EOBR and HOS

[dotdoctor]

The US Government is seeking to require that ALL commercial vehicles have EOBRs installed. These Electronic Onboard Recorders are claimed to warn a driver of danger, communicate as a collective in regards to traffic issues (to local DOTs not the driver) and are claimed as a “great safety device”. The dark side is that these EOBRs will be a driver’s worse tattletale. One iota out of regulation and it will be recorded to be used against you in a court of law. Yes, American Trucker, Big Brother will forever be watching and riding in that cab with you if this comes to pass.

In all fairness, before EOBRs can be forcibly installed on trucks; the government needs to create HOSs that actually work. The problem we face today is that we have one complicated set of HOS to fit all. This is like a one size fits all garment that just does not work.

Local drivers’ work schedule does not offer the same fit as that of an OTR driver. Regional drivers do not fit into the normal OTR mode. OTR drivers do not fit into regional or local work condition modes. Each driver set as well as commodity needs to have their own set of rules that work for that type of driver / commodity. Temperature control drivers are generally forced to unload / reload in the very early am (11pm-4am). General commodity drivers have dock times of 8am - 4pm. Petroleum haulers run around the clock as does the demand for the product. Drivers who load out of assembly plants have an entire other schedule and method of operation. Local drivers generally work one of two shifts and the list goes on and on.

Local drivers run 10-12 hour shifts. Regional drivers make many stops in a short route requiring quick nap breaks and rarely time for a “full nights” sleep break. Long haul drivers load today, drive for 2-3 days and unload. No one set of rules will fit all these different scenarios. Before we begin setting punishments and fines the government needs to provide a set of rules that actually work. If you do allow the driver to do his / her job in a legal fashion; how can you expect that driver to comply? Maybe monitoring without repercussion is a good way for the government to learn what it takes to truly be a trucker and get the job done.

Our government sets rules for our "life blood" providers through a series of people who have NEVER held a CDL or driven a truck. These same folk, with few exceptions, have never even been remotely involved in the transportation industry. The few drivers that senators invite to share their thoughts, opinions and experience are those who are union or ready for retirement. Talk to the average, every day driver or O/O working 100 actual hours a week to just scrape by and they ask them how to make rules that work.

Before the driver can bear the entire blunt; we need to put responsibility back on the shipper and receiver to set realistic delivery times as well as pick up schedules. Centers like Wal-Mart with their 15 min windows or wait a week for re-delivery are not realistic. Anything might happen in transit from a breakdown, illness to traffic jams that will keep you from making this window. Should a driver follow the HOS to the letter; nothing would ever be on the shelves.

Dispatchers and load planners need to build realistic loads instead of "do me a favor" loads. The driver then needs to be paid adequately so he / she can make a living instead of coming in under minimum wage for all his / her effort and sacrifice. The only way a driver earns "good money" is by doing something illegal. That may range from working 100 hours a week and doing whatever it takes to get the load there by the “dispatcher’s schedule” or truly illegal hauling. Pay per mile may have raised but the net effect is a pay decrease since the last rounds of HOS changes. Drivers dropped from over $1200 a week gross to the average driver now taking home less than $500 a week (meals not considered).

The entire system is broke. Before we impugn drivers and cost them more money; we need to fix the broken system. Over the last 10 years, the US has imported truck drivers like any other commodity. We have gone abroad and enticed drivers from Russia, India, Australia and all over the world to come drive for the USA. Why? Simply put; because we pay so poorly in this profession, when all is considered. Yet, we, as Americans, have a desperate desire for these commodities due to the "Capitalistic American way of life".
Companies train drivers in a rush through session so that seats can be filled. This is not safety! This is simply filling supply and demand. The new HOS has created even a greater demand thereby further reducing safety. Moreover, DOT officers do not truly understand the regulations and site drivers incorrectly. Look over the court cases; they speak for themselves.

Experts say drivers need sleep studies and psychological studies. Then they come back and say these studies are needed only if the driver is obese. All or none folks; no cherry picking to obtain what you hope are your desired results. Drivers do not need psychological studies or big brother monitoring; they need reasonable working conditions, common sense, regular hours and good training. The EOBRs are a way to sneak black boxes on board big rigs.

