DOT RECONSIDERS HOS RULE - NEW HOS RULE EXPECTED BY AUGUST 2011
I have many post on the Hours of Service (HOS) issues for professional commercial drivers. I am pleased that the DOT has decided to reconsider the current, ill conceived, hours of service regulation. Truck drivers are generally treated like slave labor by trucking companies. In fact tractor trailers have frequently been referred to as rolling sweat shops. Regulations allowing drivers to drive longer do nothing but increase the chance of fatigued drivers, a factor in at least 1/3 of all commercial vehicle crashes.
The new HOS rule is expected to be issued by August 2011.
I hope they go back down on hos because these truck companies do miss use the dot laws, by running drivers into the ground and quick to fire them when something happens. The 34 hour reset needs to 48 hours. All driver know those 34 hour aren't enough. Example, when you get home from being out for two weeks your catching up on bills and other things need to be done, because you were out for two weeks. Get all that done your right back into the truck with no real time to rest!!!
most of the legislated body have no idea what trucking is all about. all this regulations in the past years have done nothing but hurt the driver's bottom line. 1/3 of accidents? please, if you check correctly, 78% of accidents involving a tractor trailer and a 4 wheeler, the smaller vehicle is at fault for doing something stupid but the trucker is at blame. check this scenario, a surgeon just got off work after a 24 hr shift and a 11hr surgery. is he less fatigue than a trucker? but no one is stoping him from getting behind the wheel and driving home. if they are going to minimize the hos i suggest they also increase the minimun wage for drivers
why dont u [folks] who want to attack the trucker get behind the wheel of 80 thousand total gross and try to stop it on a dime when you four wheel [drivers] cut us off! i guarantee u these driver4s who are falling asleep are running illegially. police the habituall offenders,to the cretics of 34 hour reset going to 48. all out 2 weeks are home at least 48hours or more. these drivers are paid by milleage u tke money and the ability to better provide for family by extending restet from 34 to say 48, which if done would result in more illelegal running and chance taking to make up lost wages and cause more destruction and lifes lost, get to know the industry and how money is made before you give and uneducated opinion!!!!!!!
i must say dlyons who wrote the post is [wrong. He] knows nothing about trucking to say a 34 hr restart is not enough u sound like a guy who drives 2 hrs and take a 6 hr break
@ Ron I agree 100% 34 is plenty, I also totaly agree with you Thomas those _____ 4 wheelers think they own the ______ road and belive we can stop quicker than them for I have exp this plenty esp on east coast. Guys lets keep fighting these idiots. Hammer down
I agree 34 hrs is not enough and the companys are using it to there advantage. they get away with it and now the drivers are to blame for everthing especially now with the new laws coming into effect. most people dont even know what its like to be behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler to drive tired and sleepy and still got to get to your destenation on time. the laws need to change and we as truck drivers need and must stand together or we will all be out of a job soon... to all the real drivers in the world keep up the good work and get home safe..
All I hear about is the over the road driver, what about us local guys?? I work for a company who sends us out on a 300 mile radius from our plant, I usually get two runs per night that comes in at around 600 miles total for the night, the 11 hr. rule allows me to make that second trip, my company doesn't have many shorter runs most of our business in on L.I. NY, or in northern NJ. which is 150 miles from our plant, change the 11 hr. rule to 10 hrs. I will no longer be able to make that second trip, my pay is cut in half because my company will probably not have anything short to give me as a second run, who's going to make up my wage loss the teamsters??? that's a joke, Changed the 11 hr. rule will do nothing as far as safety is just political BS, The teamsters are in favor of it because they think it will put more money in the Unions pocket they care nothing about the driver. Change the law I have to get a second job to make ends meet and get much less sleep than I am getting now, You think that's going to be safer.
changing the hos will be giving every driver a cut in pay.enforce the rules you have now instead of making new ones that no one will understand. Charge the companys and the shippers if you can to make the drivers job a little easier.with the ecomony the way it is no one can stand to take acut in pay,plus all the products will go up in price think about it the price of bread could go 10 dollars a loaf,leave the HOS just the they are, truck accidents are way down.
I think the 11/14 rule works well, this is all I've known since I started trucking.. if they're going to change anything, give me a longer break, a 12 hour break would be nice after an 11 hour drive and 14 hour day, I make good miles and still could make good money taking 12 hour breaks, I live out on the road all year, 10hrs isn't enough time to do much everyday.
It's not the 34 hr restart I can give or take that. It's the fact that we have to try to squeeze a whole day in 14 hrs. When we had 16 hrs you were able to pick up your load and del it knowing that if you got tired and needed a rest you had time to stop and take a nap or eat or shower. You also had time to get to another shipper if you had short runs (which is what most get nowadays because of the railroads taking over). What's wrong with driving 10hrs a day if you have the time inbetween to rest if needed? I agree that everyone should have an 8 to 10 hr brk (that includes truck drivers,4 wheelers and DRs I wouldn't want someone doing surgery on me who hasn't slept in 24 hrs). I don't ever sleep 8 hrs but having a few hrs just to relax makes me much more alert.
