HOS Changes Effective February 27, 2013

OntarioVanMan · Feb 10, 2013

You knew the Hours of Service rule change was coming, and now it’s almost here. The new Hours of Service rules take effect on February 27, 2013, and the compliance date of selected provisions is July 1, 2013. Even though trucking groups have petitioned the agency to hold off on implementing the HOS changes, it appears the FMCSA is moving full-steam ahead with its plan.

With all the recent changes to the CSA program, it’s hard to keep the facts straight.

What are the biggest changes?
•A Restart, or 34-hour restart, can only be used once a week (168 hours) and must include two full consecutive periods of rest between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
“The purpose of the rule change is to limit work to no more than 70 hours a week on average. Working long daily and weekly hours on a continuing basis is associated with chronic fatigue, a high risk of crashes, and a number of serious chronic health conditions in drivers,” the FMCSA states.

•Restart must include 2 night periods between 1:00-5:00 a.m, NOT two rest periods between midnight and 6:00 a.m.
•A driver working 60 hours in 7 days and would not need a restart to start working again on the 8th day. The driver, therefore, would not need to use the restart provision.

•No driving if it has been more than 8 hours since your last break of 30 or more minutes.

Read more at HOS Changes Effective February 27, 2013 | CDL Life

layoutshooter · Feb 10, 2013

So much for listening to drivers, not that anyone with half a brain ever believed that their comments or input were going to be paid attention too. Just another day closer to putting me out of business. Got love these "progressives" that are in charge now.

The 34 reset requirement will make our operation MORE dangerous and more prone to fatigue, not that they care. The last big change did that as well.

denny2010 · Feb 10, 2013

So glad my time is ending....no more stupid DOT rules.....can you say punch in/ punch out and go home...

layoutshooter · Feb 10, 2013

denny2010 said:
So glad my time is ending....no more stupid DOT rules.....can you say punch in/ punch out and go home...

Glad you are getting out. I don't know about the punch in/punch out part. I always found punching that clock kinda demeaning. That's just me though. I have not punched a clock since June of 1976. I hope I never have to again.

Ragman · Feb 10, 2013

layoutshooter said:
I have not punched a clock since June of 1976. I hope I never have to again.

blizzard2014 · Feb 10, 2013

layoutshooter said:
Glad you are getting out. I don't know about the punch in/punch out part. I always found punching that clock kinda demeaning. That's just me though. I have not punched a clock since June of 1976. I hope I never have to again.

You stopped punching a time clock before I was even born. lol

layoutshooter · Feb 10, 2013

Ragman said:

Yeah, the last time I did punch a clock I was wearing a hard hat and steel toes.

It was May of 1976. I punched out of Great Lakes Steel for the last time. I did like the work. I was track labor and a move up switchman. I enjoyed the railroad. Hard work that kept you in shape but work that required thinking at the same time.

From there I went to Ft. Meade, Maryland for 3 weeks of processing and then over to England for 5 years.

jimlookup · Feb 10, 2013

There may be somthing going on here.
A month ago LaHood announced he was continuing as the transportation secratary for another term and looking forward to continuing his programs.
There was absolutly no response from Obama's people.
A few days ago he announced he would not be back but was veyr proud of his programs, especially in the driver fatigue area.
It appears he was never invited back and the driver fatigue mess could be one of the reasons.
LaHood and Ferraro (FMCSA head) have been a disaster. I don't know if anything constructive, in any area of transportation, has been done in the last 4 years. Ferraro has lied and misled, disregarded the spirit of court orders and sought rules that invaded peoples privacy.
Protocol generally precludes lame ducks (LaHood and Farraro) from creating programs that may may not be part of a new administrations agenda. Hope that's happening here.

BigBadBill · Feb 10, 2013

Time to open you minds and look at this from a different prospective.

You can run your business in a way that you never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money. What I have noticed is that those that this will not effect make better money than the ones that depend on the restart.