Stop penalizing truckers. Without them none of us would have any of our daily items. Wake up, DOT, FMCSA and US National Transportation Safety Board and face reality. Stop burying it and trying to treat symptoms. It is time to treat the cause. The system is broken. The entire SOP needs to be revamped. Only then can the government, with industry experts and DRIVERS input; begin at square one and write an adequate set of Hours of Service.




Sources:


US regulators to study universal EOBR rule; Today's Trucking: The Online Business Resource for Canada's Trucking Industry (April 21, 2008)

DOT solicits ideas on vehicle-highway communication; Today's Trucking: The Online Business Resource for Canada's Trucking Industry (April 21, 2008)

 

[kwexpress]

see the problem is goverment has no common since.

 

[jwc]

Yes and no but untill drivers learn that they can't drive around the clock something has to be done. If anybody has a way to fix the problem i'm sure that they would be rich beond thier means

 

[dotdoctor]

Pay a fair wage. Better yet, a salary. That would end 'round the clock driving. Have trucking companies build realistic loads and load schedules. It is not so hard to be done. It is greed and fear. It can be done.

 

[Jefferson3000]

Pay a fair wage. Better yet, a salary. That would end 'round the clock driving. Have trucking companies build realistic loads and load schedules. It is not so hard to be done. It is greed and fear. It can be done.

So doc, humor me for a minute. Exactly how much do you really know about trucking? Most of the folks on here are not employees. They are contractor/business owners. Your salary idea sounds nice, in a Hillary/Obama driven world. But this is real life. No one on here earns a wage.

 

[jaminjim]

No one on here earns a (living) wage.

Sorry I just had to say that.

 

[dotdoctor]

You are correct. Since deregulation; no one in the trucking world earns a living wage irregardless of how their pay scale may work. The closest anyone comes, in my opinion, are the union drivers. They generally seem to fair quite well compared to the rest.

As for my experience:

3rd generation transportation executive
O/O and small fleet owner -> 15+ years
GM of a trucking company -> 7 years
Logistics / Safety Consultant -> 8 years
Logistics Management for a multi billion dollar company -> current position
With BS, MS and DS in Logistics Management / Global Business Management and
CDL –A with all endorsements that I use regularly.

So I too am / have been a contractor, business owner and a corporate worker. I have viewed this industry from a buyer, a seller, a driver, a truck owner and a governmental point of view.

I have served on many committees to promote safety as well as safety review boards. I have been a member of the GA Motor Truck Association and served on their Safety Committee. I served on several transportation boards and councils including my most recent service on the Rome GA Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee. I am a long standing member of OOIDA, ATA and many other trucking, logistics and safety organizations. I am the founder of “DOT Help”. Industry experience covers petroleum, chemical, high level hazardous waste, airfreight, temperature control, FDA regulated products, bulk transport and oversize / overweight transport; just to name a few.

Now that I have bored everyone else with this list of qualifications; I hope I have answered your question, Jeff. I see you too are qualified to speak in this realm and make valid points yourself. I am not looking for a sparing match but rather raising some concerns that we, as a collective, may be able to advert or at least delay should we take appropriate actions. It does none of us any good to wine after the fact when no action was taken. We have the power to partition the government, write our senators and voice our opinions. In this way we can hope to slow the progression of EOBRs with penalty. Maybe, maybe if we are really lucky; we might even come out with some decent HOS.

As for wages; you are correct. It is doubtful that any trucking company will pay a salary especially for OTR drivers. Locals may be salary and even some regional folks on regular runs but the OTRs are always left hung out to dry. O/Os; it just is not in the cards at all unless you have a regular run week in and week out.

The industry has a long way to go. Fuel is awful with no relief in sight. Sitting on this side of the table, we don’t want to pay FSC but remembering the view from the other side; it is only fair. I would rather pay FSC then see an across the board freight increase. I also do not mind paying the FSC when it is passed, 100% to the O/O. My issue is that seldom happens. No company should profit from an FSC charge when the load was hauled by an O/O. I digress for I am getting off topic. I know there are many issues with the system and the industry. Truckers are hard workers who go with out family time and sleep to appease the American public. We all too often forget that very fact. They are professionals who need to be viewed and compensated as such. How we do that; I do not have the answer. All I know is it is something that needs to happen right along with decent HOS and no EOBRs or at least penalty free EOBRs.

