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Mar 13, 2017

TRUCKERS 34-hour restart provision * USA: It's history

* DC - More restrictive restart provision appears to be history

--- The so-called July 1, 2013, 34-hour restart provision that required two consecutive overnight periods and could be used only once a week is history... Less than one week after the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General sent a letter to the DOT and several members of Congress saying that based on a Congressionally-mandated study the 2013 rule did not explicitly identify a net benefit from the use of the two suspended provisions of the restart rule on driver operations, safety, fatigue and health, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration passed on the report to Congress... The pre-July 1, 2013, rule, which now becomes the permanent rule, allowed unlimited use of the restart and does not require the two consecutive overnight periods... 
(Photo courtesy: OMNITRACS - The pre-July 1, 2013, rule, which now becomes the permanent rule, allowed unlimited use of the restart and does not require the two consecutive overnight periods)   --   Washington, DC, USA - The Trucker, by LYNDON FINNEY - March 9, 2017

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posted by Unknown @ 6:29 PM  0 comments

Sep 14, 2016

TRUCKERS REGULATIONS * South Korea - Resting 30´after driving 4 hours

* Seoul - Cargo truck drivers required to rest after four hours on road

--- Freight truck drivers will have to take a minimum 30-minute break for each four hours on the road under law revisions the government issued in a pre-enactment notice on Tuesday... After the revisions take effect, all drivers of cargo trucks must rest for at least 30 minutes after driving for four hours straight, except at times of natural disasters, accidents and other extraneous circumstances, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. Trucking companies that do not obey the rule will be penalized with business suspensions of between 30 to 90 days, depending on the frequency of the violations, or 600,000 won ($540) to 1.8 million won in fines... The government measures follow repeated accidents involving freight trucks, often caused by drivers exhausted from long hours of driving to meet deadlines and harsh working conditions... The revisions allow for the punishment of companies that operate trucks for more than the permitted hours, with business license revocation being the maximum punishment... 
(Photo: Seoul trucking at North Korea border)  --  Seoul, S.Korea - Yonhap/Korea Times - 13 Sept 2016

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Mar 30, 2016

HOS EXEMPTION DENIED * USA

* DC - FMCSA denies HOS exemption request for truckers at natural gas, oil sites

-- Federal trucking regulators have denied American Trucking Associations’ hours-of-service exemption request that would have allowed truck drivers working at natural gas and oil sites to exclude waiting time from their calculations of on-duty time... Currently, only specially trained drivers of commercial motor vehicles that are constructed specifically to service oil- and natural-gas extraction sites may use the exemption.. ATA had proposed that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issue a limited two-year exemption to permit exclusion of such waiting time from drivers' 14-hour duty day when they have a proper place to rest... The trade federation had argued that trucks equipped with sleeper berths and on-site bunking or resting facilities would satisfy the “rest opportunity” standard... “ATA believes the proposed exemption would encourage these drivers to obtain quality rest at extraction sites and would provide an improved standard for state officials enforcing waiting-time requirements,” ATA said... However, FMCSA officials concluded that ATA did not demonstrate how the commercial vehicle operations under such an exemption “would achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety obtained in the absence of the exemption”... 
 (Photo: Request to allow some drivers to use detention time as off-duty time denied by FMCSA)   --   Washington, DC, USA - Transport Topics - 25 March 2016

