Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/709236
PULSE August 2016 | Overdrive | 5 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com instruction manual," Wisla contends, for "how to sue and win against trucking companies." Illustrating the atten- tion paid to trucking and affiliated companies in litigation, where crash fault can be thrown into doubt, Wisla pointed to his own brokerage's experience that placed him among the one in five Overdrive readers who've been named as defendants in civil post- crash legal action. "We had brokered a load to an independent driver. Five hours after de- livering the freight, he was in a crash with two fatali- ties and injuries." Wisla's company later became the "primary defendant," he says, and his own insur- ance company was forced to pay. Other readers suggested the tort bar's "safety alert" might better be placed on the effect that the raft of civil litigation has in the realm of fraud schemes perpetrated by motorists. One Savannah, Ga.- based reader showed familiarity with the ads of attorney Ken Nugent, mentioned in the original story. Nugent, among others across the nation, seems to encourage "dan- gerous roadway behavior," he wrote, "promoting collecting the 'big money' from truckers as though it's like winning the Lotto jackpot. … We're bom- barded 24/7 here in the Savannah area with their distorted truths." I recently had the opportunity to join a flat- bed owner-operator as he wasted gallons of diesel to cool his parked truck under a bru- tal sun. Jeremy Johnson, leased to Blair Logistics of Birmingham, Ala., was waiting to deliver a steel coil. The five-and-a-half-hour delay was partly a receiver snafu with bills of lading, partly business as usual. As is the case with many carriers and own- er-operators, Johnson says detention pay is spotty. This day, he got none. When he does get it, it usually doesn't kick in until after four hours. A recent survey of carriers and brokers in DAT Solutions' load-board network quantifies this sad state of affairs: • Typical detention times of three to four hours were reported by 54 percent of carrier respondents. • Common detention of five or more hours was reported by 9 percent of carriers. • Only 3 percent of carriers were paid on 90 percent or more of their detention claims. The rate was $30 and $50 per hour, which still didn't cover lost opportunities and other costs. (Overdrive Senior Editor Todd Dills, reporting in depth on detention, has calculated $64 an hour as adequate compensation for lost income production for the average independent.) Similar data is being gathered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General. It could lead to hours of service changes or a mandate for detention pay. Via highway bill drafts, the Obama adminis- tration has twice attempted a mandate for a minimum compensation for all on-duty not-driving time. DOT's audit of dock delays ties in with FAST Act highway bill requirements. Detention's impact on safety and driver compensation, too, were con- gressionally required consid- erations. The DOT OIG also noted how the lack of flexibility in the 14-hour daily on-duty limitation makes things worse for drivers subjected to unpre- dictable, prolonged detention. Near term, there's no reason to expect the private sector to generate much change. Soft freight demand pressures car- riers to play overly nice when it comes to demanding fair – or even any – detention pay. On the regulatory side, it takes a leap of faith to believe that the same bureaucracy that created the flawed iterations of hours of service regs will use whatever data it gathers to produce meaningful change in detention abuse. At least the issue is being taken seriously, but the regulatory wheels in D.C. turn very slowly, just like the wheels of operation at many docks. "I just sit here and wait till they get it all sorted out," John- son said when he finally figured out the bungled paperwork situation at his drop, learning it would cost him another two or three hours. "Guess who gets screwed in the meantime." Hurry up and wait " I just sit here and wait till they get it all sorted out. " — Jeremy Johnson