Use this as a way to change your business, work less, make more and wonder why you didn't make the change years ago. I can't remember the last time I heard someone saying they needed a restart.

layoutshooter · Feb 10, 2013

BigBadBill said:
Time to open you minds and look at this from a different prospective.

You can run your business in a way that you never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money. What I have noticed is that those that this will not effect make better money than the ones that depend on the restart.

Use this as a way to change your business, work less, make more and wonder why you didn't make the change years ago. I can't remember the last time I heard someone saying they needed a restart.

As long as I have this truck we will need 34 hour resets. We had to do several last year. One this year so far. Why? Guarding loads eats hours. IF and WHEN I get into a different type of truck that may change, for now, this is going to affect us.

blizzard2014 · Feb 10, 2013

Red is right. If the rates were high enough in the trucking industry it wouldn't be about miles but more about the quality of the loads. I used to work an average of 100 hours a week when I was running for Schneider and MS Carriers. I lived on the road and rarely took hometime. I agree with the statement of cumulative fatigue. I know this to be a fact because everytime I did go home for a week I would sleep like crazy for the first few days. Your body can only take so much and then it needs to recouperate. I remember the days of hearing drivers bag about how they did 5 thousand miles a week as a solo to get a bigger paycheck. It shouldn't be about miles anymore. They should just pay drivers by the hour and not push them to driver fatigued to make an extra 100 to 200 dollars a week. That's my take on all of this.

Dynamite 1 · Feb 10, 2013

The only problem with hourly pay is they are not gonna want to pay 50 bucks an hour or more. I wont work for any less.

ATeam · Feb 10, 2013

BigBadBill said:
You can run your business in a way that you never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money. What I have noticed is that those that this will not effect make better money than the ones that depend on the restart.

I'd like to hear more about that. How exactly can I run my business in a way that I never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money?

scottm4211 · Feb 10, 2013

ATeam said:
I'd like to hear more about that. How exactly can I run my business in a way that I never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money?

Open a health club?

BigBadBill · Feb 10, 2013

layoutshooter said:
As long as I have this truck we will need 34 hour resets. We had to do several last year. One this year so far. Why? Guarding loads eats hours. IF and WHEN I get into a different type of truck that may change, for now, this is going to affect us.

Based on what you just said this will not effect you. This is not removing the restart just some little changes AND not allow multiple in a week. Taking several and one in 6-weeks is hardly going to be a issue for you.

ATeam · Feb 10, 2013

scottm4211 said:
Open a health club?

That's funny, but I'm serious. In trucking, how exactly can I run my business in a way that I never have to worry about the 34-hour restart and still make good money?

On a side note, one thing Diane and I learned in trucking is the absolute importance of getting the rest you need. We learned how to take naps in the middle of the day and how refreshing they can be. We learned how safety and productivity are well served by getting good rest.

A nice article about that very thing appeared in the New York Times yesterday. Peple who are interested can read it here: Relax! You'll Be More Productive

zorry · Feb 10, 2013

I ran my first 20-25 years w/o a 34 hr reset.
You get your 60 hrs every 7 days or 70 hrs every 8 days.
Do your recap.
Not hard to do.
The new rules will have more people resorting to this old fashion method. A 34 hr restart was never required. Just an easy option.
Don't burn your hours hauling lower paying freight and you'll do just fine. This last comment was not directed at Phil. He figured this out years ago.

layoutshooter · Feb 10, 2013

There are times when we run several guarded loads, back to back, when resets were needed. On two occasions we have had "guard trucks" come out and babysit our truck while we left for a motel to do a reset.

Lately we have not been doing as many long term guarded loads, part luck, part not taking them.

zorry · Feb 10, 2013

Also, teams need to think out their hours if the hours get out of whack.
I met a team that was shut down with one driver out of hours and the other having 20.
Particularly if you have a short run over a two day period. We make sure we both get a reset under the current rules even if it means adjustment to our regular shifts.