Trump administration ease rules limiting truck driver hours

SF Gate ^ | 5/14/20 | David Koenig

[Libloather]

The Trump administration eased rules Thursday that limit working hours for truck drivers, and the changes brought immediate protests from labor and safety groups.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration extended the maximum working day for short-haul drivers from 12 hours to 14 hours and expanded how far they can drive in a day. The agency said this will let truckers make more deliveries.

For long-haul drivers, the regulator will let work other than driving - such as loading or unloading, filling out paperwork, or communicating with an employer or customer - count toward a mandatory 30-minute break after eight hours of driving. Currently drivers must go off-duty during breaks.

The current limit of 11 hours of driving time in a work day was unchanged.

[Libloather]

Git er done.

[dp0622]

Yeah work counting is your break time is “get er done”!! :)

But for the drivers it’s “get us screwed!!” :)

This is wrong.

And dangerous.

[dp0622]

I’m sure i’ll catch hell for that opinion.

But we’re not the Borg, like dems.

I thought that was what made us so different.

There’s gotta be a better compromise.

[21twelve]

There was some youtube guy that got stuck behind a truck picking up bales of recycled material. He was complaining because they had to adjust the other truck’s load a few times (weight and axle ratios or something). Then a bale fell and made a mess that had to be cleaned up.

He said something like “And I have to stay in the truck so when they are ready I can drive in. But this is considered “working” so it eats into my driving time - and it’s been 45 minutes already!”

I have no idea if that is true - but it sure sounded like it.

[Leaning Right]

> This is wrong. And dangerous. <

I agree. So loading and unloading cargo is now considered to be “break time”. Who came up with these new rules? This actually might be funny if -as you noted - it weren’t also dangerous.

I would like to see the new-rules guy spend his down time at work moving 50 pound boxes around. Maybe that would give him a new perspective on this situation.

[matt04]

Probably true. I know someone who works for a grocery warehouse. They were having issues with weights and wasting time to shift pallets or cut items from a delivery because of a few hundred pounds extra in the trailer in some cases and the state they were in wasn’t keen on ignoring critical loads that were overweight by even a few hundred pounds.

[Alberta's Child]

I’m pretty sure the “loading and unloading” refers to the time a driver spends doing nothing while the CUSTOMER does the loading/unloading.

This is called “detention time” in the trucking industry, and it’s a problem that seriously reduces the efficiency of the industry. A driver can only be considered “on duty” for a maximum of 14 hours a day, and when it takes a customer four hours to unload a truck that should be done in two hours, the driver loses two hours of time on the road. This is a huge burden on the driver in an industry where they are typically paid by the mile, not by hour.

[CIB-173RDABN]

But for the drivers it’s “get us screwed!!” :)

—
Really?

I am not a truck driver but as I understand it many get paid by the mile. The more miles driven the more they make. This is an incentive to drive longer then the regulation allows and it is an incentive to not take 30 min breaks.

So what it boils down to they are not mandating anyone drive longer or skip their breaks only that they will not be fined if they do.

I will wait to hear from independent truck drivers to hear if this is good or bad.

[CIB-173RDABN]

So loading and unloading cargo is now considered to be “break time”

—

I am not a truck driver but are you telling me the driver is the one that loads and unloads the trucks?

I thought one of two things.

First there are two parts to a truck, the cab and the load. I thought the truck driver picked up a trailer and was off, or reverse drops a trailer off and picks up another one.

I can see an independent might need to wait while the trailer was being loaded, but again I ask, does the driver do this or do the warehouse workers do it?

If the driver is not doing it, what is he (or she) doing while it is being loaded? Could it be they are taking a break?

---

Many of us are quick to offer opinions when we do not know what we are talking about. In this case I am as ignorant as most. Perhaps a real live truck driver can offer some information.

[oldvirginian]

“. So loading and unloading cargo is now considered to be “break time”. Who came up with these new rules? This actually might be funny if -as you noted - it weren’t also dangerous.”

Back in the day of paper logs we always counted anything other than driving as bunk time. We would show 15 minutes “on duty not driving” as our unload time and the rest of the time in the bunk.
We also did split sleeper breaks. Drive for three or four hours then sleep three or four. It made a difference on tight runs.
Not sure you can do that now with paperless logs. I know they got rid of the split sleeper.

The HOS for truck drivers was really screwed up in the Obama years by Ray LaHood, Sec of Transportation.
When he had the HOS redone he had the DOT listen to input from every pity party and anti trucking group in the country. The two groups never consulted were truck drivers and sleep experts.
It was like only taking input from Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety for firearms issues.
LaHood admitted he had a hard on for trucking and showed it.

[cyclotic]

Good.

One of my son’s is a short haul trucker.

I am occasionally under DOT rules too. I manage an event marketing program where I visit dealers and customers with a trailer full of product samples and demonstrations.

Because of its weight, it’s considered a commercial vehicle and I’m under DOT Hours of Service regulations.

For a long trip, the 11 hour drive day can be a real challenge. I once hit 11 hours of driving about 10 minutes from home. Since I’d been gone over a week, there was no way I was stopping for 8 hours.

The rules are very confusing.

I pull with a pickup truck that’s also used for non-pulling and personal use. (what a great benefit to have)

I use paper logs. Most full time truckers use electronic logs.

Since my son is short haul for a lumber yard, he’s paid hourly and doesn’t need to keep logs.

He’s pretty excited. The company just ordered him a brand new tractor.

[cyclotic]

Most drivers sit in the cab while warehouse workers do the load and unload work.

Right now, that counts as on duty not driving time, even though the driver is sitting in the cab or the warehouse driver lounge if there is one.

Then, they have mandated breaks where more often that not, they just sped=nd it sitting in the cab. While it sounds unfair, it’s actually a benefit for them and may serve to get them home faster and/or decrease delivery time.

[cyclotic]

I’ve seen drivers pull out from the dock and go park the truck in the same lot to take their mandatory break because even though they’d been sitting or sleeping, the clock said it’s break time and they are legally required to stop.