OOIDA says proposed Hours-of-Service regulations unjustified, burdensome

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GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has told Congress that proposed changes to Hours-of-Service regulations are not only unnecessary but also unjustified and burdensome to small-business truckers.

“Trucking has never been safer, yet federal regulators and big businesses continue to push for mandates that hurt small-business truckers,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice-president of OOIDA.  
 
“If we truly want to see relevant highway safety improvements, a new government regulation or mandated technology won’t make a difference as long as policymakers insist on continuing to ignore the problem of detention time at shippers and receivers.”  
 
OOIDA submitted a statement of record for a hearing held yesterday by the US House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending.
 
The hearing was titled “The Price of Uncertainty: How Much Could DOT’s Proposed Billion Dollar Service Rule Cost Consumers This Holiday Season?” and focused on proposed changes to Hours-of-Service regulations and mandates for electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs).
 
The Association’s testimony said that the changes being proposed by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) are not only unnecessary in a system that appears to be working well, but are inconsistent with guidelines which commit the government to eliminate excessive and unjustified burdens on small businesses.
 
OOIDA notes that the “fatigue” argument for adapted Hours-of-Service is lessened based on the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which showed fatigue was a factor in only 1.4% of all fatal wrecks involving truckers.
 
“This statistic is very different from what is too often misreported by mainstream media, which say that fatigue is a factor in 30 to 40% of all fatal crashes involving trucks,” said Spencer.
 
The testimony went on to say that FMCSA itself acknowledges that this rulemaking will have a significant negative impact on small-business truckers in terms of lost productivity, and on consumers who ultimately pay higher prices for goods shipped.

“The cumulative effect of these hours-of-service rule changes, when combined with impacts from other completed or ongoing federal rule makings, and the fact that the issue of detention time continues to cost truckers valuable time and money, could well place insurmountable regulatory challenges on small business,” OOIDA said in a release.

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  • its so sad that no one will stand together call ur congressman call washington and fight for the little man trucking industry help ooida to help fight for the small trucking companies there are people out there who will help fight for the small trucking companies

  • In the last 10yrs I’ve been driving;I’ve seen this industry go completely down hill. Regulating the drivers only makes the public and their families spend more for everyday items. And whose to say that some big wheel in the government isn’t backing some trucking company so they’ll hopefully be able to prosper while others go under. Cutting the drivers back in HOS is not only stupid but irrelevant on what really needs to be done. (1)Extend trainees training period. (2)Train trainers to spot a trainee’s screw-up before it happens. (3)Like driver’s ed cars,equip trucks for 1 specific purpose-training;I.e 2 steering wheels,2 brake pedals and make these vehicles available to trucking schools and companies that hire students. With 1 slight change; the trainer can flip a switch giving him full control of the vehicle while the training is in session. Next,mandate loading & unloading times. Fifteen minutes is plenty of time to load or unload a truck. If that time is exceeded,a penalty fee of $25/15 min.after that-breaks down to $100/hr. The shippers and consignees would have to hire more help to counter this action. So this works best for everyone. More jobs,low over-head,more profits for both sides. Now for the HOS crap;easy fix,adjust it to an 80hr week instead of 70. All these recorders do is catch the ones who cannot fudge the paper logs well enough to pass inspection. It’s basically a tattle-tale. Finally;and I’ll shut up,it should be mandated that all trucks should be able to run the speed limit in the region they travel in over 90% of the time. Insurance rates should reflect the same rate for a 59mph Swift truck as it would for a 105mph independant driver or owner op.

  • Over regulation in all aspects of our lives is costing us our freedom, jobs, and bankrupting our country. Fighting regulations that directly impact our abiity to do our jobs as drivers is each of our combined responsibity. Asking goverment to regulate shippers is short sighted. I agree long unloading times are a major problem, but carriers and owner operators need to be the ones dealing with shippers if they feel it’s hurting their business. Drivers should deal with getting detention pay from their company. The market place will eventually correct this and most other problems, not more goverment rules.
    Anyway, just one drivers opinion.

  • just leave our truckers alone, let them do there jobs safely like they do everyday. of course there may be a bad one here and there like in everything else but the truckers I know and work with on a daily basis are true professionals. if not for them my and everyother business in america would fail. from what ive seen and heard from the rules truckers have to abide by are redicoulous! I work 12 hours per day and drive over an hour each way to work, and i have no rule telling me I can not do this.. thanks truckers. god bless you..

  • Amazing isn’t it! I was sitting down a few weeks ago and had the same idea of the log book needing to be looked at for our 70hr. week. We work our tail off day-in and day-out trying to make a living. It is tough for me as a driver with Prime, Inc.that i have no place to put my time for detention time that i have to wait on somebody to load my dropdeck trailer. Without us America STOPS! PERIOD! All of us Trucker’s need an extra hand. Keep Truckin’ My Friends. Breaker 1-9. 10-4

  • Well maybe ever truck driver should get together and put the air-brakes on and just shut down for a few days as a sort of protest. OH but wait we can’t strike because it is a federal law that we cant protest.

  • I’ll tell ya what’s burdensome….its those hours of service..when stop to lunch and you logg 1 hour off duty time goes against ya…when you stop for nap…time goes against ya…when you stop at a Pilot or a major chain to get fuel and the driver in front of you decides he wants to sit down and eat and your blocked in cause someone else needs fuel and the driver in front of you is parked on the fuel island…not gonna say what MAJOR company that time goes against ya…shipper..receivers you think freight rates will go up..i dont care anymore the freight will get their when it gets their but i see those slow govern trucks rush threw slow speed zones and hold up traffic in fast zones for miles trying to past another semi thats going the same speed and im around this seeing this happening..Thats unsafe cause that gets the four wheelers mad if you cant do the speed limit you should stay out of the way! Just ask any of them they’ll tell ya…this is why i dont like the new rules cause that govern truck is trying to get as many miles as he can get cause press for time to gain that extra mile before time runs out very unsafe for the public period! Thx ATA its all about your profits!