Posts Tagged ‘HOS’

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Hours-of-Service Changes: What Carriers and Shippers Can Expect

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Despite opposition from numerous trucking groups, the fifth set of changes to the hours-of-service regulations since 2003 is still on track with an effective date of July 1st. Among the revisions include a restart provision containing two consecutive breaks between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5.am., reducing a driver’s work week from 82 to 70 hours, as well as a mandatory 30-minute break if 8 hours or less have passed since the driver’s last off-duty period.

As Ron Sucik, founder of RSE Consulting explains, while the CSA will further increase driver shortage by taking unsafe drivers off of the road, the upcoming HOS will reduce productivity of those remaining.

What Can Be Expected

Carriers can see a 5-10% loss in productivity, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association, due to scheduling and delays resulting from the HOS changes, with impacts hitting long-haul carriers hardest as well as dedicated moves which are planned with maximizing a drivers’ 11 hours within a 15 hour work day.

With a shorter workweek, and no way of guaranteeing that a driver will exactly take a 30 minute break instead of longer, appointments and routes will need to be readjusted to accommodate delivery windows.

The National Grocers Association noted that these changes would disproportionately impact its members. “Grocery stores rely on deliveries early in the morning, especially for perishable goods that have a limited shelf life and must be on the shelves when stores open. With the changes to the rule, lead times for perishable goods will increase, leading wholesalers to increase inventory levels to maintain service. All of these changes would lead to increased costs throughout the supply chain.”1

To accommodate for the driver shortage and capacity concerns, carriers will need to recruit additional drivers to their fleet, pay current drivers more in order to retain them, as well as “add trucks to offset the decrease in available hours per driver.”2

Carriers are expecting up to a 33% loss in revenue with additional operated costs estimated to hit between $10,000-$25,000 per truck. 2 In order to account for these costs, shippers can expect to see rate hikes between 4-10% this year.

Carriers are expecting up to a 33% loss in revenue with additional operated costs estimated to hit between $10,000-$25,000 per truck. 2 In order to account for these costs, shippers can expect to see rate hikes between 4-10% this year.

To help prevent your business from being caught in a driver shortage, and to save money in the long term, shippers should consider the following tips:

-Establish carrier meetings in advance.  Stop bidding out your business year.  Instead, establish and grow your relationship with a specific carrier(s).

-With that being said, work hand-in-hand with carriers to schedule routine shipments.  If a carrier knows that a particular lane will run a specific time each week or month, they can schedule backhaul, cutting back on costs for both the carrier and shipper.

-If you do not have a load that ships on a specific time of week/month, it is best to plan your lanes ahead of time.  Giving carriers a day or more notice can help them position their equipment efficiently.

-It is also beneficial to add additional carriers in cases where your primary carriers do not have the availability.

hos

Click Image to Enlarge

To view all of the 2011 HOS Final Rule Provisions, click the image on the right.

Are you having difficulty finding experienced carriers to move your freight in times of the driver shortage? Visit www.roadscholar.com to request an LTL or truckload rate today.

How do you think the upcoming hours-of-service changes will affect your company? What are you doing to prepare for the July effective date?

1http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2013/01/30/clock-ticking-on-hours-of-service-and-other-trucking-risks/

2http://blog.trinitylogistics.com/2013/04/regulatory-review-how-new-hours-of.html

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2013 Brings Increased Problems for Carriers

Friday, January 18th, 2013

Trucking companies will face a greater challenge this year as volumes, rates, and capacity issues are forecasted to grow, increasing difficulties among carriers.  As Transport Capital Partners (TCP)’s Richard Mikes notes, “Volume and rate outlook does not bode well for cash flows and profits in 2013 for an industry under costs and availability pressure for drivers.” 1

Freight Volumes

The TCP’s Fourth Quarter 2012 Business Expectations Survey, which evaluated trucking executives, forecasted for the first time since 2009’s 1st quarter that freight volumes will remain flat. 1

Last month, the DAT North American Freight Index noted that although freight volumes declined 18.4% from November to December, December volumes were up 5% compared to the same time last year and were at their highest December mark since 1996. 2

Capacity

Carriers are refusing to add capacity unless they are “tied to specific dedicated fleet contracts, as supply and demand is now roughly in balance despite weak U.S. economic growth,” stated Stifel Nicolaus senior transportation analyst John Larkin. 1

perfect storm for capacity shortage

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Capacity shortage is the result of several factors (see The Perfect Storm for Capacity Shortage on the right) including new, stricter regulations in the trucking industry such as “speed limiters, revised drug testing procedures, and the medical certification process.” 1

One of the regulations causing great debate is changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA, including the revision of the hours-of-service provision which becomes effective July 1st.  This revision is expected to reduce a driver’s work week from 82 to 70 hours (a 17% decrease).

