TORONTO — The Hours of Service rules are supposed to be about safety, right? Seems odd then, that a large majority of the drivers who responded to an exclusive HOS survey Today’s Trucking and highwaySTAR conducted over the past few months said they didn’t feel safety had been enhanced by the new, more restrictive rules that went into effect in 2004 south of the border.

When asked if the American HOS regulations made trucking safer, only 18 of the 123 respondents agreed (90 disagreed, 14 had no opinion).

Not only did they believe the rules don’t make for safer, less fatigued drivers, many truckers told us that they’re often put in a position where they have to run when they’d rather be resting. In addition, they said the rules have changed eating habits for the worse (57 percent, versus 10 percent who said they had improved. One-third of respondents said their eating habits had not changed).

Opinions also suggest the new rules have done little to improve driver health and well being — which one may recall was one of the arguments used by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington back in July 2004 to throw out an earlier, and many would argue, better, HOS rule.

While we wait for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to publish something that proves whether the new rules have indeed improved safety, we can only rely on what we hear from real truckers. It seems clear from our survey that drivers don’t see any improvement in safety.

Nearly half the drivers polled (48.7 percent) noted that despite having more hours off in the day, they’re actually getting less sleep. Many suggested in the voluntary comments section that they prefer sleeping in shorter intervals (splitting sleeper time) rather than a solid block of eight or 10 hours. And when you can’t sleep, you can’t sleep. As one driver put it, “I’m tired of the law telling me when I’m tired. I can’t go into the bunk when I’m not ready, otherwise, I just lie there and stare at the ceiling.”

Others, though a minority (19.5 percent), said they now get more sleep than before, like this driver, who apparently makes the best of his time off:

“I realize that the new rules don’t suit everyone, but I really like them. I start early in the morning and get my 500 (miles) or so in, and then shut down early enough to relax, have supper, and have time for a nice walk before settling in for a good rest.”

Most respondents (58 percent) disagreed either somewhat or strongly with the statement: “I’m getting more rest and feel less tired under the current American HOS than under the previous rules.” Only 20 percent agreed; 17 percent had no opinion.

Time On Task:

We asked about the number of hours drivers spend on certain tasks over a typical seven-day period and got some interesting answers, especially on logbooks. If these numbers are accurate, they suggest we could be in for a rude awakening if black boxes were introduced in the very near future.

Almost 85 percent of respondents admitted to ‘adjusting’
their logbooks to make wasted time appear as sleep time

On average drivers say they spend 48 hours a week driving, and 14.3 hours engaged in an activity officially designated as on-duty/not driving. Of the 14.3 hours, only 8.3 hours are typically shown on line four of the log. Additionally, drivers described 10.9 of those hours as “wasted,” that is, spent on-duty/not driving, but unpaid.

Now, layer on top of that, the next two questions in the survey:

Do you “adjust” your logbook to make some wasted time appear as sleeper or off-duty time to extend your available driving hours? Yes: 83.7 percent. No: 16.2 percent.

If yes to the above, estimate the reduction in driving hours you might experience over a seven-day period if you did not “adjust” your logbook? 11.2 hrs

This produces a picture of a driver who logs 48 hours of driving in seven days, and spends about 14 hours doing something other than driving. Of those 14 hours, roughly 11 hours go unpaid.

Nearly 84 percent of you say you adjust your log to compensate for that lost time — to the tune of about 11 hours a week. That’s more than a full day’s driving-earning time for most drivers.

“I drive my normal day, my normal miles, and get the sleep I need. I adjust the logbook to show what the DOT wants to see,” says one respondent. “These two seldom, if ever, agree. What the HOS regulations have done is turned a group of working people into creative liars.”