Adventures in Trucking and Other Exciting Tales

I want to take you over 100 years in the past – a time that is relatively unknown and vague to us now – when there was less than 15,000 miles of road stretched across the United States, diesel fuel was .15 cents a gallon, the Interstate Highway System wasn’t even a thought yet.

Yes, we are going that far back.

The day is bright as you’re trudging down the dirt road, the dust kicking up behind your carriage. Your horse follows the same, clear path to your normal pick-up spot, where a Ford Model T is awaiting for you to pick up its cargo, as it cannot travel farther due to the rubber tires and harsh travel. You’re staring at 1 of 10,000 trucks in the United States. You’re interested in technology, but comfortable in what you already know. As you load your several hundred pounds of goods into the back of your carriage, you prepare to head towards your small, but bustling metropolis to deliver and be paid for your services. You’re gravely unaware that this “technology” and future of trucking would be worth $700 billion dollars and over 4 million miles of road would be built to support this industry that, at the time, was only in a chrysalis state.

Recreating a scene so far in the past can seem like a dream; if only diesel were still that cheap and times were simpler! When we actually look at the reality of the past, we realize that cross-country trucking was more time-consuming, rougher and required middlemen to pass along the cargo to. The first long-haul shipment didn’t actually happen until 1916, when a truck and driver was sponsored by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce to travel from Seattle to New York City, a trip that took 31 days.

In less than 10 years, the trucking business would evolve, as rubber tires would dissolve and make way for pneumatic tires, allowing cargo to travel faster and smoother. And in another 10 years, the Hours of Service (HOS) would be developed to regulate the on-duty hours of Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) drivers.

The HOS rules, now regulated by FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) is prominently meant to prevent on and off-road accidents caused by driver fatigue. In a fast-paced and paid-by-the-mile industry, everyone wants their product, and they want it 5 minutes ago. The sense of urgency created by this unforgiving demand relays to the truck drivers, who, to make a living, will drive cross-country to deliver those goods as fast as possible.

But, trucking is dangerous, and with 2 million truck drivers on the road, the risk of accidents and fatality increases, especially if the HOS regulations are not followed and drivers become sleep-deprived. Unfortunately, driver fatigue is common and can impair driving performance, either due to lack of sufficient sleep, demanding work, or long working hours – which CMV driver’s experience all three! The effects of sleep-deprived driving is so taxing that it’s even compared to driving while inebriated, due to the similar effects on the brain.

Recently, a new suggestion for HOS has been released, requesting comments from the trucking industry for feedback. These current and new proposed regulations are as follows:

Current:

-         A CMV driver can be on-duty up to 14 consecutive hours a day,

-         Maximum 11 of these hours can be from driving

-         The 14-hours may not be extended with any off-duty time including re-fueling or breaks

-         No more than 60 hours can be worked over 7 consecutive days, or no more than 70 hours can be worked over 8 consecutive days

-         If the hours worked that week extend the maximum allowance, it can be reset from a consecutive 34 hours of being off-duty

Updated Regulation Proposals:

-         In the short-haul exception, the max on-duty period would lengthen from 12 to 14 hours and extend the distance limit from 100 air miles to 150 air miles

-         One 30 minute break after 8 hours of consecutive driving, pausing the 14-hour driving window with a change in duty status to on-duty (not driving)

-         One off-duty 30 min break (but no longer than 3 hours), pausing a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window, contingent on a 10 consecutive hour off-duty status by the end of the work shift

-         A driver may extend their 14-hour driving window into 16 hours dependent upon adverse weather conditions

-         After the 14 hours of being on-duty, the driver must be off-duty for 10 consecutive hours with 7/3 split between the sleeper berth, where the previous requirement was an 8/2 split

The HOS Regulations encompass around the thought of drivers resting, taking breaks and limiting the amount of driving, to ensure sleep-deprived driving is not a possibility. Even with these rules, which have evolved since the 1930’s, driver fatigue is still a real risk when it comes to CMV drivers. Drivers make their money when they are driving. The thought to just keep going happens more often than we think, despite how tired they may be.

The National Transportation Safety Board estimates 30 – 40% of semi-truck incidents are due to some level of driver fatigue. ABC 11 News counts “8,923 crashes involving heavy trucks in 2018 - more than 900 more than 2017. Those crashes killed 114 people and injured 3,278 others.” They also reported that many heavy truck crashes that involve driver fatigue are under-reported.

CMV drivers have a lot to say about these regulations, with many expressing that the 14-hour rule is limiting and decides their sleep schedule for them, interrupting their circadian cycle. Another prominent argument is how a truck driver’s on-duty time is wasted when they are held up at shipping docks, taking up 2-4 hours at a time. Business Insider states, “Those detainment's stress out drivers, who are losing money, and might make the roads less safe for everyone — after lengthy detentions, drivers drive an average of 3.5 mph faster.”

Just the same with any job, it all comes down to money. The average salary for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is about $45,000, but many drivers don’t believe this is enough to support their lifestyle. With detainment's, time spent waiting for loading/unloading and even sleeping on the road, truckers across the nation believe they are paid unfairly.

There is a stir in some states about unfair pay for truck drivers. In Arkansas, the federal court ruled that PAM Transport, an Arkansas-based trucking company, must pay their truckers minimum wage as long as they are on the road – this includes waiting at warehouses and even sleeping. As long as they are driving and transporting products, they will be paid for being on the road. This was a huge win for truckers everywhere, as this should help shift the mindset nationwide on trucker’s pay.

With the time for feedback and comments on these proposed regulations having already ended in October 2019, we may not see the final dictation until mid-2020. Many are split between these new suggestions, some finding them appropriate and others seeing them as useless. It all boils down to safe-driving practices on the road and the rights of our truckers, who continue to deliver all of the products that we need and use every day.  

References:

https://www.businessinsider.com/eld-mandate-hos-changes-truck-drivers-rest-break-2018-10

https://abc11.com/traffic/shakeup-could-change-rules-for-how-often-truck-drivers-take-breaks/5635749/

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/fmcsa-hours-service-proposed-rule