Earlier this week, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Transportation announced an audit of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA, in particular concerns over its Safety Measurement System, stating, “Specifically, our audit will assess whether FMCSA has (1) established adequate controls to ensure the quality of the data used to evaluate carrier performance and risk, and (2) effectively implemented CSA enforcement interventions.” 3

Meanwhile, stricter regulations such as CSA are adding to the driver shortage, not only by reducing the number of unsafe drivers on the road, but the cost of training the younger generation and inexperienced drivers is acting as a barrier as well.

In order to attract drivers to their fleet, carriers are competing with wages, bonuses, and other incentives, but in order to increase driver pay, rates need to rise as well, another challenge carriers are facing.

Rates

Despite capacity shortages, nearly 46% of carriers expect rate trendrates to remain the same while 44% expect to see only a moderate increase (this percentage favorable among large carriers). 1 Only 21% of the carriers participating in TCP’s survey increased their rates within the last few months which is said to be “the lowest percentage since February 2010.” 1

Dedicated rates, according to Stifel Nicolaus, are expected to remain flat or increase by only 2% while contract rates may actually decrease 1% or increase by 2%.1

For more information regarding the Safety Measurement System and the new Hours of Service rule changes, contact us via the form below or by visiting www.roadscholar.com.

Do you feel that the trucking industry will face greater challenges in 2013?  What is your outlook for volume, rates, and capacity?

1http://fleetowner.com/fleet-management/challenges-continue-grow-carriers

2http://www.supplychaindigital.com/global_logistics/dat-freight-index-reports-record-december-volume

3http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2013/1/15/OIGinitiatesauditofCSA.aspx

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CSA Changes Expected to Take Effect Next Week

Friday, November 30th, 2012

CSALast August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced changes to the CSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS 3.0) that would take effect this December.

With no effective date announced as of yet, the changes, which are considered to be among the most drastic, are expected to go into effect as early as next week.

Vigillo, a data collection company offering CSA management products, has hosted three webinars earlier this week, preparing individuals on the CSA’s upcoming changes. According to Vigillo, “The changes stemmed from the concerns of flatdeck and open deck carriers that felt they faced increased scrutiny when compared to van operators, solely due to the visibility of the freight they haul. There was a huge bias against flatbed and open deck carriers under the old methodology. They were subjected to more maintenance inspections as opposed to dry van and tanker trucks. Industry stakeholders went to the FMSCA and lobbied for this change.” 1

Changes include the following:

-“Changing the Cargo-Related BASIC to the HM Compliance BASIC to better identify HM-related safety and compliance problems” 2

This change places greater emphasis on compliance rather than safety. This includes documentation and placarding. As Vigillo’s Drew Anderson states, “Be careful what you ask for, it just may happen. Indeed what we see is the bias shown against flatbed and open deck carriers is eliminated. As the Cargo BASIC fades into the sunset, all open deck and flatbed carriers with a Cargo BASIC alert, that alert goes away because the BASIC goes away.” 1

Vigillo’s Sloan Morris acknowledges that “Because of the thinning of the former Cargo BASIC, the new HazMat BASIC now becomes the thinnest of BASICs in terms of violations, and as such, the most sensitive to violations.” 1

This category will remain private (accessible only to carriers/law enforcement) for the next year until inconsistency concerns are addressed. 3

-“Changing the name of the Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service (HOS)) BASIC to the HOS Compliance BASIC” 2

In doing so, violations will be reported more accurately.

-Paper and electronic logs used to record a driver’s hours-of-service will be weighed equally. 3

-“Strengthening the Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) by incorporating cargo/load securement violations from today’s Cargo-Related BASIC” 2

This will both present those carriers that have a greater risk of future crashes as well as removes bias. 2 Over 100 violations previously located in the Cargo-Related BASIC category will now be incorporated into the Vehicle Maintenance category.

