Trucking News: FMCSA releases final rule on hours of service

[Humble pie]

We didn't have the stupid 14 hour rule. Yes, I used to do my logs with a calculator, never showed more than 15 minutes at a shipper or receiver, etc. Fudged it all the time if needed, but, I used to take a little nap most afternoons when needed and let my body tell me when I was tired rather than some damn tablet on the dash.

Would I recommend going back to that now? No, but it would seem to me to be a lot better if drivers were given the same amount of working time each day as they have now, but do away with the 14 hour clock so those hours could be used more productively and not feel pressured to keep moving when a 30 minute nap would do wonders.

I’m not trying to argue, but if I want a nap now I take one. I do realize that some people run tighter schedules than I do, but most can get up and leave while it’s still dark. I have a lot of time constraints, but never feel like I can’t stop if I want.

Again I am my own boss, so I understand others have someone breathing down there back to get it there. Just because you can stop the 14 doesn’t mean the dispatch isn’t still going to push because the receiver closes at 4 pm.

It would be nice to stop the clock while I wait out a city curfew though. I guess I see some benefits, but some things just don’t have an answer because it’s the nature of the beast.

 

[ironpony]

I’m not trying to argue, but if I want a nap now I take one. I do realize that some people run tighter schedules than I do, but most can get up and leave while it’s still dark. I have a lot of time constraints, but never feel like I can’t stop if I want.

Again I am my own boss, so I understand others have someone breathing down there back to get it there. Just because you can stop the 14 doesn’t mean the dispatch isn’t still going to push because the receiver closes at 4 pm.

It would be nice to stop the clock while I wait out a city curfew though. I guess I see some benefits, but some things just don’t have an answer because it’s the nature of the beast.

Pay is too low?

Book your own loads - you have the power to reject loads below your threshold of tolerance.

Dispatch on your back like a 800 lb go-rilla?

When you dispatch yourself, the only thing constraining your use of available hours is how you decide to spend them.

As long as you're running through the intermediary of a motor carrier that controls any of load planning, dispatch or money, you're going to be on the shitty end of the stick. Your expectations will never meet their offer.

 

[Humble pie]

Pay is too low?

Book your own loads - you have the power to reject loads below your threshold of tolerance.

Dispatch on your back like a 800 lb go-rilla?

When you dispatch yourself, the only thing constraining your use of available hours is how you decide to spend them.

As long as you're running through the intermediary of a motor carrier that controls any of load planning, dispatch or money, you're going to be on the ****ty end of the stick. Your expectations will never meet their offer.

Not everyone can buy a truck. Not everyone wants to buy a truck. Not everyone that does buy a truck are good at business.

 

[Oxbow]

Agreed.

I’m not trying to argue, but if I want a nap now I take one. I do realize that some people run tighter schedules than I do, but most can get up and leave while it’s still dark. I have a lot of time constraints, but never feel like I can’t stop if I want.

Again I am my own boss, so I understand others have someone breathing down there back to get it there. Just because you can stop the 14 doesn’t mean the dispatch isn’t still going to push because the receiver closes at 4 pm.

It would be nice to stop the clock while I wait out a city curfew though. I guess I see some benefits, but some things just don’t have an answer because it’s the nature of the beast.

The flexibility for a nap is part of it, being stuck at a shipper for 5 hours, getting a good 4 hour rest in while waiting, but still having to shut off at 14 sucks. I guess the split could help in this situation though.

 

[ironpony]

Not everyone can buy a truck. Not everyone wants to buy a truck. Not everyone that does buy a truck are good at business.

And you know what? I agree completely.

OTOH, when you're working for the man, you get the deal he's willing to offer.

 

[Humble pie]

And you know what? I agree completely.

OTOH, when you're working for the man, you get the deal he's willing to offer.

Agree. Everything has trade offs

 

[Rigjockey]

And you know what? I agree completely.

OTOH, when you're working for the man, you get the deal he's willing to offer.

You're the man!

 

[Johndeere4020]

We didn't have the stupid 14 hour rule. Yes, I used to do my logs with a calculator, never showed more than 15 minutes at a shipper or receiver, etc. Fudged it all the time if needed, but, I used to take a little nap most afternoons when needed and let my body tell me when I was tired rather than some damn tablet on the dash.

