HOS increases demand for new charges: CTA chief

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (June 7, 2004) — Drivers’ hours are as “precious as gold” these days, says the CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance David Bradley.

With work hours being absorbed idling at the border or in shippers yards as a result of U.S. hours of service rules, Bradley says the demand for compensation for ancillary services is “as high as it has ever been.”

“The reality is that the trucking industry is in the midst of what some have termed, the perfect storm,” Bradley said in a presentation to a joint meeting of the U.S. and Canadian transportation lawyers associations. “Operating costs like fuel, insurance, wages and security are all going are all going up. At the same time, there is a capacity crunch in the industry — in large part reflecting a driver shortage — combined with an upsurge in demand.”

He says the mood amongst shippers with regard to paying higher rates and/or accessorial charges “has been more accepting.” But, he adds “carriers have to be able to provide shippers with adequate documentation to show when and where delays are occurring.”

According to Bradley, the most significant element of the new US hours of service regulations which came into force in January of this year is the introduction of a 14-hour “working window”, which requires a driver to get all his/her driving hours in within 14 hours of coming on duty.

New Canadian federal hours of service regulations are being finalized now and are expected to become law in 2005. Bradley says he expects there will be more compatibility between the Canadian and U.S. rules than has been the case. However, he said, “there are still a few issues to be ironed out and we have great concerns over things like the fixed working window concept and how the split time provisions will look in their final form. Compatibility is good, but the rules do not have to be identical.”


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