-SMS will include pre-trip inspection violations on intermodal equipment. 4

-“Aligning violations that are included in the SMS with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection levels by eliminating vehicle violations derived from driver-only inspections and driver violations from vehicle-only inspections.” 2

-“Removing 1 to 5 mph speeding violations to ensure citations are consistent with current speedometer regulations.” 3

Once these changes go into affect, carriers can see changes in their CSA scores due to violations being weighted differently.

What do you think of the upcoming CSA changes? How will they affect your company?

1http://www.trucknews.com/news/substantial-changes-to-csa-coming-as-early-as-next-week/1001889087/
2http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMS_Changes.aspx
3http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=77837
4http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2012/8/24/CSAcargohazmatchangesfinalizedFatiguedDrivingrenamed.aspx

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New Issue Takes Number One Spot in ATRI’s Trucking Industry Survey

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012

ATRI

At an American Trucking Association’s meeting in Las Vegas on Monday, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released its 2012 top ten issues in the trucking industry, displaying ongoing issues while debuting new concerns.

Below are the top ten issues identified by over 4,000 trucking industry stakeholders participating in ATRI’s survey.

1.  CSA

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA gained the number one spot for the first time as the top issue currently affecting the trucking industry.  In last year’s ATRI survey, drivers and owner-operators listed their concerns over CSA.  These included:

Job Security- With stricter regulations, CSA is predicted to remove 10-20% of drivers from the industry, increasing an already slim driver pool.  When asked how concerned drivers were over their own job security, they had equally diverse feelings, with 35.5% not being concerned at all, 32.5% being somewhat concerned, and 32% being extremely concerned.1

Safety- The CSA has stricter regulations in an effort to improve safety on the road.  But do drivers notice increased enforcement efforts as a result?  When asked if they noticed any changes in the number of times they were pulled over for roadside inspections, 27.2% admitted to a greater frequency, 6.9% to a decreased frequency, and 65.8% to no change at all.1

With the number of roadside inspections believed to be the same, drivers also admit there to be no change in their safety behaviors or vehicle standards, with 75.5% stating that their vehicle standards have not changed and 68.3% believing that their positive safety behaviors are the same.1

As American Trucking Association CEO Bill Graves explains, “This has been one of the biggest changes confronting our industry in the last 25-30 years — probably since deregulation.  CSA still has some serious flaws.”2

2.  HOS

Whereas the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration upheld a driver’s HOS at 11 hours, the group revised the hours of service provision to include two consecutive breaks between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5.am., reducing a driver’s work week from 82 to 70 hours,  which leads to lower wages since many drivers are paid by the mile.

The ATA, along with other groups continuing to oppose the ruling, are seeking changes to the following: 11-hour daily driving limit, 30-minute required breaks, and 34-hour restart provision.3

3.  Economy

Coming in at the number one spot last year, the economy fell to third this year due to continued, yet slow, growth, which the ATA expects to be at 1.5% for the rest of the year.

4.      Driver Shortage

It comes as no surprise that there is a shortage of drivers in the industry, which is expected to increase to 150,000 by the end of 2012 and reach 240,000 by the end of next year.

This shortage is the result of many combining factors including the trouble of finding new, qualified drivers to replace those who have retired, with this problem becoming worse with a 21-year-old age requirement, stricter regulations, and the cost of training, among many others.

5.  Fuel Issues/Prices

Fuel and oil were found to be the second highest carrier cost in ATRI’s Operational Cost of Trucking Survey, with diesel costs increasing 33.7 cents per gallon from October 2011 to September 2012.4

6.  EOBRs

Electronic Onboard Recording Devices ranked a new high since first appearance in the survey in 2007.  As ATRI’s survey states, “Though FMCSA had been working towards a new EOBR/ELD final rule that addressed harassment concerns, the agency’s work was preempted by the inclusion of an EOBR/ELD mandate for HOS tracking in the MAP-21 transportation bill passed by Congress in 2012.  In MAP-21, Congress gave the agency until October 1, 2013 to issue a final rule.”4

7.  Driver Retention

Last seen in ATRI’s top concern list in 2006, driver retention takes a spot again with driver turnover reaching the highest since 2007 in 2012’s 2nd quarter at 106% for large carriers due to “driver pay, driver quality of life, demographics, and workplace environment.”4

8.  Truck Parking

With CSA and HOS changes requiring drivers to take mandatory breaks, parking has become a factor for trucks, making its debut for the first time on ATRI’s list.

