The New Hours Rule Has Been Released
It is found here. The 11 hour rule remains. They drastically cut the number of hours you can work a week. You must take a 30 minute off-duty or sleeper break for every 8 hours of driving. They added a provision which says if you exceed the 11 hour driving limit by 3 hours or more, they can fine the motor carrier up to $11,000, and the driver up to $2,750 per occurence. Most of these rules go into effect on July 1, 2013. The increased penalty amounts go into effect in 60 days.
ATA’s comments on this are here. They view the rule as a disaster. They are correct. It is a disaster. Of course, we all knew it was coming. The main change is the 70 hour rule. At present, you can take a 34 hour off-duty break, which resets your 70 hour clock to zero. Easy, simple, effective.
Under the new rule, your 34 hour break, must encompass two periods covering 1:00am to 5:00am in order to count. In other words, if you start your 34 hour break at 2:00am on Saturday morning, in order to reset your clock to zero, it will have to last until 5:00 am Monday. Presently, you could start your week at noon Sunday, with a fresh 70 hours, in this example.
Also, you are only allowed to use the 34 hour reset provision once every 168 hours, ie once every 7 days. So, if you work 14 hours a day, for 5 days, then take your 34 hour reset on the weekend, you can start back at zero when the 34 hour break is over, but you cannot start another 34 hour reset until 168 hours have passed. Basically, this serves the purpose of limiting a driver to no more than 70 hours in any 7 days, whereas under the current rule, I could get over 80 hours, if I have reset included in the 7 days. I haven’t worked at all the details of exactly how that works, but it will definitely limit the hours a driver can work.
So now what? Well, hopefully, the ATA or OOIDA will sue the agency. The “safety” groups have already indicated they intend to sue based on the fact that the 11 hour driving rule was retained. They are suing to make the rules even more restrictive. So, there is a chance that relief from this idiocy will be granted in the courts since FMCSA has no scientific or statistical basis for these changes. However, I wouldn’t count on that. The other, more effective way, of ridding ourselves of these new rules is to rid ourselves of Barack Obama and Ray LaHood on November 6, 2012. There’s no guarantee a new President will halt this rulemaking, although I would say it is more likely than not. One thing is certain: 4 more years of Barack Obama guarantees these rules will go into effect in 2013.
NTSB Wants to Ban All Cellphones
The other big news on the cellphone front was the National Transportation Safety Board has declared that all cellphones, regardless of whether it has hands-free technology or not, should be illegal while driving, in any type of vehicle, not just commercial vehicles.
Just to clarify, that means, if you are in your car, and you want to make a phone call, even with your Bluetooth, it would be illegal. The NTSB wants it to be illegal to talk on the phone, no exceptions.
What does this mean? Initially, nothing. The NTSB has no regulatory power. However, when it makes recommendations, the safety nannies now have cover to implement their draconian bans, rules, and laws, if they want. Naturally, under the Obama Department of Transportation, they most certainly do want. All you need do is listen to the language they use, as they breathlessly describe the NTSB’s declaration as a “game-changer”.
The way the Obama DOT would take your cellphone is by blackmailing the States to adopt their cellphone ban by withholding highway funding. The Federal government successfully used this tactic when it forced all States to adopt a 0.08 BAC level for drunk driving.
Naturally, the NTSB has no data to support their ban, none. In fact, it was just announced highway fatalities fell again, to the lowest levels since 1949. Furthermore, there has been no reduction in crashes in those States, which have banned hand-held cellphones. But hey, never let the facts get in the way of a good story, right NTSB?
According to the NTSB, talking on a cellphone in a car is a public-health epidemic, like drunk driving, or smoking. Nonsense! What is the difference if I am talking on my Bluetooth to a customer in Detroit, or to talking to my wife sitting in the passenger seat? There is no difference! I guess that will be next, the safety nazis will ban passengers, or perhaps conversation.
Every time these fools break out their “no life is worth, blah, blah, blah” crap, they ignore certain realities. If we wanted to eliminate highway deaths, we could do so tomorrow. We would just eliminate cars. Of course, no would be able to get to work, the economy would stop, and we’d all starve to death, but you wouldn’t be killed in a highway crash. Just a slower, more likely death due to starvation.
This type of a ban would be crippling to the economy. Nearly every type of working person communicates with a cellphone while driving. Utility workers. Lawyers. Accountants. Teachers. Salesmen. Contractors. All doing work, and creating economy activity while driving. Gone. Poof. The amount of people thrown into the unemployment line, would be staggering. By all means, that’s what we need right now are more unemployed people.
Then again, forget the economy, this ban would be crippling to my freedom. You cannot legislate away risk! Not in a free society. The more you try, the less free we become. The statistics say the amount of highway deaths are at their lowest levels since 1949. I’m ok with that! LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!