Safe trucking!!!

 

[RLENT]

DotDoc,

Great Post - C'est bon !

 

[greg334]

But this is typical government; it is really out of touch with reality. Like the FAA, the DOT is depending on technology to fill the gaps left by the carriers who have been crying about cost and they have in order to please two groups, the public truck hating groups and the carriers themselves, brought about ideas that they feel will satisfy everyone. The FAA finally got caught doing something that was known for years, but DOT has yet to have the same recognition take place in order to change their way of thinking.

This, like HOS has not had much thought. Sure we have the technology to provide accurate information but there are too many missing steps along the way. I never have found an electronic signature regulation, with HOS no military research on fatigue was ever used and no one seems to be really pushing back through the congress to get a sane HOS and EOBL system plan put together.

With our safety numbers being raised, accidents per 1 million miles going down, with a look at education, the EOBL systems may be needed with some carriers who have poor safety and regulation violation incidents.

It doesn’t matter about on board electronics/logging, there are a couple bigger issues that are being jammed down our throat and no one seems to care. Truck emission controls from the EPA and the states restricting older trucks on federal highways.

I know that the carriers and alike don’t care about the small trucker who is running a clean but older truck, the carriers don’t look at the independents as nothing but a resource and in some cases they can and will balance out things with newer fleets and the associated cost. But there is a large majority who like me will be faced with serious issues based on a false science that further restrict me ability to produce revenue on roads I already paid for and this brings up even a more important constitutional issue, whether the states have that right to regulate the roads and interstate commerce through environmental laws.

It is interesting that you mentioned you don’t like to pay a FSC, but it is all part of doing business and it must be passed on to your customer, like it or not.

What I would like to see is a return to stricter carrier regulations.

 

[Crazynuff]

If carrier safety departments would do their job and properly monitor logs violations would be greatly reduced and there would be no need for EOBR's . Some carriers do their own self audits using the same methods FMCSA auditors use . Not only drivers but dispatchers should be suspended when violations reoccur . Shippers should be required to include Promiles printed routing with bills with a notation of how many available hours are left for the driver that day when the truck leaves the dock . Have more accountability and less excuses .

 

[dotdoctor]

I like that idea. The driver can not take the entire blunt of the responsibility. They are just one player in the game. Shipper, dispatcher, safety, receiver, load planner and all the "players" need to assume responsibility.

I had not heard of your idea "Shippers should be required to include Promiles printed routing with bills with a notation of how many available hours are left for the driver that day when the truck leaves the dock" put quite that way in the past but it is a wonderful line of thought. Now being on the shipping side; I can see this being a part of the load procurement / shipping procedure. It is not so impossible to incorporate.

We run an e-bol system. It would be nice if someone would design an "add-on" that incorporated this type of logic into the system. We have a line after each item to note damages or exceptions noticed by the driver at load time; why not have a section that would allow the inclusion of miles and hours available. Sounds like an excellent idea!
I also stay on my shipping people about the time they "tie" up a driver in loading. The hardest thing about this is getting it through to them that I want gate to gate time not just dock time. That is number no one wants to provide but as we all know working on a ticking HOS clock; every minute counts.

As to the environmental concerns - America is so far behind many nations on environmental issues that it is truly sad. We claim to be an innovated nation but yet look at our results. I can see the government not allowing the future manufacturing of less environmentally friendly vehicles but as for restricting / disallowing current ones or the highway or even the resale of those already in existence would hurt us all. It is just not fair! I am trying to remember what we had to do when unleaded came into play in the gasoline world along with emissions inspections???? Waivers were given after a certain dollar spend was reached in an attempt to comply. Similar methods for the diesel world would at least be a step in a fairer and more correct direction. What it really looks like from my seat is that petroleum companies are just pushing us all into more reformed grades of fuel and slapping an environmentally friendly sticker on it to make them feel better. This allows them to charge even more to ease their conscience. Again, hurting the small business man (O/O).