9.  Driver Health/Wellness

Along with the debut of truck parking is driver health.  According to the ATRI’s report, “Past research has shown that the nature of the truck driving profession exposes drivers to lifestyle behaviors that can have negative health consequences (e.g. lack of exercise, poor diet).”

10.  Congestion and Highway Infrastructure

Several factors result in congestion on our nation’s roads including avoidance of toll roads, construction, accidents, etc., resulting in loss of time and thus profits for carriers and drivers.

Also tied in the number 10 spot was highway infrastructure, with the signing of a new two-year authorization bill in July.4

To receive a copy of ATRI’s report, visit http://atri-online.org/2012/10/08/critical-issues-in-the-trucking-industry-2012-report-request/.

How would you rate the top ten concerns in the trucking industry?  What would you consider to be your top concerns?  Share your comments!

Below are the top ten issues stated in ATRI’s trucking Survey from 2005-2012.

top issues

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1http://www.atri-online.org/research/safety/ATRI_CSA_Driver_Survey_Results.pdf:

2http://www.todaystrucking.com/graves-addresses-industry-concerns-says-embrace-change

3http://www.melodika.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=419974&Itemid=55

4ATRI’s Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry 2012 report

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FMCSA Announces CSA Changes Effective December

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

FMCSAAfter much debate, a four-month preview period, and comment submission process, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on its site Friday the changes that will go into effect for the CSA’s Safety Measurement System this December.

Comment Period

Over 14,000 carriers and 1,700 law enforcement officials participated in the SMS preview, which was open to carriers on March 27th.   With an approaching deadline to comment on the changes originally scheduled for late June, the FMCSA extended its deadline to July 30th.

The FMCSA has been under pressure by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) to change the way crash accountability is recorded.  Last year, carriers complained about high CSA crash scores reflecting accidents in which their trucks were not at fault. In return, the FMCSA developed both a short-term and long-term goal for easing carrier complaints.  Under these goals, trucking companies would be able to appeal who’s accountable for an accident, with a long-term plan aiming to determine accountability before the accident is even registered and factored into the scoring process.

In short-term, crashes would continue to be documented into the CSA database, however, carriers would then be given the option of using a system developed by the FMCSA allowing them to challenge the accountability of an accident by submitting a police report through the CSA data correction system.  Although all accidents will still be recorded in the CSA system, those carriers at fault will be scored heavier then those held non-accountable for an accident.

But as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Steve Keppler explains, this method poses problems when the “reviewer makes a determination on accountability that is different than the officer,” who was actually on the scene, or when their determination differs from the insurance company’s investigation.

Last month, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association announced that it had filed a suit against the FMCSA stating that the agency has been releasing inaccurate driver records to employers that ultimately lead to negative consequences for drivers.  The group had presented three case examples in which drivers had their violations dismissed in court, however, these violations still remained in the system even after they submitted appeals through the agency’s DataQ, violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act and affecting future business opportunities.

The Changes

As of December 2012, the following changes will take place:

-“Changing the Cargo-Related BASIC to the HM Compliance BASIC to better identify HM-related safety and compliance problems” 1

In response to concerns over inconsistency in the hazmat category, the FMCSA has decided to make this category private only to carriers and law enforcement until these concerns are addressed. 2

-“Changing the name of the Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service (HOS)) BASIC to the HOS Compliance BASIC” 1

In doing so, violations will be reported more accurately.

-Paper and electronic logs used to record a driver’s hours-of-service will be weighed equally. 2

-“Strengthening the Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) by incorporating cargo/load securement violations from today’s Cargo-Related BASIC” 1

Doing so provides two important benefits:  “It identifies motor carriers with a higher future crash risk for FMCSA interventions” and “removes the bias in the current Cargo-Related BASIC which has resulted in identifying a disproportionate large number of carriers that haul open trailers (e.g. flatbeds) for interventions.” 1


-SMS will include pre-trip inspection violations on intermodal equipment. 3

-“Aligning violations that are included in the SMS with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection levels by eliminating vehicle violations derived from driver-only inspections and driver violations from vehicle-only inspections.” 1
Roadside inspection violations will be reported, however, only specific inspection violations will be included in the SMS. 1

-“Removing 1 to 5 mph speeding violations to ensure citations are consistent with current speedometer regulations.” 2

In addition, “the severity weight for speeding violations that do not designate the mph range above the speed limit” will be lowered. 3
Responses

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, who had filed a suit against the FMCSA in July, responded to the changes stating, “We’ve known it’s been a work in progress, and today’s announcement shows that the agency is listening to what truckers have been saying and taking those things into consideration, however, impatience from truckers should not be unexpected when a program has real-life consequences on professionals that know of no other way to do business but safely,” and further emphasized that although it is “a step in the right direction,” it is still not far enough. 4

What do you think of the FMCSA’s changes to the SMS system?  Are they sufficient or do you agree with OOIDA that it is “still not far enough?”

