FMCSA releases final rule on hours of service

[Mike]

A final rule that promises to add flexibility to the hours-of-service regulations was announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Thursday, May 14.

The final rule includes four major changes.

• The on-duty limits for short-haul operations will increase from 12 to 14 hours and from 100 air-miles to 150.
• The adverse driving provision will extend the driving window two hours if the driver encounters adverse driving conditions.
• In addition to splits of 10/0 and 8/2, drivers will be allowed a split-sleeper option of 7/3. Additionally, the qualifying period doesn’t count against the 14-hour window.
• The 30-minute break provision will be modified to require the break after eight hours of consecutive driving time (instead of on-duty time) and allows an on-duty/not driving period to qualify as the required break.
• U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the final rule exhibited that the administration had listened to the calls from truck drivers that putting more control in their hands regarding when they should and shouldn’t drive would increase safety.

 

[Mike]

I know we have a thread about this already, but I either needed to completely edit it or just post something new that could be linked out to social media.

 

[Hammer166]

And all the drivers with reading comprehension issues are already griping it doesn't do exactly what it does do, which is give us some much needed flexibility with pausing our 14 hour clock.

 

[Mike]

And all the drivers with reading comprehension issues are already griping it doesn't do exactly what it does do, which is give us some much needed flexibility with pausing our 14 hour clock.

I'm on the fence about the whole thing at this point. I was totally against it, because rates are the driving factor in how I look at any rule changes in this industry. None of this will help rates, only potentially hurt them. The flexibility could help on occasion, but I can't remember really needing any of this to get my job done.

What will happen, IMO, is drivers and dispatchers will use this to push the days longer and just try to get a little more work time each and every day.

Tried to look at this in every possible positive way I can, but still see it as a net loss for Small Carriers and Drivers and a win for shippers, receivers, brokers, and fleets that want any tool possible to push their drivers more.

 

[Johndeere4020]

How many of you drove before the rules changed in 03?

 

[Mike]

How many of you drove before the rules changed in 03?

I did. But to be honest, never really paid much attention to the rules back then. It was on paper, and I drove mostly for folks who couldn't care less about anything other than fuel stops matching up for the correct day. Most of my logs looked like 5 on the drive line, then 4 on the sleeper line, and so on and so on.

Many say the HOS back then was better, but I think we would have had to experienced it under the current ELD mandate to really get a true feel for what it would be like.

 

[Johndeere4020]

I did. But to be honest, never really paid much attention to the rules back then. It was on paper, and I drove mostly for folks who couldn't care less about anything other than fuel stops matching up for the correct day. Most of my logs looked like 5 on the drive line, then 4 on the sleeper line, and so on and so on.

Many say the HOS back then was better, but I think we would have had to experienced it under the current ELD mandate to really get a true feel for what it would be like.

The problem as I see it was the way drivers behaved under those rules and would again. We used to stop our clocks all the time just to run more. I could handle it but many couldn’t and it led to this. Unfortunately if we gave drivers that much flexibility again it would be a mess, maybe worse than it was.

 

[Oxbow]

How many of you drove before the rules changed in 03?

I did.

 

[ironpony]

None of the latest messy revision to the current mess takes effect until mid-September.

 

[Johndeere4020]

I did.

I know you did, waaay before me. @Wore Out did, @AllabouttheBS did, lots of others I’ve left out. Back then did you ever stop your clock to stretch your day when you probably shouldn’t have?

 

[ironpony]

I know you did, waaay before me. @Wore Out did, @AllabouttheBS did, lots of others I’ve left out. Back then did you ever stop your clock to stretch your day when you probably shouldn’t have?

Did you ever have trouble remembering which logbook was the right one?

 

[Humble pie]

The problem as I see it was the way drivers behaved under those rules and would again. We used to stop our clocks all the time just to run more. I could handle it but many couldn’t and it led to this. Unfortunately if we gave drivers that much flexibility again it would be a mess, maybe worse than it was.

I did. I remember stopping the clock and fudging 15 minutes on either side of it. You could easily gain a couple hours a day. I also remember logging by miles and not hours. 600 miles took 10 hours every day regardless of whether you were on the east coast or west Texas. I also remember sleeping across the steering wheel and being wore out all the time.

 

[Humble pie]

Did you ever have trouble remembering which logbook was the right one?

No. It was cheaper to have no log book Or one not current than a false log book.

 

[Johndeere4020]

I did. I remember stopping the clock and fudging 15 minutes on either side of it. You could easily gain a couple hours a day. I also remember logging by miles and not hours. 600 miles took 10 hours every day regardless of whether you were on the east coast or west Texas. I also remember sleeping across the steering wheel and being wore out all the time.

Yep we all did, the problem was guys would lump freight or work the dock and log it off duty. Then head out towards their destination, when the got tired instead of stopping and resting they would push on because dispatch was pushing them. Guys couldn’t handle it so we lost it.

 

[Humble pie]

Yep we all did, the problem was guys would lump freight or work the dock and log it off duty. Then head out towards their destination, when the got tired instead of stopping and resting they would push on because dispatch was pushing them. Guys couldn’t handle it so we lost it.

I was a green driver and fell for all the routine dispatch BS.

Then as a business owner I see things a lot different. Driver’s hours are a commodity. The more they restrict my time the more valuable it becomes. As a driver I don’t like strict rules, but as a business owner I see financial benefits to them.

 

[Mike]

Then as a business owner I see things a lot different. Driver’s hours are a commodity. The more they restrict my time the more valuable it becomes. As a driver I don’t like strict rules, but as a business owner I see financial benefits to them.

Bingo!

In the end, over time, this reflects on company drivers as well. They can either have the flexibility and lower per mile rates, or the carrier can become more profitable and the better ones will pay the driver more for what they do, rather than push them to simply work more.

 

[Humble pie]

Bingo!

In the end, over time, this reflects on company drivers as well. They can either have the flexibility and lower per mile rates, or the carrier can become more profitable and the better ones will pay the driver more for what they do, rather than push them to simply work more.

I’ve said before that this is the only business where people protest for the right to work more for less money.

 

[Johndeere4020]

Bingo!

In the end, over time, this reflects on company drivers as well. They can either have the flexibility and lower per mile rates, or the carrier can become more profitable and the better ones will pay the driver more for what they do, rather than push them to simply work more.

I agree with both of you in principle, but over that last 17 years rules have gotten tighter but pay hasn’t followed.

 

[Humble pie]

I agree with both of you in principle, but over that last 17 years rules have gotten tighter but pay hasn’t followed.

That is true. The ELD did have a significant impact on pay in the beginning. That leveled off somewhat. I’m not a fan of forcing the eld, but again there was a financial upside to the carrier. The drivers took a hit financially in the beginning, but driver pay increased to match the decrease in productivity.

Overall I don’t think driver pay will ever be where it needs to be. Until they make certain changes to make it more difficult to become a professional driver. However nobody has interest in that. The industry is focused on being able to hire more drivers.

You have to have a lot of training to be an airline pilot, yet virtually none is required to be a truck driver. The truck driver has far more interaction with the general public than the pilot does.

 

[Oxbow]

I know you did, waaay before me. @Wore Out did, @AllabouttheBS did, lots of others I’ve left out. Back then did you ever stop your clock to stretch your day when you probably shouldn’t have?

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.