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Oct 3, 2015

HOS REGULATIONS * USA:Ttruck-driver 'restart' study

* DC - USA regulators start final stage of truck-driver 'restart' study

-- U.S. researchers are ready to crunch thousands of days worth of data collected from more than 220 truck drivers to determine how certain hours-of-service rules affect fatigue, health and safety... The data was collected this year for a congressionally mandated study of the impact of the revised restart provisions of the 2013 version of regulations that set daily and weekly work schedules for truckers... Congress suspended the 2013 changes to the restart provisions last December after trucking groups complained regulators didn’t complete such a study when developing the rules. The 2013 rules required truck drivers to include two consecutive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods in any restart before beginning a new work week, a change broadly opposed by trucking interests... The agency said it is working to complete the report and submit it to the Department of Transportation Inspector General by the end of the year. An FMCSA official last month told the Intermodal Association of North America the report would go to Congress “by February” ... That means the current rules, which allow a truck driver to restart his or her weekly duty clock after 34 hours off-duty time, will remain in place throughout the fall peak season, at the least... 
Washington, DC, USA - JOC, by William B. Cassidy - Oct 01, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 5:03 AM  0 comments

Jun 5, 2015

WHITE HOUSE VETO * USA: For the annual appropiations package including trucking rules

* DC - White House ‘strongly objects’ to trucking provisions in T-HUD; veto likely

-- Even as a House committee gave it a procedural go-ahead, a funding bill that contains several provisions sought by the trucking industry would likely face a veto, the White House said Monday... The annual appropriations package for the Transportation and the Housing departments, includes policy riders that would extend a suspension of the restart rules contained in the 2013 change in hours of service, would permit twin 33-foot trailers on Interstates, and would block an increase in carrier financial responsibility minimums... The trucking provisions are not the only reason the White House objects to H.B. 2527. It also holds that the level of funding for surface transportation is too low and would result in decreased infrastructure investment... 
Washington, DC, USA - Fleet Owner, by Kevin Jones - Jun 2, 2015

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Mar 15, 2015

HOURS OF RESTART * USA: Truckers study

* Virginia - The Virginia Tech T. I. continues to recruit truckers for 34-hour restart study
-- VTTI will track and compare truck driver fatigue and safety performance levels for drivers who operate under the suspended rule versus those who operate under the former rule, which is now in effect until at least Sept. 25... The Transport Institute is continuing to recruit truck drivers and carriers who are willing to participate in the study to determine the efficacy of the new 34-hour restart provision... VTTI is conducting the $4 million study under contract with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... Congress mandated the field study when lawmakers suspended the 34-hour restart provision put in place July 1, 2013... That provision, which allowed use of the restart provision only once every 168 hours and required the restart to include two consecutive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. time periods, was roundly criticized by the trucking industry, which after seeking relief from the FMCSA and not getting it, turned to Congress for help... The suspension was part of an omnibus funding bill passed late last year. The suspension is set to end Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year... The less restrictive rule, which allows unlimited use of the restart and doesn’t require the two overnight periods, was reinstituted when the suspension was passed... 
(Photo: Drivers' fatigue)  -- Blacksburg, VA, USA - The Trucker News Services - 12 March 2015

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Jan 18, 2015

TRUCKERS' HOS * USA: Suspended

* DC - Congress rolls back Federal Trucking Rule

   (HOS change - Video from Motorsports Trucker -Dec 19, 2014: So Congress has voted to roll back the hours of service rules to pre July 2013. I'll explain what that means in this video) Washington,DC,USA -TWC News -15 Jan 2015: -- A regulation trucking companies claimed was too restrictive for drivers is now being eased. Both the House and the Senate passed a new provision to suspend the Hours of Service rule. U.S. Representative Richard Hanna, who led the suspension effort, believed the mandated 34-hour restart rule would negatively impact trucking businesses in the Southern Tier. He also believed it would hurt small businesses who relied on the trucking services...

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Sep 9, 2014

SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Parking Spaces & HOS rules

* Michigan - Department of Transportation launches new trucker safety program
Kalamazoo,MICH,USA -WKZO, by Andrew Green -September 5, 2014: -- A new system called the Truck Parking Information and Management System is now up and running along I-94 to help truck drivers get real-time information about where they can park to take a break. A three-year study by the Michigan Department of Transportation found 65 crashes along the highway were caused by semi driver fatigue, and the new system is designed to combat that. It includes new signs with the number of truck parking spots open at upcoming exits and rest areas along with smartphone apps, a new website and more. I-94 has the highest concentration of commercial vehicles on any interstate highway in Michigan, with trucks accounting for as much as 30-percent of all traffic in Southwest Michigan...


