New US regulations could leave industry short a million drivers by 2016: FTR Associates

Mike

Well-Known Member
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An incoming regulatory tsunami could leave the American trucking industry in need of a million drivers by 2016, if all the new regulations currently being considered are implemented.

That startling assessment was made by Noel Perry, senior consultant with FTR Associates, during the industry forecaster’s State of Freight webinar Thursday.

The webinar focused predominantly on the impact of the new hours-of-service rules, which went into effect July 1. “The world is still spinning, that of course is the good news,” Jonathan Starks, director of transportation analysis, said when kicking off the discussion. “But that doesn’t mean things haven’t changed.”

He said weakening freight growth may have limited the impact of the new rules, which reduce the amount of driving truckers can legally do. Specifically, the new rules require drivers to take a half-hour break within the first eight hours, include two overnight periods in their 34-hour reset, and use the reset provision only once in any seven-day period.

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This is not the time to send them away and ask them to come back in another four hours because they missed their appointment. They won’t accept loads to shippers that hold them at the docks,” Perry warned. “This is a great time to be thinking about cooperative programs with your core carriers to match, beforehand, the availability of equipment and loads.”




This is the biggest thing I see. Yeah we get detention, but addressing wasted dock time would further in the direction of improving utilization. This can only happen when carriers be they one truck, ten trucks, one hundred trucks or a thousand refuse to deal with people holding equipment for hours.

As for the continuing myth of driver shortage:hump: somebody else. I do not buy into it.
 
As for the continuing myth of driver shortage:hump: somebody else. I do not buy into it.
I don't either.

As long as there are carriers willing to haul freight for a dollar a mile, and drivers willing to put up with the crap that's dumped on them by mega-fleets who micro-manage & nit-pick everything they do, there's no shortage of drivers & there's no shortage of freight capacity.
 
People..... the Office Monkeys believe that the paperwork that gets exchanged between them is the sum total of all business. The commodities and the delivery system barely register. As a matter of fact they regard such menial things as a hinderance to their running of things. They would be much happier if the whole world were a computer program that we didn't intrude on.
 
This article is just a bunch of bullshit!

For 60 years this industry did fine with....
10 hours driving
No reset
Driver recouping hours by recap only.

Now....We still have a reset and we still have 11 hours of driving time and we can still recap, and everybody's acting like it's the end of the world.


We're still WAY better off than we were with the original rules, so.....Suck it up girls, it's no big deal!
 
This article is just a bunch of bullshit!

For 60 years this industry did fine with....
10 hours driving
No reset
Driver recouping hours by recap only.

Now....We still have a reset and we still have 11 hours of driving time and we can still recap, and everybody's acting like it's the end of the world.


We're still WAY better off than we were with the original rules,
Very true! I have a better rest and quality of life from 10 solid hours off.
 
As far as the 1/2 hour mandated rest, I get plenty of it from sitting at shippers docks. There will be no government intervention on this. IMO. If I was an owner of a trucking company, I would want restitution for my detained equipment and driver and punitive money. This is where it comes down to standing together.

One cannot charge these fees alone. Another carrier will step in and do it cheaper. We need collusion without being detected as collusion like the oil companies. We all agree on a MINIMUM rate. If FMCSA is so perfect let safety and on time performance command the highest bid.
 
Very true! I have a better rest and quality of life from 10 solid hours off.


That's the only thing that I would change if I could....
To me, 10 hours off is a pain in the ass, I liked the old 8 hours off better.
But, we're stuck with it like it is for now.......At least until the morons decide that we need 3 hours of driving and 3 hours of on duty not driving with a 2 hour break, for a total of 8 hours and not less than 7 days off between shifts.

Then PATT and CRASH will sue because we're still working too many hours!

And a whole bunch of drivers will agree with whatever the government decides.

Our countrymen are pathetic.
 
Yes all these regulations are hurting carriers.Last time I filled out an online application was like 2 yrs ago an carriers are still contacting me either by phone or textes saying they still have my application on file.Just got a call a few days ago.Along with the HOS,CSA companies are also stricted.Anymore you almost have to have a perfect MVR.I see drivers all the time that can't get hired due to a ticket or felony that happened 10 plus yrs ago and they changed their life around.Companies don't wanna hear what you have to say.They see that on your recor and you're automatically a bad risk.Many good ppl out their that would be a great asset but carriers won't give them a chance.That DAC REPORT should be abolished COMPLETELY.Carriers do blackball drivers and they get away with it.In this industry there is no such thing innocent till proven guilty.Getting hired is alot harder then 10 yrs ago.Far as all the regulations goes,if everyone united as one,we would win and get all these laws more reasonable and have more common since with them.What about the lastest roadcheck,anybody see how many violations an OOS were issued?I'll put it this way,TOO MANY.Think Texas beat all the other states overall an did'nt hear of anyone passing.They received alot of revenue money those 3 days.The dot is too hard on the drivers.Concerning the HOS,many drivers get violated if the book is not perfect an thats a crock of pig shit.Just let them go.
 
