Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/978209
Voices 4 | Overdrive | May 2018 Landis & Sons' Mike Landis was among 30 to 40 owner-operators bringing their trucks, as well as other individuals participating without their trucks, who returned to Constitution Avenue between the White House and the Washington Monument April 9. Their goal: Demonstrations to press concerns to the public, Congress and Federal Mo- tor Carrier Safety Admin- istration officials over the electronic logging device mandate and the need for hours of service flexibility, among other issues. At least two groups of truckers met with FMCSA the first day of the demonstrations. Other meetings that week were with congressional reps and the U.S. Department of Labor. All hoped to establish ongoing dialogue about what might be possi- ble in terms of short-term relief from hours pressures made more apparent with the turn to ELDs. Pennsylvania-based Landis, joined by small- fleet owner Mintu Pandher, owner-operator Mike Jellison and other truckers, said he was hopeful after meeting with new FMCSA Administrator Ray Marti- nez, who seemed to grasp the passion truckers have around ELDs and hours. It "seems like he really wants to be a little more proactive" than the agen- cy's last top officials, Landis said. "They do want to work with us on the hours of service." The agency has heard ideas from driver groups lately, in addition to the petition filed by the Own- er-Operator Independent Drivers' Association to allow a three-hour off-duty pause in any 14-hour duty day to extend the clock. This was reinforced with the introduction of a bill in the House that would require the same. Regarding hours, Landis generally believes "we should be able to do what we want, and there should be stiffer consequences if we foul up." At the same time, he knows regulatory limitations are necessary at the least to prevent abuse of drivers' time by those who would control it. In the end, he adds, "we're here to help change this problem and help be the solution." In that meeting with Landis and others were Joe DeLorenzo, FMCSA's director of the Office of Enforcement and Com- pliance, and other officials who also had quite a busy day April 9. Truckers Lee and Lisa Schmitt, among others associated with the Monday Information Face- book group, also met with officials to talk hours of service flexibility and more. (The Facebook group was formed in part to coordi- nate last year's Monday, Dec. 4 "ELD media blitz" bid to garner news cover- age of driver issues.) The Schmitts are working to propose a pilot program that would evaluate the safety of hours regulations that enable even more flexibility than would split rest under the current rule. Lee Schmitt says the proposal would retain an 11-hour driving limit per duty cycle. It would do away with the 14-hour on-duty limitation, imposing a cumulative seven or eight days limitation of 70 or 80 hours on-duty, which drivers could use however they wanted. An eight-hour off-duty or sleeper period Truckers reprise ELD protest in D.C. Mike Landis, who drove this 1999 Peterbilt to Washington, D.C., was among truckers who contacted lawmakers and regulators about changing the ELD mandate and the hours of service. Various pilot programs for new regula- tions are being discussed. Courtesy of Mike Landis