President Obama’s regulatory Commandant, Ray LaHood, recently said, “Keeping Americans safe is without question the Federal government’s highest priority”. Let’s compare that with Thomas Jefferson:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Jefferson should have added, “but they don’t have the Right to talk on the Cellphone, if some government bureaucrat declares they Cannot”.
DOT Bans Cellphones
Sometimes I go months without anything to say on this blog. Then, there are times like now, when I can’t find the time to say everything I have to say on the blog. At any rate, let’s start with DOT’s cellphone ban. You knew it was coming, and now it’s here. It’s important, because it very well may affect you, the average driver, so you need to know it’s there. It becomes effective on January 3, 2012.
Using a hand-held cellphone is no longer allowed, if you are driving a truck with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,001 lbs. in interstate commerce. You may not answer a phone call, unless you can do it by pressing only one button. You may not hold a cellphone to your ear and talk. You may not initiate a phone call, unless you can do it by pressing only one button.
Let’s stop there. I think it’s clear these are now prohibited actions. If you do want to use a cellphone while driving, you need hands-free technology, and it must be operable by only one button. I know there are headsets out there which allow you to talk without holding the phone to your ear. I’m also pretty sure there are devices, which enable you to dial the phone strictly by using your voice. I’m less sure about that, but my wife tells me there are, so there must be, because she’s always right.
It’s a little less clear what else might be prohibited. The rule seems to have allow activities on the smartphone which do not involve communication. For example, under the new definition of “texting”, it says “Texting does not include using a device capable of performing multiple functions (e.g., fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, citizens band radios, music players, etc.) for a purpose that is not otherwise prohibited in this part.”
Therefore, if I use my smartphone, while driving, to find my favorite Eric Clapton album, which I have hooked up through my speaker system, I believe that would be legal, if no other reason, it specifically says the words, “music players”.
If I use the phone to enter in an odometer reading, that is illegal. I know this, as the preamble of this rule says it is. However, if you reach into the glove box, and pull out a piece of paper, and physically write down your odometer reading, that is legal.
Using CB’s is still legal. However, using push-to-talk cellphones are not. I am not sure what the difference is, other than it was easy to define cellphones using a previous definition from the FCC regulations.
I think the real world answer is if a police officer sees you fiddling with your Iphone, or Droid while you’re driving, he’s going to write you a giant ticket and ask questions later.
Presently, this rule only applies if you are operating in interstate commerce. However, the Federal government forces the States to adopt similar, if not identical rules, by threatening to withhold Highway monies. Therefore, both the texting and the cellphone ban will apply nearly everywhere within a year or two, as the States adopt the new Federal rules.
This means it will apply to all of the various shapes and forms of commercial motor vehicles. Landscapers, dump trucks, utility vehicles, three quarter ton pickups pulling small trailers….. all will be prohibited from using a hand-held cellphone, regardless of whether their State has passed that kind of law or not.
Hours of Service Update
The new hours of service rules will be announced any day now. Just in time for the holidays. Merry Christmas from your friends at FMCSA! The GOP House held a hearing, highlighting the expense of this new rule, and its lack of safety benefits. All for show, of course. The GOP had their chance to pass a law years ago when Bush was in the White House cementing the current hours rules in place, but did nothing. Now, Obama and his merry Marxists are in control, and there’s no stopping them.
What will the new rules be? No one knows for sure, but it’s probably a pretty safe bet there will be a 10 hour driving rule, instead of 11. Also, they will probably go ahead with their stupid revision of the 34 hour reset to the 70 hour rule, effectively making it a 48 hour reset. God knows what else they’ll do. The day after the new rules are issued, ATA is going to file suit, arguing the new rules are unjustified, and will actually not prevent accidents, but cause more accidents. They’re right. I think there’s a 50-50 chance they’ll forge a standoff in the courts forcing FMCSA to keep using the current rules, but no one knows if that will happen, or when.
Undoubtably, they’ll be a phase-in period before FMCSA starts issuing fines for the new rules. I assume, however, they will continue to instruct their State cops and highway patrolmen to keep writing violations, without fines, which will hurt everyone’s CSA scores. Since everyone is compared against everyone else in CSA, it’ll be important to teach your drivers the new rules faster than your neighbor, or your CSA scores are going to be wrecked. Furthermore, you’d better scrutinize your violations closely, as the cops are going to make lots of mistakes, as the new rules will almost certainly be very complex.
Court action is not the only thing which could stop the new rules. The GOP Presidential candidates have been making noise about stopping the Obama orgy of regulations. Will they follow through if elected? Probably not, unless it’s Ron Paul, in which case he’ll probably just fire everyone at FMCSA. Nevertheless, if the current Depression continues, a new President may put the brakes on the government. At any rate, the new rules should be released within days, so stay tuned.