1http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMS_Changes.aspx

2http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=77837

3http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2012/8/24/CSAcargohazmatchangesfinalizedFatiguedDrivingrenamed.aspx

4http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=24072

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Concerns over CSA Rise as U.S. Court of Appeals Begins HOS Dispute Next Month

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

US Court of AppealsShippers and carriers are becoming more concerned over CSA 2010 as a battle over the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)’s hours of service ruling last December is scheduled to take place in the U.S. Court of Appeals this July.

According to Transport Capital Partners’ Second Quarter 2012 Business Expectations Survey, 72% of carriers acknowledged the fact that “some of their customers are concerned about CSA scores,” while 21% stated that their shippers are not concerned and “6% said all of their customers are concerned.” 1

With more and more shippers vetting out the carriers they use, and with stricter CSA regulations, an increasing number of carriers over the last two years are becoming more cautious over CSA, with 65% of those carriers participating in TCP’s survey admitting to using at least three different methods to meet regulations. 1

One of the ways carriers are doing this is through electronic on-board recording devices, used to enforce hours-of-service regulations.  Whereas there has been much debate over whether EOBRs should be mandatory, 33% of TCP’s large carrier respondents stated to be already utilizing them.  This, however, differs from small carriers in which over 55% are still using paper logs to record their hours-of-service. 1

One main reason why carriers are not in support of or utilizing EOBRs is cost, which 75% of respondents claimed were at least $500 per driver with 35% stating the cost to be over $1,000 per driver annually. 1

With increasing costs to conduct business, which include rising equipment prices, driver wages, and regulation implementation costs, carriers are raising their rates in order to make a profit.

This month, carriers such as ABF Freight System, Con-way Freight, FedEx, and YRC Freight announced that they would be taking a 6.9% general rate increase while Holland, New Penn Motor Express and Reddaway announced a 6.5% average increase. 2

But prices are not the only thing carriers are battling.  The U.S. Court of Appeals has consolidated lawsuits from groups opposing the FMCSA’s final HOS ruling and will begin taking the disputes to court next month. 3

These suits include those filed by the American Trucking Associations, who wanted the HOS rule upheld believing that it had already proven effective in improving crash prevention, stating truck-related crash reduction statistics, and that the FMCSA manipulated crash statistics in order to justify a reduction in a driver’s hours of service to reduce fatigue related accidents, nearly doubling the statistics from the 7 percent figure that the FMCSA had always claimed to be accurate, along with opposing the restart provision.

In a recent white paper entitled “Compliance, Safety, Accountability – Let’s Not Make it an Ashtray,” the ATA’s Vice President of Safety Policy Rob Abbott states:

“According to the first paragraph of the CSA methodology, the goal of CSA is to implement more effective and efficient ways for FMCSA, its state partners, and the trucking industry to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, and injuries.  Logically, scores in each of the measurement categories should reliably identify carriers more likely to cause crashes. However, in some instances, they do not.  As a result, FMCSA must guard against revising the goal of the program from identifying those carriers that are the crash-prone, to highlighting the importance of regulatory compliance.” 4

Suits also include those filed by Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, who believed that a driver’s HOS should be reduced to 10 hours as well as opposed the restart provision.

Dates are as followings:  July 24th:  Briefs due.  October 24th:  Reply briefs due.  November 21:  Final briefs due.  Oral arguments: TBA. 3

Want to know more about CSA?  Below is a list of CSA guidelines (published in the Federal Register last December) according to the FMCSA’s website (http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos-final/hos-final-rule.aspx):

-11-hour daily driving limit upheld

-A driver “may drive only if 8 hours or less have passed since end of driver’s last off-duty period of at least 30 minutes,” effective July 1, 2013.

-On-duty time “does not include any time resting in a parked CMV.  In moving CMV, does not include up to 2 hours in passenger seat immediately before or after 8 consecutive hours in sleeper-berth.  Also applies to passenger-carrying drivers,” effective Feb. 27, 2012.