 

[greg334]

That’s sort of insulting there. Sorry but we are not really behind anyone, look around. We live in the cleanest industrialize nations, except for Canada, they never got around to dirtying up their back yards to save the world so they are a bit cleaner. We have restored whole forests; Maine is one place that was logged to almost stumps throughout the entire state, Upper Michigan too. Pittsburgh was filthy with gray snow, but look at is now. Our Military base reclamation programs are the best in the world – even the UK can’t compare. Our streams and water ways in comparison to 30 years ago have come a long long way. We are tearing down ****s to allow salmon to reproduce instead of continue to produce that horrible thing they call electricity. Our pollution controls on power plants are the leading the world, look at some plants just in Mexico (talk about a disaster, why can’t they lead for once?).

We are not behind any nation. Actually you need to visit the EPA lab in Ann Arbor or any of the universities who have automotive research programs to see what is really going on. We can’t compete with the Japanese on PVcells, it is about their tax system that give them the edge. We can how ever force a lot of harmonizing of laws and policies in the world before we approach cr*p like UN mandated carbon credits or the Kyoto treaty.

We have a different situation than the EU and Japan. India, Africa, and Asia have no real environmental controls – just look at China’s problems. Go to Africa and see what environmental disasters exist in some of these villages and towns. Some places are really polluted and it is sad to see. Go to India where you have no emission controls and the soot on buildings makes white look dark.

What makes the difference is that the EU governments support the companies and they allow more R&D on mandated issues, for example the German government works with Mercedes in how they can defer taxes when they were working on the Bluetec engine. The EU also promotes diesel in cars and taxes it differently than they do gas.

They didn’t have the concerns until the Green parties got in power in Europe. Until then they didn’t have emission controls on their vehicles. It was the Green party in Germany that forced a lot of changes. I remember the complaints from the Germans when we reduced lead in our fuel, they felt that was not necessary to go through all that because they didn’t. I think you still can get leaded fuel in the EU.

The problem here in this country is that we have a tax system that stifles innovation. You can’t tell me otherwise, work at a company that derives its income from products that come directly from R&D and you will see what I am talking about. I say first fix the tax system, replace it with the Fair Tax, then tackle the EPA, re-charter the EPA to force it to look at economical impact of the country when determining policies and then force states not to restrict access to and from federal roads, like California is doing with their ‘anything made before X time will not be allowed in California’. The APU issue, the no idle issue and all that should not be a state issue if my truck comes from Michigan and I am sitting in LA, it is interstate and telling me that I can’t run a 1964 Mack in California because of it’s age or emission controls that is registered in my state, restricts interstate commerce. The same goes for the LA ports, these are federal ports regulted by federal laws, not states. The state and ports are making laws that restrict access to ports above the mandated security laws.

You do know that most of the Hybrid vehicles out there are more environmentally damaging then my truck?

You do know that most of the people, who drive to work, drive less than 40 miles one way but we don’t embrace two solutions, nuke power and electric cars? Both will fill the gap for 80% of the people in the country.

We made great big steps in diesel emissions by going to electronic controls. Look at the difference between mechanical and electronic injection systems. Much of what was done in 1999 and 2000 with controls has improved things a lot, there was no real need to go to the 2007 emissions over the soot issue because the soot issue is a double edge sword, there is evidence that in close proximity of bus emissions effect people with all kinds of problems, but little in the way of trucks causing the real problems. Most of the research was done in places where trucks are not driving in any real quantity (some overseas where the air quality is really bad), but the EPA and others use the engine as the problem, making blanket policies while not forcing the use of electric mass transit in areas that really need them. AND there is a real consideration that Diesel soot actually counter acts the effect of ‘global warming’ by putting particles in the air that adsorb the heat before it reaches the earth surface.

Again, the oil companies have no control over the EPA, the EPA is out of control and is can not look at any economic impact of it’s policies. It can in fact put into effect policies that stop an industry in its tracks. But the real point is the oil companies. Spend some time seeing how the product is made and ask yourself if going through these added steps that are needed for reformulated gas is profitable? You have some insight of profit and loses on a corporate scale, would producing a product that cost more to make but really needs to be competitive in a market be a good choice for a company to do to make money?

The bottom line is that we can do both, have a clean environment and prosper but not until those things I mentioned are fixed.



Crazy has a good idea, I think it is a matter of programming that would help but again maybe we need to move to a federally mandated BOL with specific information on it.