. the press realease made it very clear that these same rest areas will still be used for truck inspections. Hmm take away our places to rest in areas where truck parking is already limited but yet use those same areas to inspect us and take our money all in the name of safety. go figure.
I drive in the northeast. virtually everywhere i go has no idle rules and almost no parking. I'm home almost daily but not always. I usually leave between 1 &2 am drive about 250 mi and get in the bunk until they are ready to unload me. no setting of clock, the places i deliver all know my routine and they come wake me up when they are ready for me. sometimes i get a solid 4-6hrs sleep. sometimes this causes me to run out of hrs on the way home because of the 14hr clock thing.I get to my 14 hrs some times an hour from home and have to shut down. at this point i'm not tired because i had a long nap. to be honest i rarely sleep more than 6 hrs even on my days off. always been that way my whole life.
this is typical gov't. not having a clue what the real world actually does. I have been running this way for 17yrs and am far more tired now than under the old rules. the 05 revision especially for regional drivers. discourages a driver from taking a nap when tired. instead i have to be tired when the logbook tells me to be tired.
when i haul o/s loads I have 2-3hr curfews during rush hours. apparently gov't officials don't think it would be safer for me to be able to nap during those curfews and let my clock go longer especially during the summer when days are longer and continue to my destination.
in my opinion, the gov't thing that one set of rules cover all the personalities etc of drivers is insane. i agree with the above poster about being able to take a break during rush hour in major metro areas. when going cross country i always did that. it would sure cut some traffic on the roads and allow us to be more productive all while being safer. but then that would mean that some gov't bureaucrat would have a clue about the real world.
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