New Hours of Service

[kreeper01]

How does everyone think of these new "Hours of Service" that went into effect on Oct. 1st?

Personally, they do not affect me since i drive 11 straight hours (except to fuel and use the little boys room) and take 10 consecitive off.

What do the rest of you think of the new "hours of service"?

[FastFossil]

I'm not sure it matters what I think...there they are, so we have to live with it!!!! IMHO

[yoopr]

They've never changed it since i started in '78 and now they've changed it twice in a year

[Sinister]

I am not hijacking this thread.

Black boxes is the real concern. When those become mandatory, that will be the real problem.

I just got into a 2005 379 pete. I found a piece of paper in teh glove box which states that my truck just might be equipped with one, and if I get into an accident in California, they can use the info contained in it. It then gave web links for additional info. I'll bring them home when I get back to the truck tomorrow.

The way I see it, the demands of business are going to be the promary motivating factor in determining what hours you can run. The country needs to move, and really, that's all there is to it. We're already afforded more hours in which to work than almost any other industry. Hell, my wife works SIX hours a day, and the school district calls that full time. Must be nice, eh?

[susansmith]

I don't like the new new rules.

I started driving under the old new rules. I liked the split sleeper thing when I was solo... it seemed most of my deliveries came in the middle of a ten-hour break, so I used it a lot. Every 3 or 4 days, I'd need a real ten hours and would take it. If I were still driving solo now, I'd be lying on my logs for most deliveries. Sometimes you can't though, some consignees time-stamp the BOL.

I drive team with my hubby now. The vast majority of the time, the new rules don't effect us. I work noon to midnight, he works midnight to noon - that includes driving, fueling, getting service, pickups or deliveries, or even chores like groceries or laundry if we're not under a load. I like having a regular schedule and a real long sleep period daily, so I kind of like that I "can't" do short shifts anymore.

[poannua]

With the new rules I get less sleep even as a team driver. If I stop to nap I can't stop the clock and my hubbie has to drive more miles (guilt) so I now drive farther with fewer breaks, and this new rule is supposed to get me more rest?

[littleman2]

Iloved the old old rules you could stop the clock any time. eight hours was enough. sleeper time.

[yoopr]

make that 3 changes

[RockyMtnProDriver]

They both suck.

13 hours driving out of 15 hrs in the truck is the Canadian rule.

And if you run slow for weather you can run 15 hrs.

In my opinion, if you cannot work 15 hrs a day, you have no business being in the trucks.

[kreeper01]

Rockymtndriver, what i mentioned is under United States Department of Transportation rules, not Canada rules. When i first started in trucking, we had a 15 "total on duty" hours to work from, 10 of those hours were spent driving.

Now with the 14 "total on duty" hour rule (11 of those hours for driving), The Department of Transportation cannot seem to get anything on the "Hours of Service" right.

With me being an OOida member, i am not gonna let no one from no company push me around on the "H.O.S.". Being early or late to a Shipper or Receiver, i will run legal and compliant. Alot of these "pencil pushers" at some of these O.T.R. trucking companies do not realize that they are messing with the federal gouvernment and they claim its the drivers fault for running illegal, i'd like to see the Feds do a "through" check of everything, up and down on each document, from the driver up to the owner of the company.

[S. L. Schrader Co]

I agree with super trucker on this. Companies want you to work for peanuts since most of them claim a monkee could do our job. Lets put the shoe where it belongs in their rear. If they want low cost that tells me they get less than standard employees and equipment to make the profit they want. Give them low cost productivity for low wages. Give them the world when they are willing to pay a good wage. In my business I have taken the attitude that if I give a driver a good unit to operate with the things that go in it, I hope to god he would take care of it. That has not been the case. I have watched some of my employees just do stupid things and destructive things because they didn't like to drive a Mack. Sorry folks that is what my fleet is. I like them, they have been good to me and make me money. If I bought a Peterbilt would it make me more? If it would maybe I would buy some. I don't know. But I have Mack Visions, I add what most drivers want like this DVD or TV custom sterio units, toilets what ever. The few guys I have now love it. I have fired the rest. I don't think we have pulled 10 loads in the past month to month and a half, but we charge well and make well. When there is no work out on the road, they are here getting equipment serviced, refurbished, or customized. My gig is I like Elvis Presley, and my trucks reflect that with custom graphics. Some of the guys think I am nuts but what the heck. Its my truck and I will have it my way. I like shiny things, lots of stainless, the first impression is a lasting one. When our stuff hits the street it looks good and performs and I would have it no other way. In that respect, I expect my drivers to be professional and courtious and most of all protective of my equipment. Years ago I had a driver call in asking me what to do with a load of steel. The company accepting the delivery was on a job site that was a mud hole. They ordered my driver to drive my truck in about 2 feet of mud to get to the spot to drop it. Needless to say they did not take delivery. There was no way in hell I was going to let this group hook a cat 977 on the front and be pushing with a 955 on the trailer to get the load.

