MAJOR HOURS OF SERVICE RULES CHANGE!!!!!
Posted on July 25, 2007
Filed Under HORROR STORIES, HOURS OF SERVICE, IN THE NEWS
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service rules, and imposed rules of their own. These changes, I believe, will become effective no sooner than September 14, 2007, but stay tuned, as that too may change.
Drivers may no longer drive 11 hours, they may now only drive 10 hours. Drivers must continue to use the 14 hour rule. Drivers may not reset their 70 hour clocks with a 34 hour reset period.
How did all of this happen? When the FMCSA made it first changes some years ago, as they were directed to by Congress, they moved to the 11, 14, and 70 hour rules, with the reset provisions. They were sued by the public advocacy groups. These are people who hate trucks, and believe that if there is one truck accident, it’s one accident too many, consequences be damned. The US Court of Appeals found that the FMCSA did not follow the law in implementing the new rules, and directed them to make changes. The FMCSA announced that there would be, in effect, no more split sleeper berth provision. The advocacy crazies were not satisfied with this, and sued again. The same US Court of Appeals has now ruled again, and found that again, the FMCSA did not follow the law in implementing the new rules, and has imposed its own rules.
Who is to blame for this fiasco? As much as I like to bash the FMCSA, it probably isn’t their fault, even though the court says it is. This is just a leftist court, which sees this as a naked attempt by the industry to lessen the safety standards which will kill more innocent women and children for profit. No matter what the agency would have done in promulgating these new rules, the court would have found fault. Also to blame are the Republicans in Congress. They had an opportunity to short-circuit this insanity by passing a law which would have established the new rules as the law of the land, thereby cutting off the courts, but they failed. You can’t expect the Democrats in Congress to pass such a bill, as they favor more restrictive hours of service rules.
So, once again, everyone has to go back to the drawing board, and try to make sense of the new rules. Carefully set up routes and contracts laid out with the hours rules in mind will have to be scrapped. Carriers have built new terminals in locations picked specifically with the 11 hour rule in mind. Those will have to be moved or closed. The bottom line is the new, more restrictive laws will not make the roads any safer. In fact, if you look at the documentation in the FMCSA rulemaking, it will make the roads more dangerous.
Stay tuned, this may not be the last word on this issue. There may be an appeal, but I am not optimistic about its chances. I strongly suspect that the FMCSA will just give up at this point and go with the new rules imposed by the courts.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
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2 Responses to “MAJOR HOURS OF SERVICE RULES CHANGE!!!!!”
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Hi.
Thanks for posting this important information. I have been a commercial driver for the last twenty-four years, and am now thinking seriously of getting out. I have ninteen more years before I can draw uppon my retirement savings, and up until now, was not even considdering retirement. But. with all of these idiotic rule changes coming through, what is a person to do? You try to adhear to the changes, but when you stop for a DOT inspection, you are told that you are in violation, but then they give you an “informational” warning, and send you on your way.
No horn blowing, but I have never had an accident, moving violation, other than one small overload violation during my career, and if I can help it, never will again. I’m just that careful. I have to be. Why pay a fine when you don’t want to.
How are “we” , meaning the CDL holding drivers of America, going to stay aflote with all of these regulation changes? Resistance may very well be futile, but how does the government expect the person that they are regulating, not to mention paying taxes, to earn a living? My hours, as well as others have just been cut by one third due in part to these rule changes. My employer has found that hiring two more people, shortening my day from fourteen hours to ten, makes sense. The two new employees are there to replace me in my capacity to perform my job. In this case, reloading my truck for the next day. My only problem is in that I don’t trust other people to properly load and secure for me. It’s not just a “throw it in, and slam the door type of operation. But I can’t work after the ten hour cut-off now, so this is what I end up with. Peace of mind in knowing that the load is loaded correctly goes a long way with me. You mentioned something about safety? Alot of accidents are caused by impropper loading/securing of loads, as well as unsafe operation.
As you also stated, routes have been set up to work a driver within a certain number of hours, True, but these new changes will force drivers to perform their duties in a much faster fashion. I have already seen this happening. Drivers are now forced to push a run that had been done safely in say, twelve hours, to now finish in eleven. This compromises safety. No way around it.
There are other factors involved as well. Operating terrain for example. Mountain roads can only be traveled at a speed that is safe. Trucks are not sports cars, and have to slow for corners to compensate for the load being carried, as well as road conditions and traffic. What these equate to is, time. It still takes a certain amount of time to go from point A to B. There has to be some leeway in these new rulings, as not all areas in the country are flat, with four lane freeways.
I don’t know if you are a driver, or just a columnist, but considder this, up untill just reciently, a driver earned a living wage. He was able to support his family. He was able to put his children through school. He was able to retire and say that he had earned his retirement doing a good job, and more often than not, passing that job on to his children. Once uppon a time, if a person could call themselves a truck driver, they were proud to do so. Once upon a time…
John:
Thanks for the post. I am not a truck driver, although I have been around the industry for almost 20 years, so I think I know something about it. I agree with you 100% that it is getting tougher to make a living as a truck driver. I am torn, as my customers are the motor carriers, but many times I look at what the drivers are making and I think, “no wonder you can’t find good drivers….”.
For the most part, the good drivers are not out there looking for a job. The good drivers are already working for somebody else. I used to view truck driving as the last, good paying blue collar job in America. Sadly, I think that is probably going by the boards as well. I do not see this reduction in hours leading to an increase in pay. Furthermore, I know the industry is dying to replace you with cheaper labor from Mexico. I’m sure some of my customers would disagree, but I think if you pay for good drivers, your equipment lasts longer, your insurance rates are lower, you don’t have accidents, and your service is good. You get what you pay for…..