HOS changes announcd today might mean no more 34 hr restart
 

the 34 hr restart and 11 hour day were removed from HOS in court today i overheard something on satelite radio that stuffs changed i didnt get to hear the whole thing but check this out

http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_R...urt_tosses.htm

Yes and No

Satellite radio lies like my ex-girlfriend :lol:

July 24, 2007 PrintSaveE-mailSize: +/–SPECIAL REPORT: Court tosses 34-hour restart, 11-hour driving limit Tuesday, July 24, 2007 – Truckers will once again face another new hours-of-service regulation, thanks to a ruling that eliminates the 34-hour restart and 11-hour driving limit.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling today on a pair of challenges to the current hours-of-service regulations.

In the decision issued by the court, the 11-hour driving time limit and the 34-hour restart were thrown out. No changes to the sleeper-berth provision were made. The court ruled based on procedures followed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and not on the merit of the challenged provisions.

Truckers may feel like they are in a state of limbo with this latest round of changes to the hours-of-service regulations.

But, in the short term, nothing really changes.

According to a statement from FMCSA, agency staffers are “analyzing the decision issued today to understand the court’s findings as well as determine the agency’s next steps to prevent driver fatigue, ensure safe and efficient motor carrier operations and save lives. This decision does not go into effect until Sept.14, unless the court orders otherwise.”

Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said that until FMCSA takes some sort of official action truckers should continue operating under the 11-hour driving rule and utilizing the 34-hour restart if needed.

“The court’s ruling impacts the agency, not the truckers,” said OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston. “Truckers should continue operating the way you are until we see some sort of official action out of DOT.”

And, Johnston doesn’t expect to wait long to hear what the next step will be.

“I expect DOT to act quickly and implement the changes the court mandated,” hesaid.

Just as i had learnt the 34 hour doom-a-flaut-chee =)

Just because the court threw it out does not mean that anything will change for certain.

With all the time and money already spent of the revisions to the HOS, the studies, not to mention fighting this crap out in the court systems the government may finally step in and legislate the HOS if not the entire FMCSA regs.

I really hope the 34 hour restart doesnt get changed I am on a dedicated account and am off saturday and Sunday and start every Monday with 70 hours,the rule they need to change is once you start your day the clock not stoping this rule makes no sence because they want us rested and taking breaks but with this rule you cant take a one or two hour break well I guess you could but you would never make a delivery on time,it seems like if they keep messing with the hours of service otr as we know will no longer be it will be just short houl regional runs and with companys not wanting to raise pay the driver shortage will only get worse you know how many 400-500 mile runs at .33 a mile you will have to do a week to earn a decent living.

Wow...that was a tough read :sad:

I hope they change from 34 hrs to 48hrs. More time off is needed.

I think they should keep the 34 hour restart and go back to the drive 10 hours a 8 hour break and bring back the split sleeper. I never made more money than when we had those rules. I was just as rested and my options on driving were more open.

So, if they eliminate the 11-hour driving limit, what does that mean? Are they going to lower the driving hours, or give drivers more driving hours? If they eliminate the 11-hour driving limit, I guess that means that drivers can drive as long as they want to. :P

If they knock out the restart, there will be a lot of guys running out of hours all the time. :?

The change from 10 to 11 was ruled illegal, based not on any merit but on the procedure they used to implement it. I guess the assumption would be that it would go back to 10.

The weird thing is that they are making the FMCSA revisit these rules because they didn't allow for public comment on the statistical models used. Then, in the same breath, they refused to force them to revisit the sleeper berth provision, even though they failed to provide an opportunity for public comment on that as well. Essentially, the trucking lobby is getting whipped by the "safety" lobby.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, enjoy the actual legal opinion entered by the court. :?

It's gonna be interesting to see what happens

Looks like it's time to find a local gig...

If it goes down like I'm guessing it might you're gonna be in a long line I'm afraid.

kinda pathetic that you hear so much about driver shortages and the staggering turnover rate, but the gov is doing a great job of driving away newcomers to this industry, at the same time making experienced drivers pull the pin on this business. Am i the only one who thinks they are tryng to drive the owner op's out of business to acomodate the "mega fleets" ? I really am starting to question my future in otr, and may have to look into a local HOURLY paying job.