* Minnesota - Video System to alert truck drivers to parking spaces at rest stops
Saint Paul,MINN,USA -Transport Topics -5 Sept 2014: -- The new system is gathering data for a study due to be completed by the end of the year and released in the spring of 2015. The $2.2 million project is funded mostly by the Federal Highway Administration. Results of the study will determine if the system can be expanded, he said... A 2012 FHWA study concluded that nationwide demand for truck parking spaces has outstripped the available supply and that projected increases in vehicle miles of travel by truck is worsening the problem... “Because most rest areas along the Interstate system do not accommodate a full 10 hours of undisturbed rest, and drivers do not want to lose time diverging from their route, some truckers park along the side of roads, on rest-area ramps, and in rest areas that restrict parking to less than 10 hours,” the study said... FHWA said more than 173,000 trucks per day need a place to park during their journey. And if tonnage increases 11% by 2020, more than 190,000 longhaul trucks will need a place to park, the study said... Because of more restrictive federal hours-of-service rules, truck drivers often play a guessing game whether they can find a parking place when they reach their time limit or their destination... In some cases, drivers may stop several hours short of their allowable driving time because they are uncertain if they can find parking before reaching their destination without violating HOS rules...

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Jul 2, 2014

HOS DISCUSSIONS * USA: Liability limits for trucks

* DC - Battle begins over higher liability limits for trucks
(AP Photo: Flames engulf a tractor-trailer and tour bus after they collided near Orland, Calif. on Apr. 10, 2014, killing 10)
Washington,DC,USA -Property Casualty 360, by ARTHUR D. POSTAL -June 26, 2014: -- A battle is shaping up over the efforts of the federal truck safety agency to raise the minimum financial responsibility requirements for motor carriers, something which has not been done since the 1980s... It comes as the trucking industry is also trying to stop implementation of rules effective July 1 that place a firmer limit on the number of hours drivers can be on duty. The America Truckers Association has filed suit to halt the changes, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has inserted a provision in a federal transportation appropriations bill that would delay the changes for at least one year... An industry executive with knowledge of the transportation industry recently spoke to PC360 about the impact the FMCSA proposal would have on motor carriers of passengers, which was also examined in the April report. Raising the minimum limits—currently $5 million for 16 or more passengers and $1.5 million for 15 or fewer passengers—would result in higher rates, but over time, perhaps three or four years as claims develop, he said...

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Jun 24, 2014

HOS RULES DEBATES * USA

* Pennsylvania - Trucking rules creating problems 

Robeson Township,Berks County,PENN,USA -Reading Eagle, by Eric Arnold -June 22, 2014: -- I have spent 24 years in the trucking industry, 13 of which were spent with the federal Department of Transportation... The new hours of service rules, which the Collins amendment proposes to suspend, are not reducing crashes and very well may be causing more crashes... The Tracy Morgan accident was a tragedy, but it had nothing to do with the 70-hour rule. The truck driver was found by the National Transpiration Safety Board to be within his limit on hours. No evidence has been produced backing the claim he had not slept for 24 hours... You make it sound as if we truckers would kill your family to make an extra dollar. That is insulting and blatantly false. We care just as much about safety as the government does... Starting in 2009, truck-crash fatalities and injuries have risen every year. During the same time, the Department of Transportation has been the most aggressive, hyper-regulatory regime. With this level of overregulation, accidents should be plunging. They are not. They are going up... You argue it is because there are not enough rules. Hogwash. This blizzard of rules is having the opposite of its intended effect...


