Q&A: Hours of Service: Putting the Drive Back in Drivers

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Colin Barrett | Mar 20, 2013 10:56AM EDT

The hours-of-service rules proposed by the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be a disaster for the motor carrier industry. We already have enough trouble attracting qualified drivers, and the rules will hammer us further by requiring all kinds of additional “rest” times before drivers can get on the road after a shift.

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The economy, hours of service and finding drivers top concerns for US carriers

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- They're likely sick of having to worry about it, but for the third year in a row trucking executives in the US can't seem to get the state of the economy out of their minds.

As was the case in 2009 and 2010, the state of the nation's economy was the top concern for trucking executives responding to the American Trucking Association's Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry survey. This year about 31% of respondents ranked the issue first.

While still holding the top spot, the share of respondents ranking this as their number one issue has dropped each year since reaching 51% in 2009.

"While this ostensibly speaks to a gradual improvement in the economy, there continues to be a high degree of uncertainty in how certain issues will unfold, including the European debt crisis and a stagnant job market," the ATA states in its report on the survey's findings. Meanwhile, freight volume trends have been mixed so far this year with LTL and tank experiencing increasing volumes and TL and dry van volumes declining slightly mid year.

Concern over the federal rules governing commercial driver hours of service (HoS) is now ranked as the second highest, climbing two positions from its fourth spot in 2010. The HoS rules are again in play as the industry awaits a final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration following proposed changes issued in December of last year. The proposed changes - potentially decreasing driving and on-duty times and extending the restart provision - are deemed significant and problematic by the industry, which explains the increased level of concern in this year's survey, the ATA says. Nearly half of the respondents ranked this as the first, second or third most important issue.

The driver shortage issue increased from the number five ranking in 2010 to number three in 2011.

"In contract to worries about the health of the economy, this is an indicator that the economic recovery is progressing. However, the source of the driver shortage may not stem entirely from the growing economy," the ATA argues. "New hiring challenges resulting from both baby boomer retirements and CSA implementation may also be contributing to a lack of qualified drivers."

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Hours of service update…

At present, you can work (on the dock, for example) 14 hours a day and inclusive in that time period, you can also drive 11 – then you must be off for ten consecutive hours. A driver used to be able to “split” the off time, take a nap for 2 hours, continue to drive, then finish the “break” later in the day. That is now illegal to the chagrin of many drivers who dislike the one continuous 10 hours off.

“Our” government, in their need to regulate all aspects of our lives from our weight to when and how we eat and sleep, is on the seesaw between keeping the hours of service the way they are, or changing them to, let’s say driving 10 hours, a 13 hour work day along with, perhaps, a 30 minute break after 7 hours. I do not agree with any of this.

As you know, I spend a lot of time monitoring, researching and writing about the truck industry. I haven’t been offered a job by the mainstream trucking press because I am “too” controversial. The ATA hates me, so does OOIDA, Evan – Kevin Lockridge is threatened by me and the bureaucrats over at the FMSCA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – have banned me from calling them. Along with my unwanted and unappreciated honesty, the one thing I always write about, is the one thing none of “them” want to discuss – driver pay and its relation to the HOS.

Let’s talk about that. The vast majority of OTR – over the road – truckers get paid per mile. Some get a percentage of the load. Owner – operators get mileage too, but it’s typically 2/3rd’s more than what a company driver gets. It factors in business expenses, fuel for example, that a company driver is not responsible for. The company driver is doing a job whether on mileage or a percentage, the owner – operator is running a business, but for both groups of professionals, it’s all about the miles.

But, whether you accept it or not, the OTR truck driver, in the “legalese” of “our” government, is a “job” that is done by unskilled labor. I’m not a labor lawyer, I’m a driver advocate, and that “unskilled” status translates into why “your” government can allow you to work 14 hours a day with no overtime, no benefits – being paid by the mile. Obviously, there are exceptions, like UPS – United Parcel Service – where their P&D (local pick-up and delivery) drivers, operating under a union contract get paid similar to most other hourly wage earners in the U.S. One thing is for sure, unlike OTR truckers, UPS drivers don’t work unless they’re on the clock getting paid.

You’ve heard me before saying that if a truck driver took his typical weekly paycheck – being paid, let’s say .$40 per mile – add up how many hours and he or she actually worked – their “hourly” wage would be at, close to or below the minimum wage -  in Florida $7.35 per hour. The typical job pays overtime after 8 hours, OTR trucking does not. We all know that truck drivers wait for hours on end at shippers, customs, consignees and other places for a variety of reasons, and do not get paid. Sure they’re getting paid miles to transfer the freight from one place to the other, but usually nothing else. And the ATA, FMSCA, OOIDA and the mainstream trucking media do nothing and say nothing, because the trucking company owners maintain a strict hold over every aspect of the industry.

“Our” government, the FMSCA, right now, is very busy trying to figure out how to placate the trucking company owners over not making any “uncomfortable” waves as far as modifications in the HOS. Passing new legislation that would require truck drivers to drive and work less hours and have increased downtime is tantamount to Congress saying they’re going to increase taxes on the owners and executives of the trucking companies. It’s bad enough the trucking industry is faced with increased regulatory demands because of Obama-care.

The trucking industry is run as a monopoly on the golf courses of America. Their mouthpiece is the ATA. The mainstream trucking media says whatever the ATA wants. What about safety? More tomorrow.

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