-“Waiting time for certain drivers at oilfields must be shown on logbook or electronic equivalent as off duty and identified by annotations in ‘remarks’ or a separate added to ‘grid,’” effective Feb. 27, 2012.

-34-hour restart provision which “must include two periods between 1 a.m.-5 a.m. home terminal time” effective July 1st, 2013.  This decision is said to reduce a driver’s work week from 82 to 70 hours, which would lead to productivity problems since a reduction would limit a driver’s time on the road, which could cause delivery complications and increased rates for shippers (which then trickle down to higher costs for consumers).

If you are concerned about carrier CSA scores, then consider reading about how to manage those and other risks via our white paper, “Supply Chain Insanity-Would you use a Babysitting Found on CraigsList?”  To receive a copy, CLICK HERE.

What is your input on CSA?  As a shipper, are you concerned with a carrier’s CSA scores?  As a carrier, are you finding more shippers concerned with CSA ratings?  List your comments below.

1http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=77230

2http://www.joc.com/trucking/yrc-worldwide-plans-tariff-rate-hikes

3http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=77261

4http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ata-white-paper-urges-fmcsa-to-preserve-csas-original-goal-159761135.html

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FMCSA Announces EOBR 2, Questions of Driver Harassment Remain

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

eobr

In April 2010, a proposal requiring the mandatory use of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) for all carriers cited with serious log violations (those who violated hours of service rules at least 10% of the time) was passed with an effective date of June 2012.

Shortly after that, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed that all “interstate carriers that currently use records of duty status (RODS) logbooks to document drivers’ HOS” to install EOBRs as well 1.  Short-haul carriers who utilize timecards, on the other hand, would not be obligated to do so.

That rule would affect half a million carriers and hold a maximum $11,000 fine if violated.

But groups such as the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) have been petitioning the ruling for a while, believing that constant surveillance violates a driver’s right to privacy and can lead to greater safety issues for those drivers pushing to meet their quota, sometimes driving tired.

Their arguments paid off and last August, the Seventh Circuit Court had ordered that the rule be vacated until harassment concerns are addressed.

The FMCSA, however, took a new approach to the EOBR ruling yesterday when it removed their initial EOBR mandate that was restricted by the court, instead publishing in the Federal Register a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking they call EOBR 2.

EOBR 2, according to the agency, “would require on-board recorders in virtually all trucks engaged in interstate commerce” 2.

In order to deal with lingering questions over driver harassment, the FMCSA is planning on holding a “series of public listening sessions to hear from drivers” while conducting driver, carriers and vendor surveys, LandLine Magazine notes.  Meeting times can be found on the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee’s website at http://mcsac.fmcsa.dot.gov/meeting.htm#.

Many drivers, however, are already coming forward with their opinions.  As two of them expressed on thetruckersreport.com, “All I hear is company drivers saying how much they like them [EOBRs], they don’t have to PAY for them, I bet it would change their mind if it came out of their pocket” and “Tell me it’s not true. I thought OOIDA was going to protect us from harassment.”

Do you think that if drivers did not have to pay for EOBRs, they would show more acceptance towards the device or do you feel that driver harassment would still dominate driver concerns?

Fleet management systems incorporating EOBR devices are especially looked to be a concern in regards to harassing drivers.  As OOIDA’s Todd Spencer explains, “Minimum requirements for electronic logs do not harass drivers but the fleet management system that could be incorporated into the device could open the door to harassment” 3.

He continued by explaining “On-board recorders can’t measure when a driver is tired, when a driver ever needs to stop or when a driver needs a break, but certainly a fleet-management program can let a motor carrier know their driver stopped,” giving them a “harassment” tool to pressure drivers into working, perhaps when tired 4.

In order to prevent harassment from occurring, the FMCSA is being encouraged to put forth civil penalties for harassment as well as “seek out current regulations that appropriately address any driver complaint that is made” 3.

But while there has been great concern and opposition over the mandatory usage of EOBRs, there are some benefits.  As safety advocacy group Road Safe America notes, the installation of the device would promote safer drivers/fewer accidents by cutting back on the number of tired drivers pushed to go beyond their hours of service by their employer.

So was the case this month when a Pennsylvania trucking company was charged with violating hours-of-service on several occasions.