* How to make big trucks safer: Trucker safety has improved — and can get better 

Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune -June 23, 2014: -- What does it sound like inside an 18-wheeler rolling down the highway? ... The truck's dashboard-mounted computer, warning in a robotic, female voice: "You have 9 hours and 22 minutes of remaining drive time" ... About 35 percent of interstate truckers use an electronic logging device that performs a critical task designed to make roads safer. This onboard computer, synched to the engine, keeps track of driving time to prevent truckers from staying on the highway too many hours and possibly falling asleep at the wheel. Plenty of drivers still fill out paper logs, which any trucker will tell you are easy to fudge. It's much harder to fool the computer: It knows exactly how much time is left on the clock before reaching the federally mandated 11-hour maximum daily driving time... 
No rule-making will eliminate accidents. The Wal-Mart driver reportedly hadn't slept for more than 24 hours, but he apparently hadn't violated driving time rules. The National Transportation Safety Board reported Thursday that he had driven for 9 hours, 37 minutes that day, less than the 11 hours allowed by federal limits. He had been on duty for 13 hours and 32 minutes, just under the limit. Other drivers think he mismanaged his off time. That's always going to be a risk. You'd hope drivers have the sense to pull over before falling asleep, but, as trucking officials say, you can't measure fatigue with a blood test... So where does this leave us? The next big argument may be about driver pay. Long-distance truckers are compensated by the mile or delivery, so they aren't paid for the hours and hours they might spend waiting at loading docks. Some propose paying truckers for wait time, with the logic being that a higher-paid workforce would be more professional and safer... How to keep reducing the frequency of bad accidents? Getting onboard computers installed in all long-distance trucks as soon as possible seems the best answer from technology. Beyond that, the U.S. is likely to rely primarily on the responsibility of drivers and their employers — and their awareness that horrible crashes like the one on the New Jersey Turnpike have grave consequences...

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Jun 7, 2014

HOS DEBATES * USA: Tired truckers?

* New York - Do pilots need more sleep than truckers? The fight over Federal rest rules

(Photo: A tired trucker) 
NY,USA -Bloomberg News, by Justin Bachman -June 06, 2014: -- The people who drive large commercial trucks, fly cargo planes, and ferry millions of airline passengers are all subject to federal rules governing how much they rest. The U.S. government insists all such rules are guided by the science of sleep. Yet when Uncle Sam moves to enhance transport safety, it becomes clear that the rest rules are very much influenced by whichever industry or worker group is most pinched by government requirements... Cargo pilots at FedEx and United Parcel Service, for example, are not subject to rest rules that took effect in January for passenger pilots—an exemption that pilots unions call the “cargo carve-out” ...  The Independent Pilots Association, which represents 2,600 UPS pilots, has sued the Federal Aviation Administration over the matter. The IPA and other pilot groups are pressing Congress to impose the same rest standard for cargo aviators, a proposal opposed by UPS and FedEx... “This (rule) isn’t pulled out of nowhere, this is based on a lot of science,” says Sean Cassidy, safety coordinator for the largest U.S. pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association, and a captain with Alaska Airlines (ALK). Passenger airlines have avoided that conflict, satisfied by the changes for which they lobbied when the rules were being drafted...

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posted by Unknown @ 7:32 AM  0 comments

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA: HOS' debates

* DC - Cap on truckers’ 70-hour work week may be eased by Senate

Washington,DC,USA -Bloomberg News, by Jeff Plungis -Jun 5, 2014: -- The 70-hour cap on a U.S. trucker’s workweek has a chance of being eased by Congress, undoing the result of a 15-year effort to reduce highway fatalities caused by drowsy long-haul drivers... The main federal regulation requiring truckers to take an extended break after reaching weekly time limits would be suspended under an amendment passed today in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The regulation had taken effect in July 2013 and immediately drew criticism from the industry... The suspension, which would restore the industry’s 82-hour “workweek,” is intended to force the Transportation Department to address some of the regulation’s fallout, said Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican sponsoring the amendment. The industry has said that the rule’s requirements for scheduling rest breaks at night forced more trucks onto the road during the daytime when traffic is most congested... The regulations took effect after more than 15 years of legal wrangling over sleep science, the role of fatigue in truck crashes, and how the costs of hiring more drivers to deliver freight would ripple through the economy... Truck crashes caused 3,912 fatalities in 2012, and the fatal-crash rate increased each year from 2009 through 2012, reversing a five-year trend. The hours-of-service regulation was expected to prevent 1,400 truck crashes a year, saving 19 lives and avoiding 560 injuries...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:19 AM  0 comments