[S. L. Schrader Co]

What I forgot to say is this. Sleep more - drive less and complaints are accepted from your congress, they make the rules, deal with it.

[cdltpx]

I went to the local dispatchers window the other day because I was tired on my 12Th hard rain soaked hour and was asked if I was out of hours my reply was no according to the law I can still drive but I am tired so I am parking it. Congress can't seem to do 2 days work in one month but they expect us to do 2 days work in one day. As a local driver we are expected to put in 14 hours a day and do a 16 hour day each week that's how you get 70 hours in a week I hate it so I work the night shift 7pm until and since I do this it is possible to do 14 hours of work in 12 hours as long as I am efficient and take no breaks at all. I liked otr but the new hours of service places you in inbound city traffic "if you do it their way" I used the split logging then to avoid traffic. The new way burns more fuel the reason diesel prices are higher than gasoline and increases traffic in peak periods by keeping trucks in peak traffic and increasing down time making idling necessary. When you are driving otr you are on a different sleep pattern than the rest of the population we are not normal we sleep 2 ,4,sometimes 12 hours but never consistently and regularly I liked it that if I were tired I could stop plan a rest and return legally now we have to drive on regardless of how tired we are

[Useless]

What I find most troubling here is the "One Size Fits All" approach that has been taken. I think that HOS should be structured to allow more experienced drivers more latitude in their HOS, and to be more restrictive for new, inexperienced drivers. It really would not be so difficult for DOT to establish a rating system to indicate a driver's level of experience.

A new driver is going to tire more easily, become more prone to "road fatigue", and pose a greater risk as he pushes the limits on HOS, whereas a more experienced driver is going to have greater stamina in driving the longer hours.

This would also serve as an incentive for companies to actively pursue hiring more experienced drivers, and working harder to retain them. Consequently, companies would most likely be forced to increase compensation to more highly experienced drivers.

As for the changes that were made to HOS, what I found was that after the new HOS were implemented, it forced me to shut down for 10 hours; by the same token, it kept a dispatcher from forcing me to operate with inadequate sleep. I have sleep disorders due to neurological damage, so that was a factor that worked in my favor. I do not favor the new rules which eliminate split sleeper berth time for team drivers.

One other thing that I would like to see is some type of limitation placed upon trainees driving a team drivers regimen. During my first week of training, my trainer and I drove over seven thousand miles. Now, I was one of the lucky ones, in that I had a very good trainer who did not use me to pad his log book. At the same time, many trainees are not as fortunate as I was, and they wind up trying to drive when their sense of judgment and their reflexes have been compromised.

In my opinion, this would not only make for safer operations of trucks, but also prevent companies from using there trainees as slave labor. I think that in the end, this would serve to increase the need for accomplished team drivers, reduce the supply of training teams operating as team drivers, and force companies to increase compensation for experienced drivers operating as a team.

Another thing that I would like to see; that is a DOT endorsement for being qualification to be a trainer, just as the FAA requires a pilot to have a CFI rating before he begins teaching student pilots to fly, and a certification or rating to quaify someone to train and evaluate the trainers, much as the FAA has a CFII rating required in order to train flight instructors. This would require a minimum experience level of not less than two years, possibly even longer. This would keep companies from implementing "blind leading the blind" training situations, where a trainer may have only a few months of experience under his belt before becoming a so-called "trainer". Again, this would increase the demand for truly qualified, experienced trainers, reduce the immediate supply of unqualified trainers, and force companies to increase compensation levels for those who are truly qualified to train.

[Shawnee]

I find that with the new US hours of service they almost force you to cheat on your logs because they are so ridiculous to follow, really who sleeps 10 hours. I liked the option of being able to split the sleeper berth. If I took ten hours off every night I would never get any of my deliveries done on time.

I find that I have to run harder to get the most of the 14 hours especially if I want to get across the border in time to get home. I find that I don't have the time anymore to stop and take a break if I want to like I did before. These rules were supposed to help drivers get more rest but I find that I actually get less rest than before, and it is more stressful than before.

[Lewis friend]

I never split my sleeper hours before or after the change so i can't really comment.

My approach is everyday is like a big adventure and i want to do as many miles as possible in 11 hours. That's my rhythm and it's worked for me. More fun this way. At the end of the day i get a good meal and then go into the sleeper tired.

Now as far as do i like the 8 off and 10 or the 10off and 11. I never ran legal when 8 and 10 was in effect. I only have run legal when 10 and 11 went into effect so i can't fully comment on which is really better. I can say i'm not unhappy with the new 10+11 rule. It gives you time to actually get a good breakfast and do a real pre-trip before you start rolling.

Under the 8+10, i found that i was under "pressure" to get rolling as soon as i woke up.