D.A. Landis Trucking, located in Lancaster, PA, was found to have their drivers maintain two hours-of-service logs, one of which they exposed to the U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA and the other in which they kept in a filing cabinet (along with trip sheets) that they hid from the agencies, allowing them to travel longer distances without being fined 5.  The company now “faces up to 5 years probation and a $5.5 million fine” while the owner faces “5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine” 5.

With cases such as these, the FMCSA is pushing forward towards the mandatory use of EOBRs for monitoring a driver’s hours-of service-compliance.

Like one individual notes, “Mandated EOBR’s (for all CMV’s) are coming, like it or not. I expect within 2 years it will be a mandatory part of the truck build process for new trucks by 2016. Trucks will be no different than commercial aircraft with their black boxes. I wouldn’t put is past them to try and implement CVR’s (cockpit voice recorders) either at some point in the future” 6.

We want to hear your thoughts regarding the FMCSA’s EOBR 2. Do you think that mandatory EOBRs are coming?  Do you feel that the device would be more intrusive or beneficial? Are you concerned if EOBR and related device costs are passed on the shipper?   List your comments below.

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1 http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=86197

2 http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=22355

3 http://www.truckersnews.com/fmcsa-to-move-on-recorders-hours/

4 http://www.truckflix.com/news_article.php?newsid=7732

5 http://www.truckflix.com/news_article.php?newsid=7725

6 http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/truckers-news/168196-ferro-fmcsa-2012-will-mandate-eobrs.html

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FTR: Capacity will Remain Tight but not as Severe as Expected for 2012

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

FTR AssociatesThe recent hours of service revisions, along with FTR Associates’ Trucking Conditions Index, indicate that the trucking industry will not face capacity issues as severe as expected this year.

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its proposal to reduce a driver’s hours of service from 11 to 10 hours, members of the trucking industry reacted with concerns of productivity and capacity issues since drivers would be restrained to how far they can travel/how many loads they could deliver without breaking their hours of service.  Thus, in order to secure more loads, companies would need to invest more money on drivers and trucks, which, with an already slim driver pool, would lead to capacity issues.

But when the FMCSA’s final rule was released last month, it showed that the agency decided to uphold the current 11-hour driving limit.  Although drivers are still arguing about their work week decreasing from 82 to 70 hours, due to the rule’s revision of the 34-hour restart provision to include two consecutive breaks between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., this ruling, along with other changes, would not go into effect until 2013.

Due to the changes not being effective until next year, FTR Associates expects capacity to remain tight in 2012 (due to driver shortage, CSA regulations meant to improve safety by removing unsafe drivers from the road, recovery from the recession (in which tonnage increased 6%), and higher costs of conducting business), but would not be as severe as expected.

Based on the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI), presented in the FTR’s January Trucking Update, “The environment for truckers remains modestly favorable with decent growth, capacity and pricing conditions,” increasing to 5.2 in November (“Any reading above zero indicates an adequate trucking environment with readings above 10 a sign that volumes, prices and margin are in a good range for trucking companies”) (http://www.ftrassociates.com/public/home/document.php?dA=news269).

Rates, however, are expected to increase over the upcoming year due to higher equipment costs, capacity issues, diesel prices and other increases in conducting business.

Do you agree with FTR in stating that although capacity will remain tight this year, it will not be as severe as expected?  List your comments below.

Road Scholar Transport

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Groups Respond to HOS Final Rule

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

FMCSAYesterday we announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA)’s final rule, retaining the 11-hour driving time while making changes to the current rule including the 34-hour restart provision, rest breaks, and on-duty time.  (Read the full article at http://www.roadscholarawareness.org/final-hours-of-service-rule-released%E2%80%A6fmcsa-retains-11-hour-driving-time/).

Throughout the process, the FMCSA has heard debates from several groups, with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) pushing for the agency to uphold the current hours of service (HOS) rule, based on its proven effectiveness (which has saved thousands of lives since it went into effect regardless of nearly 10 billion more miles traveled) and cost issues, while Public Citizen claimed that it would reopen its suit if the FMCSA were to sustain the current HOS rule.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that groups are responding to the final decision.

Stating that the HOS rule is a “one-size-fits-all approach” that “will not improve safety” but instead “have a dramatic effect on the lives and livelihoods of small-business truckers,” the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)’s Todd Spencer remarks that “the changes are unnecessary and unwelcome” (http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/12/22/OOIDAsaysfinalHOSregulationswontimprovehighwaysafety.aspx).

