Prevention a problem is always better than repairing a problem. Detention and truck parking are two problems facing the industry. The question comes up a lot – What happens if you get hung up at the dock and you run out of hours. Then the customer requests that you leave the property. If they want you to leave- well you have to leave. If you are over on hours, technically you can only go as far as the nearest safe haven. Even if the nearest safe haven is in the wrong direction. Then you have to take your break.
Many contracts have an automatic detention clause built into them. Detention is automatically charged after a specific amount of time. Two hours has become an accepted norm. I remember when it was usually 4. More and more companies are paying their drivers after one hour. That will put some pressure on to start charging detention after one hour. This is all good.
We could start trying to negotiate parking into the detention package. What if we could negotiate a parking as part of the detention charge? If the customer takes over 2 hours to load or unload the trailer, an automatic parking provision could kick in. That would solve the problem of having to drive over your HOS. Detention pay is meant to be a deterrent. It encourages the customer to not detain you. Why couldn't a parking space be part of the deterrent. If they really don't want you parking there – get the job done in less that 2 hours.
This would take communication and cooperation. It would have to be negotiated between the carrier and the customer. Everyone should be aware of the situation going in. Surprises in our business are usually bad. Ideally the driver could drop in door and retrieve the trailer after their 10 hour break. I know – to quote the late great John Lennon
You may say that I am a dreamer
but I am not the only one
I hope that some day you will join us
and the world can live as one
Admittedly, I imagine the industry as it could be instead of how it is. There is nothing wrong with that as long as I deal with reality. The reality is that this industry lacks imagination. We seem to want to do trucking the way that we have always done it. The challenges that we will be facing over the next decade will require innovative thinking as well as cooperation between driver, carrier and customer. Until then, I can only imagine the entire industry working as one.