Jun 24, 2013

HOS Discussions * USA

* Georgia - Trucking industry opposes safety rules

Atlanta,GA,USA -PKP firm -21 Jun 2013: -- The trucking industry's main trade group, the American Trucking Association (ATA), opposes new driver hours of service (HOS) rules, which were published in December 2011 and would require specified rest periods for drivers after long hours of contnuous work. Starting July 1, 2013, the new HOS rules would cut the number of hours a driver can work from 82 to 70 per week, require drivers to take 34 consecutive hours off before restarting their work week, and take a 30 minute break before driving more than eight hours... Last month the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) denied a request by the ATA for a three month stay of the implementation of these rules, saying it was “…unwilling to sacrifice what may be several months of public safety benefits” ...  


* DC - Trucking industry wants to jam brakes on looming driver regulations

Washington,DC,USA -The Hill, by Ben Goad -16 June 2013: -- Trucking companies are about to get hit with a new set of regulations further limiting the time a driver can spend behind the wheel... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule, the subject of a years-long legal battle, will only exacerbate an existing national driver shortage and hit consumers in their pocketbooks, the industry charges... Safety groups, meanwhile, argue the regulations don’t go far enough to protect the nation’s roads from the consequences of driver fatigue... Beginning July 1, drivers will be able to drive 12 fewer hours per week and will be required to take regular 34-hour rest periods that include pre-dawn hours of two straight days, under the rule... Meanwhile, the House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is set to convene a hearing on Tuesday to consider the potential impacts of the rule. Representatives from FMCSA, the American Trucking Association and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance are among those scheduled to testify...
* DC - Congress gets earful on HOS. Rule changes due to take effect just 7 days from now

(Photo: Barring a court decision, trucking will very soon be dealing with key changes to the hours-of-service rule) 
Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by David Cullen -Jun. 19, 2013: -- Testimony before a Congressional subcommittee yesterday on impending changes to the Hours of Service (HOS) rules for truck drivers cast some more light on the intentions of the revisions and the difficulty of roadside enforcement of the changes—as well as what may well shape further battles over the rule’s content... These changes to the rule are slated to go into effect just 12 days from now, barring a court decision on a pending legal challenge:

 -- Limiting of a driver's work week to 70 hours within a seven-day period. (Under the current rules, truck drivers can work on average up to 82 hours) 
-- Drivers will not be allowed to drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least 30 minutes. 
-- Drivers can take that 30-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-hour window... 
-- Drivers who maximize their weekly work hours will have to take at least two “night-rest” periods from 1:00 am to 5:00 am. This requirement is part of the rule's "34-hour restart" provision that allows drivers to restart the clock on their work week by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty... 
-- Drivers will only be able to use restart provision once during a seven-day period... 

 According to Joan Claybrook, consumer co-chair of the nonprofit Advocates for Highway and  Auto Safety and a former Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, testimony, further changes to the rule will be needed to more fully address driver fatigue... She made her case with these points: 

 -- Crash risk increases geometrically after the eighth (8th) consecutive hour of driving 
-- Under the current HOS rule, drivers are not getting sufficient sleep, obtaining, on average, less than six (6) hours of sleep on work nights 
-- Because humans have a biological diurnal schedule that normally requires nighttime sleep, attempts to sleep during daytime result in shorter and less restful sleep periods as compared to nighttime sleep 
-- Lack of sufficient sleep from day-to-day and week-to-week results in cumulative sleep deprivation, or sleep debt, that can only be overcome through extended periods of off-duty time for rest and recovery... 


