While off for the holiday, I was reading some industry news and came across some articles having to do with the new hours of service rules. I read that many drivers seem unhappy with the FMCSA and their latest HOS rules.
I was reflecting on the many comments I heard during the listening sessions prior to these rulings. I remember hearing drivers complain that their carriers were forcing them to drive eleven hours straight with no break. They also spoke of carriers forcing them to use multiple thirty four hour restart provisions to maximize productivity. Also, another complaint was that drivers would get home at the wee hours of the morning and be expected to leave back out thirty four hours later. They claimed this didn’t leave much time to visit the family or get restorative rest for the body.
I remember discussing with another driver that if we ever have these issues resolved that I bet there will be lots of unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
As it turns out, the issues were heard loud and clear to the FMCSA. Each of these issues was easy to fix. Driver’s complained that they were forced to drive eleven hours without a break. Simple solution: You must take a 30 minute break prior to reaching your eighth hour of on duty or driving.
Drivers complained that the thirty four hour restart provision was simply being used as a productivity aid by using it multiple times in a week. Simple solution: Now you can only use the restart provision once every 168 hours to the hour. (7 days)
Drivers were upset with getting home at (example) 2:00am and being expected to be back out on the road thirty four hours later. Simple solution: A thirty four hour restart now has to have two 1:00am-5:00am periods within the thirty four hour restart.
For all those who complained back then that “they don’t listen to us” need to realize that they really were listening. This leads me to my next thought which is “we might want to be careful for what we ask for because we just might get it.”