I would also like to say that I believe that all drivers should be on electronic logs. I would explain why I think so but it would take to long.
I've been a truck driver for 5 years and I am tired of the goverment making decisions for me. Without us,this country is nothing and WILL SHUT DOWN! If the new HOS rules go into place, I will lose $6364.8 a year.i have 2 kids in college, 2 parents fighting cancer who recently had 2 move in with me. I take my job and finances very seriously and I use my full 11 and 14 hr clocks every day. Please leave well enough alone and let myself and drivers as a whole provide for our families.
I think the answer is paying the drivers by the hour with overtime after fourty hours and or overtime after 8 hours.
Ya know I have been out here just over 20 years and it is getting ridiculous!!! The government and DOT cries about this and that, the drivers cry about this and that. I say let them change it back to 10hrs and force us to put the EOB's in the truck. Then when the rates sky rocket and groceries in the store go way up and peoples monthly grocery bill, going out to eat, etc doubles I will sit back and laugh saying shoulda left us alone and TARGET THE BAD COMPANIES!!! Use the CSA for what it is intended for!!!! I say open the CSA scores up to shipper and receivers where they can see oh this company has a bad score we are not going to load them. Eventually the bad companies won't be able to get a load therefore will end up out of business. We as well as any decent company has a strict DO NOT LOAD list which consists of companies with bad CSA scores or late pickup/deliveries etc. I am a company driver and I do see what happens in the office. In the last 60 days the fuel surcharge has doubled. Who do you think pays for that??? Not me or my company. The public is in the end does. The whole industry from the driver to the top officials need to get a grip on reality. How many millions of people have to point out to them weed out the bad apples and things will get better, because the professional upstanding companies will work with them on making the highways safer. We ALWAYS HAVE. For the drivers that think it is to rough and we need shorter days all I have to say for them is Walmart is always hiring greeters maybe they can handle that. For the local drivers man I don't know what to say!! I have always felt the local guys get the short end of the stick and get run three times as ragged as an OTR driver. For the independents that are crying I suggest you sell your truck and either be a company driver or put in apps at Walmart or something because if you are not making it and getting good rates its your own fault that you don't have any business ethics to find a good stable broker or customer and stick with it. I have over 30 friends that are independents and 80% of them are doing real well. Those last minute cheap broker loads that you have to fly overnight illegally will only keep you going for so long then bite you in the ass either by DOT catching you for HOS violations or low pay will take a toll on your equipment and guess what more violations and safety problems.
I mean COME ON!!!! This stuff is really not hard to figure out. Why is it a constant problem??????? When you have a leaky sink you fix it right? You don't let it get out of hand so bad it effects your neighbors do you?? Well that is what is happening here per se. All these ridiculous companies are so out of hand it is making it hard for the good ones to do there job. Simple solution and as I said earlier TARGET THE BAD COMPANIES AND LEAVE THE GOOD ONES ALONE!!!
Use the electronic logs in the trucks,and tell your dispatchers,shippers.and receivers that the load will get there when you get there with it. These trucking companies seem to forget about the rules and laws we have to deal with in the real world. Always remember there is no such bull .... as a hot load - road and weather conditions plays a big part on what time loads will load and be received
I'm tired of the govrnment trying to control every aspect of our lives. We don't need ANYMORE SOCIALISM in the TRUCKING INDUSTRY!
The HOA needs to be longer, you can't sleep that long when your on the road. The HOA [regulations] need to go back to the way they were from the start, but with a 24hr restart. Their are more tired drivers since the drivers can't brake up the driving time
I understand that O.T.R. drivers do not want the change. local drivers are taking it hard because our companies are scheduling us to work up to 14 hours per day. We unload product all day. then you want us to drive safety. I'm totally fatigued after a day of work. 12 hour max for local and 14 hour max for O.T.R. driver, PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Note: The author's name on this comment was deleted to protect his identity and prevent any possible retaliation by his employer)
I say leave the H.O.S. alone.I've been driving since 1984 and I'm 45 years old right now.I have been through every scenario you can think of,over the road,line haul,daytime night time shift changes.My brothers been at the same company for 18 years and works 12 to 14 hour days mondays thru fridays.He is 46 years old.We have along ways to go before retiring.No new laws will remedy the situation.Some people can't handle long hours and some people thrive on hard work.It all comes down to the individual and commonsense all the education in the world can not give you or the people making laws that.I've got a clean driving and csa record and proud of it.Its that way because I know what I can and cannot do and I know how to say no if my equipment is not compliant or hours are not available to run a load.You can always reshedule a delivery time but you can't erase your csa score.