* California - Tougher regulations affect trucking industry

Fresno,CAL,USA -KFSN-TV/DT/ABC 30 -June 20, 2013: -- Truckers in California are trying to deal with the effects of tougher regulations... Six months ago, California started requiring refrigerated trucks to have engines that date back no further than seven years. Truckers say with the new rules, there are a lot fewer vehicles working in California because many don't meet the standards... Another worry is a new federal rule that goes into effect next month. That increases the number of hours trucks must rest before hitting the road. They say being forced to sleep more, might cost them hours or even days on arrival...


* California - High Court throws out parts of L.A.’s Clean Truck Program 

Sacramento,CAL,USA -City News Service/EGP News, by Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou -June 20, 2013: -- The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down part of a program aimed at cutting pollution generated by trucks at the Los Angeles port... Port officials can still ban dirty trucks, forcing trucking companies to switch to cleaner vehicles, as part of their 2008 clean truck program, but according to the June 13 ruling, they cannot make the companies display “how am I doing?” placards in their trucks and to provide a list of places they park vehicles that are not in service... The justices ruled that federal law pre-empts the port from enforcing those two requirements, part of a host of “concession agreements” under the 2008 program... Marine terminal operators face misdemeanor charges and could be fined up to $500 or sentenced to six months in prison if they let in trucks from companies that fail to comply with those agreements. Truck companies could also lose their license to operate at the port if they do not take “corrective action” ... The two requirements the Supreme Court overturned were part of five concession agreements originally challenged by the truck association. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had agreed with ATA that trucking companies should be able to hire truck drivers as independent contracts rather than as employees, but struck down challenges to two other requirements that the companies show their financial ability to comply with the clean truck program and submit clean truck maintenance plans. The port decided not to pursue keeping the driver employment requirement, which environmental and labor groups had argued was necessary because drivers operating as independent contractors were not paid enough by trucking companies to upgrade and maintain their vehicles on their own...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:40 AM  0 comments

Oct 20, 2011

HOS Rule * USA

- Senator’s Measure Would Block it

(Photo by Larry Smith/Trans Pixs)
Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics, by Timothy Cama -19 Oct 2011: -- A Senate amendment introduced this week would stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from implementing its plan to revise the federal hours-of-service rule... Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) filed the amendment in a funding bill that would require that “none of the funds made available under this heading may be used to finalize, enforce, or implement the Hours of Service regulations” proposed by FMCSA late last year, the amendment states... American Trucking Associations last month asked the Obama administration to keep the current hours-of-service rules in place, citing the trucking industry’s safety record... The funding bill the amendment was attached to would provide money for transportation and housing programs for the Department of Transportaton and other agencies for 2012...


* System advises drivers on use of hours

New York City,NY,USA -Fleet Owner -Oct 19, 2011: -- A new fleet management program from Blue Tree USA will advise drivers on the best use of their time to meet hours-of-service requirements... HOS Advisor provides drivers with a “current status” identifying how many hours and minutes they have remaining, along with options on how to proceed... HOS Advisor will be provided to fleets using Blue Tree’s R:Com fleet management system at no additional cost...

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May 9, 2011

HOS * USA - FMCSA posts new HOS data, extends comment period and publication date for Final Rule