Just a thought. Maybe run a few more of us out to show why they need to bring in the Mexican drivers to "fill the gap". ???

Does any one remember that we seemed to get the job done with the old 10 on 8 off 70/8 rules?

Has it made it easier with the 11 hr driving time and 34hr reset? Yes of course and other than the split sleeper berth mess it seems to be a much better system.And as far as I am concerned I have benefited from it,maybe that is the problem that it allows the small guy an oppurtunity to compete on some level.

I also all along thought that the new rules were too good to be true,I mean getting that 34hr reset is like a god send that second week of hard running in a row.And we all know that the government and or saftey groups are not gonna let us have our cake and eat it too.

Why don't they just get it over with and install black boxes on all the trucks and then they will have us right where they want us completly under thier watchful eye at all times and then they will have such a shortage of drivers that they will be begging the Mexican drivers to come pull the freight(cheaply) for them.

The whole HOS thing is way more complicated than it really needs to be. It just needs to be cut and dry and completely simplified. But then again this is the government we're talking about.

I agree with Mike. Although I didn't drive back then, I don't remember anyone saying they couldn't do the job under the old rules. To the contrary, I hear many pining for the old days.

With all the "sitting around" I hear about here, I don't see how one less hour of driving will necessarily make a difference. And with MOST companies keeping solo drivers out for weeks at a time, I doubt that many of you get a 34 hour reset anyway.

Personally, I think it will be DEVASTATING to one in MY position. However, I realize that my company existed for years BEFORE the new rules, so I guess I'll have to learn how they did it.

I don't see this as being a catalyst to a "further" shortage of drivers. Unless everyone quits over this.... which is unlikely.

I'll say it one more time.... the SIMPLE answer, and MAYBE what they are heading towards, is making ALL trucks a TEAM operation.

If EVERY one of you could make the money, and be HOME for 2 days a week, like I am, I believe there would be alot less bitching going on, and alot less turnover.

I know.... then it wouldn't be as much of a "lifestyle" as it would be a "job," but which is more important? Based on the number of people coming on here wanting to go "local" right out of school, I think the answer is obvious.

The problem is, that if you get 2 or more days at home each week, the 70 hour rule plays HECK with your delivery schedule, and trip planning. JUST IN TIME warehousing would have to go away (unless we all went "team.") Running hard for 5 or 6 days does no good if you pull a ZERO day on the day of your delivery and you're still 200 miles out!

Here's a thought..... maybe, they will be forced to "turn up" the slow trucks, and/or do away with the lower truck speed limits, so that you can get more miles in 10 hours!

Remember the "Crackaces" system of 8.75 hours a day indefinitely? How does the 10 hour rule restrict you from doing this? Many of you "Solar Powered" drivers don't drive 10 hours a day as it is!

And someone mentioned truckstops being MORE full?? :shock: :roll:

How does shutting down ONE HOUR earlier change the number of trucks sitting overnight in a truckstop?

There are a LOT of things wrong with the current rules AND the proposed "rescission." But, not as much as is being posted here (and on the similar threads.) Adding 5 mph to every truck that can't currently do 70, will gain back that hour! Maybe, this will be the incentive for your companies to do JUST that!

I definitely hope they can keep the 34 hour restart. Smartest thing they ever did! But, as for the rest.... I don't think the "sky is falling" just yet.

I wonder how they figure they'll eat? Or have clothes? Or computers? :wink:

I would love to go back to the old system but keep the 34 hour reset which in my opinion was the only good thing about the new system.

This ruling likely won't result in anything being resolved to everyone's satisfaction any time soon.

Ridiculous statement. Have you ever sat in the back of a truck for 34hrs and felt that you needed MORE rest.

So what you are saying is that if I stop driving at 10pm on any given day and need a reset, I should then start driving 48 hrs later at 10pm after having and entire day off, then getting a good nights sleep and wake up at my usual 6am, sit around all day doing nothing(because I'm stuck in some lousy truck stop or terminal) and then drive all night long. Think B4 you post. You might want to try getting hired by the people that make these rules, you'll fit right in. :o

Good way of getting bed sores. :P

The Doctor gave me a cream for that, seems to be working well :o

You've pretty much summed up my view on the entire HOS issue, including the 70 hour rule. What does whatever I did eight days ago have to do with how tired I am right now?