In response to the FMCSA’s decision that drivers “may drive only if 8 hours or less have passed since end of driver’s last off-duty period of at least 30 minutes,” with severe penalties for those “driving 3 or more hours beyond the driving-time limit,” Spencer stated, “The HOS regulations should instead be more flexible to allow drivers to sleep when tired and to work when rested and not penalize them for doing so,” an article on thetrucker.com explains.

On top of that, OOIDA mentions the problem with compliance due to detention time spent on docks, causing drivers to lose productivity and, in return, higher the costs of consumer goods.
At the same time, the ATA is calling the new rule “unjustified,” claiming that “unnecessary changes” were made, and like OOIDA, stating that it will “do nothing to improve highway safety, but will very likely increase the risk of truck-involved crashes.”

The ATA has been arguing that the current HOS rule has already proven effective in improving crash prevention, stating truck-related crash reduction statistics demonstrating that truck-involved fatalities have dropped nearly 30% since the current HOS rules went into effect, but that the FMCSA has “twisted data.”

Again, the ATA addresses the problems of productivity and a rise in consumer costs with the revised rule.

Furthermore, the ATA demonstrates the reality that the new rule could actually increase accident risk.  As the ATA’s Bill Graves explains, “By mandating drivers include two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. as part of a ‘restart’ period, FMCSA is assuring that every day as America is commuting to work, thousands of truck drivers will be joining them, creating additional and unnecessary congestion and putting motorists and those professional drivers at greater risk. The largest percentage of truck-involved crashes occur between 6 a.m. and noon, so this change not only effectively destroys the provision of the current rule most cited by professional drivers as beneficial, but it will put more trucks on the road during the statistically riskiest time of the day”  (http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/12/22/ATAObamaadministrationsfinalHOSruleputssafetyinthebackseat.aspx).

With parts of the new rule becoming effective Feb. 27, 2012 and the rest July 1st, 2013, the ATA acknowledged the fact that they are contemplating whether to file suit.

For more news regarding the FMCSA’s hours of service rule, visit www.roadscholar.com.

Do you agree with the ATA in that the final rule will cause more accidents instead of improving safety?  List your comments below.

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Final Hours of Service Rule Released…FMCSA Retains 11-Hour Driving Time

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

After months of debate, a final hours of service (HOS) rule has finally been released.FMCSA

Groups including Public Citizen, Teamsters, and the American Trucking Associations have been arguing over the Federal Motor Carrier Associations (FMCSA) proposal, which would cause a number of changes believed to be in the benefit of drivers and everyone on the road’s safety, among those limiting a driver’s on-road time from 11 to 10 hours.

The FMCSA submitted their updated proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on November 1st.  The OMB, in return, reviewed the rule, returned it to the DOT, and will be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 27th of this year.

So what’s the verdict?  Will a driver’s time on the road be reduced by an hour?

After much consideration, the FMCSA has chosen to uphold the current 11-hour daily driving limit.

But the final rule does come with some changes, which are as follows (provided by http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos-final/hos-final-rule.aspx):

-34-hour restart provisions “must include two periods between 1 a.m.-5 a.m. home terminal time” and “may only be used once per week,” effective July 1, 2013.

-Rest breaks:  “May drive only if 8 hours or less have passed since end of driver’s last off-duty period of at least 30 minutes,” effective July 1, 2013.

-On-duty time:  “Does not include any time resting in a parked CMV.  In moving CMV, does not include up to 2 hours in passenger seat immediately before or after 8 consecutive hours in sleeper-berth.  Also applies to passenger-carrying drivers,” effective Feb. 27, 2012.

-Penalties:  “Driving (or allowing a driver to drive) 3 or more hours beyond the driving-time limit may be considered an egregious violation and subject to the maximum civil penalties.  Also applies to passenger-carrying drivers,” effective Feb. 27, 2012.

-Oilfield exemption:  “‘Waiting time for certain drivers at oilfields must be shown on logbook or electronic equivalent as off duty and identified by annotations in ‘remarks’ or a separate added to ‘grid,’” effective Feb. 27, 2012.

According to truckinginfo.com, those carriers “that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by 3 or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense, and the drivers themselves could face civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense” (http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/newsdetail.asp?news_id=75621&news_category_id=3).

Put your freight onboard a safe carrier who abides by the rules and regulations by visiting www.roadscholar.com.

What do you think of the FMCSA’s final rule?  List your comments below.

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