Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/135388
Voices July 1: A not-so-fresh restart For complete details on the hours revision, see page 24. WHAT PART OF THE NEW HOURS RULE WILL MOST AFFECT YOU? Other 1% I don't know 16% It won't affect me 9% Allowance for 2 hrs. off-duty in moving-truck passenger seat 1% New restart limit to one per week 15% New restart restriction requiring two 1-5 a.m. periods 36% Mandatory 30-min. rest break every 8 driving hrs. 22% OverdriveOnline.com poll. July 1 is the compliance deadline for the hours of service final rule published in December 2011. Many owneroperators and drivers have been looking hard at how the new restart restrictions and mandated break period during drive time might affect their operations. Some expect a schedule change on regular runs, given the new requirement that every restart must include two 1-5 a.m. periods. "The 34-hour restart will affect me the most," wrote Greg Vellender, responding to hours queries on Overdrive's Facebook page. "I will be going off-duty at 11 p.m.," before his typical hours reset, rather than running farther through the night to take advantage of reduced late-night traffic. Mike Hansen reported his normal weekly start time at 2 a.m. likely will have to be moved up to 5 a.m. because of restart restrictions. His carrier planned to begin logging under the new rules June 1. Part of the problem with the restart restrictions also has to do with the new restriction limiting a driver to just one restart a week. "Having to wait for a reset for seven days will get me the most," noted Keith Johnson. But for drivers not maximizing their 60/70 available hours in a seven-/eight-day period, wrote John Solliday, working off of the recap and including a bigger dose of forward-thinking time management is an easy way out of most hours situations under the new regs. "It goes back to the old-school" way of thinking, Solliday said. "Manage your time. … Run your recap, and don't run out all your hours every day. When you go home for a weekend or the three-four days for those who just have to be there, there's your 34-hour rest." Use "common sense," Solliday said. "Watch your hours. If you do, you won't run out – maybe get low a time or two, but you'll still have hours and will still be able to move." Eric Whaley echoed that sentiment. "It won't bother me. I run on the recap, barely need a 34, so it won't change my operation one bit." Drivers that have problems with the new rules, Whaley suggested, may "work for an outfit where they don't control the loads they run or how they run." The mandatory 30-minute break at least every eight hours of driving also saw similar reactions. Some drivers call it no more than a formality since they already take breaks, while others had broader concerns about proper management of it. It's possible, given the 14-hour work window, to log the break too early and, after eight hours During May polling on the hours change, drivers clearly were worried about new limits on the 34-hour restart, a provision originally codified during the 2003 changes to drivers' hours of service. Todd McCann, writing on his AboutTruckDriving.com blog in April, detailed the recent examples of three successive weekends that would not have been possible under the new restart restrictions. (Search "Bungling the 34-hour rule" at his site to read his account, or scan this QR code.) of driving, have to log another before the day's over. Other views: John Solliday: No change for me, but then I've always taken an afternoon nap for at least an hour or so. Dave Lippert: I'm sticking to the current rules. They aren't broke, and I take breaks when I darn well please. I get my restart every weekend, so nothing is changing for me there. Shaun Gaffga: I have been logging it like it's the law right now. Mark Pritchard: Has anyone ever seen auto parts delivery? Restaurant service? Small retail chains? Most of those get their delivery trucks in the dead of night. Then there are those "little" operations like FedEx, UPS, ABF, YRC. They clear the gate at 6 p.m. and run the night. A lot of work gets done while the solar-powered tourists in the truck stop suck down their 64-ounce colas. 4 | Overdrive | June 2013 Voices_0613.indd 4 5/28/13 10:41 PM