New studies before its work on the Final Rule

Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker, by Lyndon Finney -6 May 2011: -- The agency said since it is committed to receiving and analyzing all public comments on the studies before it completes its work on the Final Rule, the agency will extend the Final Rule publication date, which was set for July 26...   It appears everyone’s going to have to wait past July to see the Final Rule on the current proposed rulemaking for Hours of Service...  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday morning it had placed four additional research studies in the official rulemaking docket and was reopening the comment period to allow for public review and discussion of these studies...  The four studies are:  The Impact of Driving, Non-Driving Work, and Rest Breaks on Driving Performance in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations; Hours of Service and Driver Fatigue-Driver Characteristics Research; Analysis of the Relationship Between Operator Cumulative Driving Hours and Involvement in Preventable Collisions; and Potential Causes Of Driver Fatigue: A Study On Transit Bus Operators In Florida...  The American Trucking Associations, which has vehemently opposed the proposed new rulemaking, reacted quickly: "Given that DOT, according to a key sleep and health research, may have misused scientific data as part of this process, ATA will carefully review this new information. We hope and trust that FMCSA will give stakeholders adequate time to evaluate it” ... (Photo from gpssystems.net: Hours of service)

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Mar 20, 2011

HOS * Canada - Atlantic provinces truckers oppose U.S.A. changes

Would impact productivity

Dieppe,NB,Canada -CBC News -Mar 14, 2011: -- Truckers in Atlantic Canada are joining a national lobby against a United States government proposal to shorten truck drivers hours and increase mandatory down time when operating south of the border...  In late December, the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration touched off a continent-wide debate when it proposed new hours of service for truckers in the United States...  A key change for the Canadian industry is a new reset: the time a driver must wait before getting back on the road after completing a work week...  The new proposal requires a break of 34 hours over two midnights...  Jean Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, warned that change could strand drivers and their rigs for days... (Photo from CBC: Truckers are against new rules proposed by the U.S. government)

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posted by Unknown @ 8:21 AM  0 comments

Feb 18, 2011

HOS RULES * USA - ATA: Study Casts Doubt on Proposed HOS Rule’s Economics, Safety Issues

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -17 Feb 2011: -- An analysis of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed hours-of-service rule released by American Trucking Associations found that the agency “wildly overstated the proposal’s benefits” and that it would cost, not save, the trucking industry money...  The economic review by consulting firm Edgeworth Economics found that FMCSA used questionable logic, inadequate data and sloppy math in attempting to justify its proposed changes to the HOS rule, ATA said...  The study said that while FMCSA claims its proposal would result in up to $380 million in annual benefits, it would actually result in costs of about $320 million a year — a $700 million swing...  Edgeworth has done economic studies work for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, among others...  ATA released the findings late Wednesday, on the eve of a public HOS “listening session” to be held Thursday in Washington. The group has urged its members to voice their opposition to the proposed changes. The group posted the study’s results on its website...


* USA - Carrier Says Hours Plan Would Boost Driver Pay... Truckers skeptical, but Schneider executive says driver pay would rise $3,000

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Feb 17, 2011: -- Schneider National would need to increase driver pay by about $3,000 per year "to keep commercial drivers whole from a W-2 perspective" if proposed changes in hours of service rules take effect, an executive at the transportation company said... "I think we're going to have to increase driver pay," Osterberg told a panel of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials at a listening session... That pay increase would compensate drivers for lost mileage under the FMCSA's proposed HOS rules, which would cut at least an hour from a trucker's work day. Under the proposed rule, Schneider estimates its drivers would lose 24 miles a day... Drivers calling into the listening session from the road were skeptical that they would see any benefits from the proposed rules, however, noting that they are not paid for time spent waiting for their trailer to be loaded or unloaded... Green Bay, Wis.-based Schneider used a network optimization system developed with Princeton University in New Jersey to calculate the effect of the proposed hours of service changes on its diverse long-haul and short-haul trucking operations...(Photo from farm3.static.flickr: A Schneider's truck)


* USA - Shipper Says HOS Changes Would Hike Transport Costs

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce,by William B. Cassidy -Feb 18, 2011: -- Costs could rise up to 3 percent under proposed hours rule, says Kraft's Haney... Proposed changes to truck driver hours of service rules would raise transportation costs 1 to 3 percent, one of the nation's largest food shippers said Thursday... That could translate into tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in additional transportation spending for many of the nation's largest shippers... The $49 billion food products company operates a private fleet of trucks for about 10 percent of its domestic hauling business in the U.S., Haney said... (Photo from bloomberg: International Paper Co's a six-axle truck)


