Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/566087
32 | Overdrive | September 2015 I n almost every year since Overdrive began tracking national and state violation priorities in late 2010, the percentage of hours of service violations has risen. Given the prepon- derance of individual maintenance issues in the violation stats, the cumula- tive hours focus doesn't look like much – just more than a percentage point rise in three years to today, when 1 in 10 of all written violations have to do with the log book. But in particular regions of the coun- try, enforcement departments are fl ex- ing their muscle with hours violations in a much bigger way. In no place was that more evident in 2014 than in Arkansas, where hours violations accounted for nearly a third of its total 68,300 written violations, up from just 15 percent of all violations issued in 2011. In real terms, that's 7,331 more hours violations issued to truckers in 2014 than in 2011 within Arkansas' borders, a 41 percent increase. Over that same time, inspection totals as well as overall violation totals have fallen in the state, a reality Maj. Jay Thompson of the Arkansas Highway Police says is partly a result of manpow- er stress. The department is "budgeted for more than 200" dedicated truck safety enforcement personnel, Thomp- son says, but currently only 114 full- time road and weigh station troopers are certifi ed to conduct Commercial The new top hours enforcer No state issued a higher percentage of hours violations in 2014 than Arkansas. Training has helped officials find their 'comfort zone' enforcing the ever-shifting regs. BY TODD DILLS CSA's DATA TRAIL STANDOUT STATES Arkansas