I run into this on a fairly regular basis. Run my ass off for a few days, have a few typical eight hour days, have a couple of short days on account of the 70 hour rule, run out of hours, sit around all day, then at midnight on day nine I'm magically rested again.

Personally, I liked the original rules that had been around for what 50-60 years, but I like the restart deal, I wish it was a 24hr restart not 34hrs, and CAN the 14 hr clock ,< B.S . I guess if I had to team drive, after a 20 year career such as Hobo stated ,I'd have to quit and find another line of work. I wish P.A.T.T. and all these other busy bodied lobyists would just go away, their cause was noble,but then it went to their head and started a bunch of B.S. without doing any research of the right kind. Never tell or ask anyone to do something that you would not do yourself. They should have done some research with some people that REALLY know this industry before trying to change it. Maybe in my freetime I'll go and change the FAA and some other things I know nothing more about than just observing from where I sit.
P.S. If you have any self respect dont go flying after I start changing things, could be dangerous :shock: just my 2 lincolns.

I'm still pretty much a rookie driver, but losing the 34 hour restart will be the suck since as it is I get a clean slate on the weekends. Only change I'd like to see to the HOS is 14 hour rule go to a 16 hour rule. Who needs 10 hours off to sit at a hotel?

Perhaps it would be good to start a letter writing campaign to PATT, etc., as well as your congressional representatives. Part of the problem we have had is that most drivers and owner operators don't take time to sit down and make a few phone calls or write letters to those who have a say in our future. Those who make the rules only hear from PATT and others who have no clue to how to operate safely out here. There is an old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

8hr breaks ...suck...unless you don't do anything other than shut it down go straight 2 sleep wake up and start running . BUT for those of us that take care of themselves 8 hrs is inadequate .

I take very good care of myself, and 5 hours of sleep at night with another 1 1/2-2 hour nap in the afternoon is the perfect amount of rest for me. I kill most of my ten hour breaks by posting on internet message boards. 8) The notion that one person or group of people can dictate what works for all people is just silly, as far as I'm concerned.

I rarely sleep more than 5-6 hours. That is fine for me. So I have or 5 hours to kill to be compliant with the current hos rules. The main problem with the hours of service rules is that they try to use a cookie cutter approach to them. While I don't need a lot of sleep, some people can sleep for 10 hours. I would prefer simply using common sense. You can have all the rules in the world. You can force everyone to have a black box in the truck, but it won't make anyone more safe. Only common sense will do that. I think most drivers have enough common sense to stop when they get too tired, whether they have hours left to run or not. There will always be those who find a way to break the rules. Logs and black boxes won't stop those people from breaking the rules or using common sense.

the H.O.S. are flawed in that you can not regulate sleep not just for many people ,but even on an individual basis ,as sleep patterns vary day to day ,and because there is no set 0900-1700 scheduele in OTR trucking this makes regulating sleep ...impossible...

Can't get the goofballs in D.C. to figure it out for US drivers so it would be difficult to get both regulatory agencies to reconcile the differences of the two seperate nations to make it the same. :roll:

Scotland and the US got the rules straight for golf. There's always a chance.

I am going against the grain here but, I really dont think humans are designed to work more than 40-50 hours a week on a consistant basis. I really dont like that the maxium amout of hours allowed becomes the industry standard to work a driver.

I say, cut the hours back, way back! Cut back the weekly and daily limits.

Hey, if we can keep the mexicans from pulling freight, maybe we can get some wage inflation too and we can get paid closer to what we are worth?????

40-50 hours might be fine as a general theory. However, since I'm usually a thousand miles from home anyway, being told that I'll spend another 20-30 hours a week sitting around with nothing to do really doesn't sound too cool. If I'm out here, I'd rather be working.

Furthermore, 70 hours over 8 days is less than nine hours a day. I worked more as a restaurant manager. I worked more as a financial advisor. I worked 50 hours a week as a customs broker while I was going to college full-time.