Posts Tagged hours of service

How Safe is the HOS 14 Hour Rule for Truckers?

Posted by Allen Smith in Jobs and Careers, Politics, Safety, Talk Radio Show, Truck Driving Jobs, Truckers Health, otr trucking, trucking, trucking companies, trucking life on March 9th, 2010

With his permission, a local truck driver out of Nebraska recently sent me the following email:

“I have been driving for over 20 years and began working locally with a company about a year ago. I have to say that the hours of service rules for truckers can be a killer for drivers, and perhaps more so for local drivers and those new to the industry. My shift is suppose to start at 7 A.M., but often me and my slip-seat partner runs late due to various reasons beyond our control, and many times he does not make it back until 2 P.M. or later. I am accustomed to getting up around 5 A.M., so going back to sleep is impossible.”

“So, up at 5 A.M., make it to work at 2 P.M., put in a 14 hour day, so I’m done at 4 A.M., home by 4:30 A.M. On this particular day, I have been up and awake for twenty three and a half hours. This type of schedule happens very often in local driving work. Even squeezing in the 10 hour break, you are either running behind all week or completely drained of all energy for the remainder of the week, just from your first day of work. If I say anything to dispatch, I am met with “So what are you saying? Are you turning down the load?” Drivers accept this challenge everyday and do their jobs professionally, but I see no safety in this type of operation, when the industry is constantly talking about “Safety First.”

This is very typical of trucking and is the main reason why veteran drivers will always stress that trucking is not a job, but a lifestyle. Regardless, how can trucking companies stress the importance of driver safety when so many drivers are expected to operate under this kind of schedule? Too many variables in the real world can stop the fourteen hour clock instantly: traffic accidents and delays at the shipper and receiver just to mention a few. Is driver and public safety a real concern for trucking companies and the powerful trucking organizations? Or is greed the primary motive for the continuance of pushing professional truck drivers to their limits?

Just last year in 2009, a major retail corporation lobbied to Congress to push truck drivers into a 16 hour work day. Luckily, that proposal was shot down. Anyone who has driven long enough and far enough will agree that driver fatigue is a major factor within the industry. Those who say otherwise, have not driven a truck for a real living. With the hours of service rule pushing drivers harder and further, allowing their lives to be controlled by the driver logbook, the fact that there are as few big rig accidents than there are, is only a testimony to the professionalism and skill of truckers.

The regulations set forth by the hours of service rules, only makes it more difficult for drivers, while allowing the industry itself to reap greater monetary rewards . . . all on the backs of the truck drivers. Why are truckers forced to work 70 hour work weeks and 14-plus hour days with no regard to the many obstacles that are thrown in their paths? At the same time, they are required to maintain their logbooks in a legal fashion.

Is safety a real issue or is greed the motivating factor within the trucking industry? Are the current HOS rules working for professional truck drivers and does it even take into consideration the safety and health factors of truck drivers?

Truth About Trucking “LIVE” talk radio invites you to join in on the conversation for the upcoming show: Truckers 14 Hour Service Rule – Safety vs Greed on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 7 PM EST :

“How safe is the truck driver 14 hours of service rule? Truckers can work 70 hour work weeks with trucking companies, shippers and receivers showing little regard to the safety and health of the drivers. With the current HOS rules for drivers, many local truck drivers can easily be up for 20 or more hours at a time. Is the trucking industry really concerned with safety or is it nothing more than greed?”

Discussing truck driver safety on Blog Talk Radio with co-host: Barry Szczucki.

: fatigue, hours of service, Safety, truck driver, trucking, trucking companies

fatigue, hours of service, Safety, truck driver, trucking, trucking companies

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Truckers HOS Rule Should Provide Safety, but Also a Livable Wage

Posted by Allen Smith in Jobs and Careers, Politics, Safety, otr trucking, trucking, trucking life on February 4th, 2010

With the average number of miles driven per year by professional truck drivers, the dangers of living life on the road increases far beyond what the average motorist experiences. Averaging ten times more miles driven per year than the general motoring public, the professional trucker is by far, the safest driver on the road today. According to studies done by various unbiased groups, including the AAA, automobile drivers contribute more to fatal car-truck crashes than do the actions of truck drivers. Although every truck driving job requires the skill of a professional driver, there are those which come with a higher degree of danger.

Normally providing a higher pay rate, drivers involved within the petroleum carrier industry can often become like any other veteran driver with years of experience under their belts . . . relaxed, complacent . . . whatever you want to call it . . . this complacency can become a hidden danger for all truck drivers, especially those involved in the transportation of fuel and other hazardous material, and most often, with deadly results.

With all the stress placed on truck drivers, through over crowed highways, forced dispatch and an endless array of Federal Regulations, trucking companies and officials need to fully understand and realize the true importance of safety. Not just bureaucratic talk and pleasing self-interest groups, but understand that when additional pressures are placed on our men and women in trucking, additional consequences can occur, not only on our truckers, but the general public as well.

Professional drivers need the proper rest required by the human body and at the same time, they need to provide a living for themselves and their families. Veteran drivers have no problem running ten, eleven or even fourteen hours in a day . . . this is why they are professional drivers. As the FMCSA looks to further change the hours of service for truck drivers, they should maintain the 34 hour restart and provide more flexibility with the sleeper birth and the 14 hour provisions, as stated by the ATA. Furthermore, the American Trucking Association also states that rest periods should not be mandated, but the FMCSA should adopt an optional rest period that would not be counted toward the 14 hour rule.

If changing the hours of service rule for drivers, once again, the FMCSA could not take away from the current HOS rule, but add to it . . . those provisions that not only will provide additional safety factors towards drivers and the general public, but also maintain the ability for truckers to provide a living for themselves and their families. Professional truckers are up to the task in facing the lifestyle of a truck driver. They understand the importance of safety and are well prepared to abide by all regulations. The FMCSA should understand that there are ways to increase safety and still not interfere with a drivers’ means of support.

Accidents are largely caused by fatigued drivers who are not purposefully wanting to break any rules, but only working that much harder in the time allowed to bring in a decent pay check. Allow drivers to drive . . . provide for adequate resting periods, but do not take away what little they have in the current rules that keeps them rolling, but add additional safety measures that will increase their ability to earn a livable wage and still give them the rest they need to keep safety as a priority as well.

Life as a trucker has enough stress, worry and dangers involved, being constantly concerned with paying the bills and putting food on the table should not be one of them.

: allen smith, FMCSA, gas haulers, hours of service, Safety, truck drivers

allen smith, FMCSA, gas haulers, hours of service, Safety, truck drivers

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Hours of Service Regulations to Stay the Same

Posted by Allen Smith in Truck Driving Jobs, Truth About Trucking Products and Services, Woman Truckers, otr trucking, trucking, trucking companies on November 30th, 2008

The proposed new rules for the hours of service regulations have been tossed out by the court, thus keeping the HOS rules the same. Set to go into effect in January, 2009, the agency officials chose to keep the current hours of service rules the same, in order to prevent more confusion to both truck drivers and law enforcement officials.

The FMCSA reiterated the fact that the current rules provide both rest and safety issues, and saw no reason in implementing further changes.

: hos, hours of service, truck drivers