* HOS Proposal No Panacea, Attorney Says. Critic of current rule calls 10-hour limit only a step in ‘right direction’

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by William B. Cassidy -Feb 18, 2011: -- An attorney for the coalition that won two court victories over recent hours of service rules for truckers says the most recent proposed rule a step in the “right direction,” but it may not go far enough to stop a lawsuit... “The proposal is not a panacea, it doesn’t meet the positions that we would like to see, but it certainly moves the issue in the right direction,” Henry Jasny, senior counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told federal officials... The proposed rule would take corrective action toward rules that already allow truckers to drive “excessively long hours” on “intense operating schedules,” Jasney said, adding that description applies to “some drivers,” but not “all drivers”... The attorney spoke on behalf of Advocates and its allies, Public Citizen and the Teamsters union, which sued the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration over previous versions of the HOS rules, at a full-day HOS listening session Thursday... (Photo from ccjdigital: fatigued trucker)

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posted by Unknown @ 9:20 AM  0 comments

Dec 7, 2010

HOS Rules * UK - RHA welcomes temporary drivers’ hours relaxation

London,EN,UK -HGV UK -December 6, 2010: -- The Road Haulage Association tonight welcomed the Department for Transport’s decision to relax temporarily the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules... This temporary relaxation applies immediately and will run until 23:59 on 7 December 2010. For those drivers and work in question, the EU drivers’ hours rules will be temporarily relaxed as follows:


* Replace the EU daily driving limit of 9 hours with one of 10 hours

* Reduce the daily rest requirements from 11 to 9 hours.

* Lift the weekly (56 hours) and fortnightly driving limit (90 hours).

* Postponing the weekly rest requirement until 23:59 on 7 December 2010, at which stage a driver has to take a normal weekly rest of 45 hours.

* Notwithstanding the postponement of the weekly rest requirement (see preceding bullet point), a driver must take a minimum rest of 24 hours beginning no later than the end of the eleventh day since the end of his last weekly rest period.

The requirement to take a 45 minute break after 4½ hours driving remains and will continue to be rigorously enforced... (Picture from tachoblog: Daniel Pereira Casalinho has been hauling ice cream, vegetables and paper all over Europe in the new Scania V8)

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posted by Unknown @ 4:36 PM  0 comments

Jul 10, 2010

HOS * USA - FMCSA Sends Proposal to DOT for Review

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -9 July 2010: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent its new hours-of-service proposal to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s office for review in late June, according to a Department of Transportation report issued early this month... The secretary’s office typically reviews important rules before sending them to the White House Office of Management and Budget for a final assessment... FMCSA is issuing a new HOS proposal as part of a court agreement with Public Citizen and other interest groups. According to that agreement, the agency must send the proposal to the White House by July 26... DOT’s report said the proposal for the hours of service rule is likely to be published in November...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:18 AM  0 comments

Jun 30, 2010

HOS REGULATIONS * USA - Groups Seek Cut in Drive Times

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -27 June 2010: -- A coalition of interest groups that has repeatedly succeeded in challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rule pushed for dramatically cutting the current daily and weekly work-time limits... FMCSA should slash the number of hours a professional driver could be behind the wheel to eight from the current limit of 11 and increase the daily mandated off-duty period to 12 hours from 10, the groups said... FMCSA, which has had its HOS rule rejected by federal courts twice after lawsuits by the coalition, has a July 26 deadline for publishing a revised hours rule... The coalition, which is led by Public Citizen and includes the Teamsters union, made its comments in a filing to the agency’s rulemaking docket... FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said the agency was on schedule to have the rule to the White House by July 26...

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posted by Unknown @ 8:19 AM  0 comments