Hell I couldn't find one of the checkpoints.

But looking at TX numbers only 1 in 10 with a violation were ticketed.



http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/media_and_communications/pr070513.htm

Approximately 21 percent (1,963) of the 18-wheelers, buses and other commercial vehicles inspected were placed out of service for a variety of safety violations until appropriate repairs can be made. Among the most common infractions that led to out-of-service violations were issues with brakes and defective vehicle lighting.

Additionally, drivers were checked for compliance with state and federal laws, and 248 drivers were placed out of service. Among the violations were improper logging of duty time, driving over the maximum number of hours, and failing to have the proper type of driver license for the vehicle being driven.

In all, DPS issued 2,800 citations and more than 26,000 warnings.



Now I am making an assumption all warnings were counted including multiple warnings to the same vehicle/operator. It's the only way those numbers work out. But if their goal was revenue wouldn't those numbers be backwards? Letting 9 out of 10 drivers of with warnings instead of tickets sure did cut into that revenue.

2 out of 10 (21%) is about what I see just walking through the average lot of a truckstop, or shipper.
 
Hell I couldn't find one of the checkpoints.

But looking at TX numbers only 1 in 10 with a violation were ticketed.



http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/media_and_communications/pr070513.htm

Approximately 21 percent (1,963) of the 18-wheelers, buses and other commercial vehicles inspected were placed out of service for a variety of safety violations until appropriate repairs can be made. Among the most common infractions that led to out-of-service violations were issues with brakes and defective vehicle lighting.

Additionally, drivers were checked for compliance with state and federal laws, and 248 drivers were placed out of service. Among the violations were improper logging of duty time, driving over the maximum number of hours, and failing to have the proper type of driver license for the vehicle being driven.

In all, DPS issued 2,800 citations and more than 26,000 warnings.



Now I am making an assumption all warnings were counted including multiple warnings to the same vehicle/operator. It's the only way those numbers work out. But if their goal was revenue wouldn't those numbers be backwards? Letting 9 out of 10 drivers of with warnings instead of tickets sure did cut into that revenue.

2 out of 10 (21%) is about what I see just walking through the average lot of a truckstop, or shipper.
It's all about revenue as I see it from the first day the laws were implemented.My point is many of the warnings were just plain out of nitpicking.Where is the percentage for the drivers that passed or did the DOT have a meeting and voted to fail all the drivers.Also does CSA warnings go against your CSA score?
 
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Sorry to answer your question 9200 were inspected 1963 were in violation. The inverse of that is 7237 were good to go or roughly 79%.


Ok how would you punish someone violating the law on the road?
 
Ok how would you punish someone violating the law on the road?
That depends what I see as a violation on the road.If their speeding a few miles over I might give them a verbal warning .If a driver is say a slight bit over his hrs im going to tell him to find a safe haven and let it go.Drivers put up with awhole lot of abuse these days.Cut them some slack.It all depends how severe the violation is.Im not going to issue tickets and warnings because im a cop and want the ppl to know im the power.
 
But you would issue tickets for egregious acts? Like say a wheel seal that is obviously days or weeks old? A brake chamber that is rusted solid? A guy that left Cali yesterday and your in Orange Tx 20 hours later?

Those officers felt 9 out of 10 drivers only warranted warnings. Could it be possible that 1 out of 10 deserved the ticket?
 
But you would issue tickets for egregious acts? Like say a wheel seal that is obviously days or weeks old? A brake chamber that is rusted solid? A guy that left Cali yesterday and your in Orange Tx 20 hours later?

Those officers felt 9 out of 10 drivers only warranted warnings. Could it be possible that 1 out of 10 deserved the ticket?

I'm not saying some did'nt deserve tickets.Some drivers don't even deserve the privledge to drive.But you know as well as I do Texas likes to pick on trk drivers.Many states are right behind them too.Four wheelers are far worse then we are,go pick on them once in a while.Here im minding my own busness not breaking any laws and a TX state trooper pulls me just to see my logs paperwork ect.Many officers don't have any valid reasons to pull a trk driver over but they do causing the driver to lose hours,maybe be late for a load because that officer is spening an hr trying to find a violation.Happened to me in TX and KY.Not late but lost drive time thanks to them.
 

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