Would I recommend going back to that now? No, but it would seem to me to be a lot better if drivers were given the same amount of working time each day as they have now, but do away with the 14 hour clock so those hours could be used more productively and not feel pressured to keep moving when a 30 minute nap would do wonders.

I’m all for more flexibility, but I’m not sure how you go about giving that flexibility without idiots abusing it and ruining it.

 

[Hillbilly Canuck]

Agreed.

The flexibility for a nap is part of it, being stuck at a shipper for 5 hours, getting a good 4 hour rest in while waiting, but still having to shut off at 14 sucks. I guess the split could help in this situation though.

What this guy says. If you're logging on duty sitting at these docks you're only boning yourself in the end. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or 40 years experience to figure that out.

 

[ironpony]

What this guy says. If you're logging on duty sitting at these docks you're only boning yourself in the end. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or 40 years experience to figure that out.

It is legal to log off duty waiting at a dock down here...

 

[Johndeere4020]

It is legal to log off duty waiting at a dock down here...

But it doesn’t extend your 14 hour clock.

 

[Hillbilly Canuck]

But it doesn’t extend your 14 hour clock.

It does here but even if it doesn't you're eating off that 70 for nothing.

 

[Johndeere4020]

It does here but even if it doesn't you're eating off that 70 for nothing.

Yeah I guess, but why should someone have to log off duty when just for the chance to work more than 70 hours in 8 days? Maybe if the shippers and receivers would unload the trucks in a timely manner you could make the same money and not run so hard.

 

[Hillbilly Canuck]

Yeah I guess, but why should someone have to log off duty when just for the chance to work more than 70 hours in 8 days? Maybe if the shippers and receivers would unload the trucks in a timely manner you could make the same money and not run so hard.

It doesn't affect me as much now. I rarely come anywhere near my 70 but once upon a time it was helpful just to have it to make sure you got home or got close enough you could ditch that 8th day and go to 7/70. You're not working any more or less it's just how you choose to colour the comic book.

If the union mook is gonna take 6 hours to do twenty minutes of work no amount of bitching on site is gonna help that. If the 14 is boogered it's boogered and today is gone but why screw yourself days from now on his account?

 

[Oxbow]

I’m all for more flexibility, but I’m not sure how you go about giving that flexibility without idiots abusing it and ruining it.

Years ago when I was OTR I had wished that they would give you 15 hours of working time in any 24 hour period.....use it as you like. I know....pipe dream. The 70 in 8 days bit me in the ass too. I never stayed out longer than 14 days, but I would have much preferred to work good and steady for 10 and be home rather than getting stuck out on the road for a couple of days and waste your off time away from home. Of course truth be told I never did that due to creative writing. I was working for myself though, so the only one pushing me was me.

Those days are long-gone and probably for the better with the caliber of entry folks that are more typical today, and the increased volume of traffic. When I speak of the caliber of new drivers, I don't mean that they are necessarily bad people, just that they typically don't have experience around construction or on the farm as most of us once did prior to going over the road. There was no such thing as CDL schools that I recall back then.

 

[Oxbow]

Funny thing about me personally is that I had to beat myself like a race horse to get more than 500 miles the first day. After a couple of days 800 to 1,000 felt good. Get home and take a few days off and start all over again.

 

[Mike]

OTOH, when you're working for the man, you get the deal he's willing to offer.

Problem is, "the man" in many cases pays very well in contrast to the bulk of the companies in the industry, yet still struggle to fill seats while the masses flock to companies that pay crap.

 

[Humble pie]

The 70 in 8 days bit me in the ass too. I never stayed out longer than 14 days,

That’s what I wish they would do away with. 70/7 is much better.

 

[Mike]

That’s what I wish they would do away with. 70/7 is much better.

The 70 is my biggest issue. I am fine with the way the HOS were. No problem at all with the 14 hour clock as I think that is more than enough hours to work. That said, if I want to stay out for two weeks, I need to be able to work every day of those two weeks rather than get strangled by the 70 hour clock that forces me to sit around in my truck where I am clearly not getting any rest.

 

[ironpony]

The 70 is my biggest issue. I am fine with the way the HOS were. No problem at all with the 14 hour clock as I think that is more than enough hours to work. That said, if I want to stay out for two weeks, I need to be able to work every day of those two weeks rather than get strangled by the 70 hour clock that forces me to sit around in my truck where I am clearly not getting any rest.

Use recap hours, no one says you must take a reset. You do recall how that works?