The Issue

Individuals who hold a commercial motor vehicle driver’s license must comply with federal regulations with regard to length of time spent behind the wheel and mandated rest periods. Challenges to those regulations have taken place over the past several years by numerous interested organizations.    

OOIDA’S POSITION: The Association holds that the 14-hour, non-extendable work day discourages drivers from seeking rest when needed. Because drivers are unable to stop the clock for rest breaks, they are forced to continue driving to meet the demands of shippers and receivers. Also, it would be preferred to allow team drivers to split sleeper-berth time into smaller breaks instead of having only one, consecutive eight-hour stretch plus another two-hour break. Solo drivers should be allowed to count the two-hour portion of the sleeper-berth exception as off-duty time.

FATIGUE

An often used term in discussions or reports about hours of service is fatigue and its role in safety and truck crashes. Too often, this aspect is misreported and incorrect or outdated data is overused. OOIDA has documents supporting the most current and complete information. Below is one examples of some helpful information. Please see the DOCUMENTS tab for important information supporting the fact that fatigue is a factor in 1.4 percent of truck crashes and that the outdated statistic of 30 to 40 percent has been admitted to be inaccurate by officials.

This report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that fatigue is a factor in 1.4 percent of truck crashes, not the 30 to 40 percent often reported by mainstream media. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/media/webinar-10-09-29-slides.pdf

Loading and unloading times: The Association also believes any meaningful discussions about hours of service and its correlation to highway safety must include an often overlooked aspect of transportation and shipping: loading and unloading times. Drivers spend anywhere from 30-40 hours per week waiting at docks for shippers and receivers to load or unload their trailers. This waste of time has a negative affect on hours of service, the environment, highway safety and productivity of the shipping industry as a whole. Because drivers are not paid by the hour, there is no incentive for shippers and receivers to establish efficient systems for moving goods at the loading docks.

Electronic On Board Recorders - EOBRs

EOBRs are no more a reliable or accurate record of a driver’s compliance with HOS regulations than paper log books and there remains no rational basis for the economic burden and unreasonable imposition to personal privacy presented by requiring drivers to be monitored by EOBRs.

The Status

HOS: The final HOS reduces the on-duty time to 13 hours, although once per week the workday could be extended to 14 hours with one-hour off-duty break during the day.  The 34 hour restart provision is retained, but the agency is proposing two rest periods from midnight to 6am.  The restart would only be allowed once per seven-day period. 

EOBRs: OOIDA scored a huge legal victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the FMCSA ignored a federal statute that any regulation imposed for the use of EOBRs in commercial vehicles must ensure that the devices are not used to harass vehicle operators. The court negated FMCSA’s pending EOBR rulemaking that proposed to require all trucks to have EOBRs installed and used for HOS compliance.   

However, there is a free-standing bill in the Senate which would mandate electronic on-board recorders for all trucks -- S. 695, was introduced by Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN). The Senate passed S. 1813, also known as MAP 21, on March 14, 2012.  The language would mandate that all trucks operate under an electronic on board recorder not later than 1 year after the enactment of the bill. However, the bill also requires that the devices cannot be used to harass drivers.

The Senate and House are negotiating a full highway funding bill which is due June 30 2012.

Detention Time: Throughout all of this regulatory warfare, OOIDA has held the position that if detention time were simply addressed, drivers would feel less pressure to potentially violate the hours of service rules. OOIDA has testified now a number of times before Congress advocating this position and has worked closely with Congressman Peter DeFazio to draft HR 756, a bill that would require the DOT to study the issue and then pass common sense reform making it unlawful for shippers/receivers to excessively detain truckers without compensation.

What we can do

Members should feel free to contact their U.S. lawmakers to relay their concerns as this will be a major topic of debate, especially leading up to congressional actions related to the highway bill. At this point, in addition to phone calls to congressional offices, what would help most with their contact is faxing a short letter to their lawmakers stating their concerns.  Members are also welcome to fax a copy of their correspondence with lawmakers to us at 816-427-4468.  The Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. Callers provide a zip code to the operator in order to be connected to the appropriate office.