US carriers don’t want government help to control detention time

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Trucking Associations (ATA) Board of Directors has told US lawmakers it doesn’t need their help in enforcing equipment and driver detention time limits.

The association said regulating equipment and driver detention time would interfere with shipper-carrier contracts.

“ATA and its members value the time of our drivers,” ATA president and CEO Bill Graves said following the Board’s decision. “However, federal intervention into this area would have significant impacts on the contractual agreements between carriers and shippers.”

“The ability of carriers to negotiate rates, routes and service with our shippers is very important to us,” added ATA chair Barbara Windsor, president and CEO of Hahn Transportation. “Federal regulation in this area would directly affect shipping rates and would significantly change the playing field for carriers and shippers.”

A move to limit driver and equipment detention time has been welcomed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in the US. The carriers, however, seem uninterested in a regulated solution.

 “This isn’t a big carrier issue or a small carrier issue,” insisted Keith Tuttle, president of Motor Carrier Services in Northwood, Ohio, and chairman of ATA’s Small Carrier Advisory Committee. “The ability to freely negotiate contracts is something all carriers want to protect.”

“No carrier wants to see our drivers’ time wasted,” ATA first vice chairman Dan England, chairman and president of C.R. England added. “However, this is not an issue that can be handled with a ‘one-size, fits all’ regulation and as a result is best addressed in contractual agreements between carriers and shippers.”

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  • Guess the American carriers aren’t into that whole level playing field thing that Bradley et all push up here I guess.

  • One way to make all this go away is make it illegal to pay by the mile or percentage. From the time a driver logs on to the time he logs off is paid by the hour period.