Overdrive

March 2018

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

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Business 24 | Overdrive | March 2018 In one of the first reports of its kind, the U.S. Department of Transportation concluded that time spent detained at shipper and receiv- er facilities cuts truck driver pay by between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion annually, in addition to crimping industry safety. An extra 15 minutes spent detained beyond the average "dwell time" at a dock causes indus- try crash risk to climb 6.2 percent, DOT estimated. That's an average of about 6,500 additional crashes annu- ally, the report notes. Drivers see an average annual pay loss of between $1,281 and $1,534 due to detention time, and carrier income is cut by between $250 mil- lion and $300 million annually, DOT determined. However, the report also concludes that little data exists on detention time. DOT's Office of Inspector General, which produced the report, called on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to boost data collection efforts around the issue. FMCSA took steps in 2016 to try to collect anecdotal data from carriers and drivers about detention time. But "the agency has no plans to verify the data that motor carriers and drivers would provide," DOT says in its detention report issued last month. "As a result, the data may not accurately describe how the diverse trucking industry experiences driver detention, which would limit any fur- ther analysis of the impacts." DOT notes a need for electronic data, which is more concrete than anecdotal data. However, it does not mention the potential for collection and use of electronic log data in determining the scope of detention time and its effects on the industry. The 2015 FAST Act highway bill directed FMCSA to collect data on driver detention time, which prompt- ed the agency's 2016 initiative on col- lecting anecdotal data from industry stakeholders. The report notes that an FMCSA official has said "the costs of rigorous data collection and analy- sis would likely outweigh the benefit, and [FMCSA] primarily views deten- tion as a market efficiency problem best addressed by private industry" despite the safety issues detention time can create. DOT determines that the increased crash risk stems from "fatigue or desire to recover lost income" by drivers who experience detention time beyond the two-hour timeframe. The report is based on 2013 data collected by studies performed by private parties such as the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association. – James Jaillet Report: Detention drains wages, hurts safety Detention cuts driver pay by more than $1 billion a year, says a government report. Strong economy, ELDs push rates to historic highs Per-mile rates on the spot market in all three major truckload segments gained again in January, according to monthly rates data from Truckstop.com. Reefer and dry van rates hit at least 7-year highs, according to Truckstop.com. Reefer rates jumped 29 cents from December to $2.80 a mile — a 71-cent increase from the same month in 2017 and the highest since Truckstop.com began distributing data to Overdrive in 2011. Van rates jumped 14 cents to $2.54 a mile. That's a 60-cent gain over last January and, like reefer, the highest monthly per- mile average for the segment since at least 2011. Flatbed rates rose 3 cents in January to $2.44 a mile, up 40 cents from January 2017. That's the segment's highest average since September 2014. Max Heine $2.80 $2.75 $2.70 $2.65 $2.60 $2.55 $2.50 $2.45 $2.40 $2.35 $2.30 $2.25 $2.20 $2.15 $2.10 $2.05 $2.00 $1.95 $1.90 $1.85 $1.80 Aug - 2015 Sept. - 2016 Jan. - 2018 Flatbed Reefer Dry Van Source: Truckstop.com

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