Hours Law Rolled Back

pearlpro · Dec 10, 2014

Truck Drivers

It would roll back safety rules aimed at ensuring truck drivers get enough rest, ignoring the pleas of consumer activists and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

The provision would temporarily suspend rules that took effect last year while a study is conducted about the number of trucks driven on congested roads. Under the change, truckers would be able to work as many as 82 hours a week.

I believe this was passed today....

cheri1122 · Dec 10, 2014

Lovely - but why haven't we got the same response to the change in split sleeper rules, after 10 years of complaining that it's counterproductive?

beachbum · Dec 10, 2014

I say get rid of the 34!hour restart and go back to recap only. Wait if you do that then everyone would complain that they might have to sit for a day or two before they got hours back to drive.

You see, there is no perfect way to do this. Now if they would get rid of the 1 to 5 am part of the 34 hour restart everything would be fine.

Greg · Dec 10, 2014

beachbum said:
You see, there is no perfect way to do this. Now if they would get rid of the 1 to 5 am part of the 34 hour restart everything would be fine.

Agreed. Any 34 hours should be acceptable.

mrgoodtude · Dec 10, 2014

beachbum said:
You see, there is no perfect way to do this. Now if they would get rid of the 1 to 5 am part of the 34 hour restart everything would be fine.

Don't know about the rest but, believe this was included in the Omnibus Bill.

TeamCaffee · Dec 10, 2014

This is how I see is. There is becoming a REAL driver shortage so instead of increasing pay and pay per mile lets let the current drivers work longer hours to make up for the shortages. Another proposal I read for CR England is to let trainees start driving team on a CDL Permit. The key word is team as this would mean trainer would have to sleep while trainee on a permit would drive on their own and then after their eleven the trainer would come out of sleeper and driver their eleven hours. Each time congress LETS us work more hours or lets a company let new drivers drive before ready hurts our potential of increased revenue with out increased income. We need to quit working more hours and get paid for what we do.

HOS SUSPENSION included in $1 Trillion Omnibus Bill ...

A provision that would suspend parts of an hours of service rule has been included in a $1 trillion bill congressional lawmakers plan to advance to President Obama’s desk this month to keep federal agencies funded through fiscal 2015.
The provision, offered by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), would suspend for a year a requirement that drivers take off two consecutive periods of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. during a 34-hour restart. It also would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to provide Congress with an extensive study detailing the rule’s safety benefits.
The bill language says that within 90 days of the enactment of the act, "the Secretary shall initiate a naturalistic study of the operational, safety, health and fatigue impacts of the restart provisions."

American Trucking Associations’ leadership had urged its membership to press federal representatives to back the HOS suspension language in the omnibus.
"We're pleased that the Collins language is included in the fiscal 2015 omnibus spending bill. We now urge the House and Senate to pass the overall bill and that the president sign it into law," said Sean McNally, ATA vice president of public affairs.
The bill also would provide $500 million for U.S. Department of Transportation infrastructure grants that have become popular with states and municipalities.

pelicn · Dec 10, 2014

I also read the article about C R England. If they are allowed to do that, it will only be a matter of time before the other big box training companies want the same thing.

jelliott · Dec 10, 2014

I hope the restart rule gets suspended. I think the 1 to 5am rule is over bearing for drivers and companies and I don't think it has any safety enhancement. As well why would you limit the number of 34 hour restarts that a driver can use? If they enhance safety why would you limit them?

xmudman · Dec 10, 2014

Uh, I may be a lowly van driver, but wouldn't letting a trainee drive with a sleeping trainer defeat the purpose of a learner's permit in the first place?

beachbum · Dec 10, 2014

jelliott said:
I hope the restart rule gets suspended. I think the 1 to 5am rule is over bearing for drivers and companies and I don't think it has any safety enhancement. As well why would you limit the number of 34 hour restarts that a driver can use? If they enhance safety why would you limit them?

It looks like the once per week is also suspended from what I just read on another website

The above said, doesn't any change to the HOS need to be by regulation and doesn't the FMCSA need to write a reg to suspend any part of the HOS rule.

Didn't Congress tell the FMCSA to require all trucks to have a ELD by now and we still don't have a regulation.

blackpup · Dec 10, 2014

xmudman said:
Uh, I may be a lowly van driver, but wouldn't letting a trainee drive with a sleeping trainer defeat the purpose of a learner's permit in the first place?

These are the drivers for whom, C R England is seeking an exemption .

To drivers who have passed both the written exam and the skills test. It is only the drivers who have passed both that the exemption would apply to.

In their application, C.R. England points to their desperate need for new drivers while claiming that under the current system it is too expensive to get new drivers back to their local DMVs to pick up their newly-earned CDLs. If new drivers and driver trainers could effectively run as a team, it would cut the costs significantly.

CREngland Wants Exemption From Student Driver Rules

jimmy

mrgoodtude · Dec 10, 2014

blackpup said:
These are the drivers for whom, C R England is seeking an exemption .

To drivers who have passed both the written exam and the skills test. It is only the drivers who have passed both that the exemption would apply to.

In their application, C.R. England points to their desperate need for new drivers while claiming that under the current system it is too expensive to get new drivers back to their local DMVs to pick up their newly-earned CDLs. If new drivers and driver trainers could effectively run as a team, it would cut the costs significantly.

CREngland Wants Exemption From Student Driver Rules

jimmy

The company is the worst of the worst. Don't be surprised tho if it gets pushed thru.
Dan England has some long tentacles, having been the Chairman of the TCA (Truckload Carriers Assn) and the ATA (American trucking Assoc). He knows how to side step a few land mines.

Tennesseahawk · Dec 10, 2014

mrgoodtude said:
The company is the worst of the worst. Don't be surprised tho if it gets pushed thru.
Dan England has some long tentacles, having been the Chairman of the TCA (Truckload Carriers Assn) and the ATA (American trucking Assoc). He knows how to side step a few land mines.

But he doesn't know how to retain drivers.

cheri1122 · Dec 10, 2014

Tennesseahawk said:
But he doesn't know how to retain drivers.

Of course he knows how, but it's become a badge of honor to keep every penny possible from trickling down to those who work for a living.

Tennesseahawk · Dec 11, 2014

cheri1122 said:
Of course he knows how, but it's become a badge of honor to keep every penny possible from trickling down to those who work for a living.

Let me rephrase... He doesn't know how to retain drivers, while treating them like crap. He is effectively out-Hunting JB.

davekc · Dec 11, 2014

Not sure there is a shortage of drivers. Just a shortage of good ones. CR England is just getting their ducks in a row. Swift will be right behind them due to our new amnesty policy. Illegals will be able to jump right in now for these jobs. "They can't go home to get their license" is just a smokescreen for this. They have to have a plan to address the many that are forced out with retirement, low pay, and sleep apnea issues. Another one of those "follow the money".

rollincoal · Dec 12, 2014

They should have left well enough alone. I've always been a big fan of restrictive rules that actually screwed up loads getting covered and kept trucks out of the market. Manufactured shortages of trucks and drivers by the government are just as good for business as acts of nature. Really though nothing has changed this won't take effect for a while, is not a permenant change to the regulation, and may not even get past the president's desk.