Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

I didn’t know where the holiday originated, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. It says that the first Labor Day here in the US was celebrated back on September 5th 1882 in NYC. After workers were killed by US Army soldiers and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike – the President at the time – Grover Cleveland – put reconciliation with labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation declaring Labor Day a national holiday was spearheaded through Congress – it passed unanimously – and was signed into law six days after the end of the strike. FYI – the Pullman strike involved violent disputes between the unions and the railroads.

So now you know where Labor Day began. Fast forward to 2009. I just drove the 600 miles from wherever I was to just West of Jacksonville. I’m tired. Including myself, there was a lot of trucks on the road. Obviously “we” didn’t have the day off like the stock market, Federal government employees and of course, the sales, safety and operations people who work for the carriers. They’re home, “we’re” not.

For the record, as of today, there are 15 million people unemployed in the US. The percentage is almost at 10%, the highest level in years. Last month, the economy bled 250,000 jobs. Foreclosures – not from the ranks of adjustable mortgages or where people got homes for no money down – but from conventional mortgage holders. Somehow, we – I should say – greedy businessmen are going to have to start hiring 125,000 folks a month in order to stop that percentage from rising higher. Listening to the Labor Secretary on the radio today, telling people to go back to school – take advantage of the “many” government programs available and get “other” jobs only caused my stomach to turn. After she added that Pell Grants are easily obtainable as I try – and I’m employed – to come up with $900 to pay my son’s college tuition because we can’t get a loan – well, I thought here’s another rich Obama “official” living in liberal fantasy land.

Also, one year ago today – Labor Day – the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Combined they hold over 5 1/2 trillion dollars in mortgages. They were given a $100 billion dollar bailout. One year later, credit is extremely tight whether you run a trucking company, an airline or small manufacturing concern. While the Obama Administration continues to oversee these two entities, they have offered no strategy as to how to successfully manage them. We’ll have to wait until February, when they say they will have some sort of plan. Meanwhile companies continue to go bankrupt and eliminate jobs because they cannot obtain credit.

Today, by the way, is the biggest home improvement day of the year. Yes, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Wal-Mart, Target and the rest were open. Their employees celebrate the holiday by working. Today more people “dig-out” their Christmas lights than at any other time of the year. No I’m not kidding. And please permit me a senior moment – when I was a kid – nothing was open. Back then there was also talk of a 4 day work week someday. Computers were going to make our lives so much easier. The way things are going, I don’t think our kids will be celebrating this holiday – not so much a holiday – in future years. There is no talk of working less – just more – and for less money than you probably earned five years ago. If you lucky enough to have the day off, enjoy it.

Photo credit: http://www.oldcitypics.com/images/empire-state-workers-1930.jpg

Pay attention Virginia.

You say you have a budget crisis?  You say that closing rest stops on the interstates will free up much needed cash to help with the budget crisis?

What have you been smoking?  What ever it is stop California from smoking the same stuff, or Michigan, or.other states.

I swear.  A two year old with a bag of marbles and a handful of gumdrops knows more about finance than some states. It appears so anyway.

Listen up.  I have a suggestion that will provide an increase in state revenue AND improve safety on the highways, for the general public and truckers.

The only problem is that it’s going to seriously annoy some lobbyists.  SERIOUSLY annoy.  I don’t know for a fact but I assume there’s an association of truck stops which lobbies congress to support their best interests.  Doesn’t any business now days have such an organization?  These people are going to hate my suggestion.

The suggestion?  Open Interstate Rest Areas to Commercialization.  Furthermore.  Auction off the rights to the highest bidder. Read the rest of this entry »

Linda Sunkle-Pierucki and I have been giving you updates on the rest area closings in Virginia. Be aware that these closures occur beginning the week of July 20th. If you are a OTR truck driver, you had better take a few more minutes before you start out in the morning pre-planning where you intend to stop, if you’re going through Virginia. There are currently about 40 “real” truck stops throughout the state. But, like the Love’s off I81 at exit 84 in Max Meadows, a few are remodeling their facilities or doing work on their parking lots, and have fewer truck spaces than normal.

I want to focus this post on I81, the 324 miles of interstate heavily used by trucks 24/7 that begins in the North from the West Virginia line and ends South at the Tennessee border. The Welcome Center on I81 in Tennessee is actually the only rest area since leaving West Virginia that has ample safe truck parking day and night. And there are no restrictions, as exists in Virginia, on overnight parking. Many only allow 2 hour parking. I began my day today at the Pilot in Hampton NJ. That location, by the way, is also presently being remodeled and is frustrating as heck to get in and out of and parking is limited.

Now permit me to take a slight diversion – and let me ask you a question. You manage to graduate high school with a 2.0 GPA. You make it into the local community college. Perhaps you enter the military and have a short and undistinguished record. You get out and work in a small local golf shop – until – in better times – there is an opening at the Virginia State Police Academy. With me so far? Good.

You manage to get through the training without shooting yourself in the foot. You’re assigned one of those shiny “used” 2006 Dodge Charger patrol cars with a “HEMI.” You get one of those wide brimmed forest ranger hats and a shiny badge. And for the next 20 years you sit under a tree, in the middle of I81, waiting for some schnook to come flying down a hill at 68 miles a hour. And after you retire, you get to to work for OOIDA in Missouri sitting (once again) under a tree doing whatever OOIDA does. How does this all sound to you? Did you say idiotic?

Well as Shakespeare wrote, therein lies the rub. Because my friend, Virginia is idiotic. Never a friend to truckers, it has become the latest State to pass through and park your rig in TN or WVA or anywhere else but there. Today, every “trooper” or whatever they call themselves in Virginia, was out trying their “worst” – hiding in the bushes, under trees or behind hills, in their feeble attempt to collect revenue to help their State from going bankrupt. And judging from the constant flashing lights coming from cars going in the opposite direction, everyone knew where they were. But, these “troopers” (who should be on commission) know that after the 20th, innocent 4-wheelers and desperate truckers will be speeding down I81 just to get to the state line to pee and poop. 

And that my fellow Life On The Road readers is the pathetic state of Virginia. And I, for one, have placed them, in my book, on double secret probation and will avoid at all costs stopping or spending my money there. And be advised, slow down – the speed limit on most of I-81 is 65 mph. Don’t feed the bears!

PS/If you plan to drive through Virginia here’s some help: http://www.wikihow.com/Hold-in-Pee-when-You-Can%27t-Use-the-Bathroom

Photo credits: http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Employment_Trooper_Recruitment.shtm, www.walletpop.com/…/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_81_in_Virginia, http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Animal_House/gallery/ANIMALHOUSE033/, www.everyday-education.com/

So you say you want to start your own trucking company? Well take heed to the new safety audit, as if you do not adhere to the regulations, you might as well just forget about making your “dream” come true.

The FMSCA recently passed regulations stating that new entrants will receive an automatic failing of their safety audit should any of the following take place:

“1. Sec.382.115(a)/Sec.382.115(b)Single occurrence.Failing to implement an alcohol and/or controlled substances testing program

2. Sec.382.201-Single occurrence.-Using a driver known to have an alcohol content of 0.04 or greater

3. Sec.382.211-Single occurrence.-Using a driver who has refused to submit to an alcohol or controlled substances test required under part 382.

4. Sec.382.215-Single occurrence.-Using a driver known to have tested positive for a controlled substance.

5. Sec382.305-Single occurrence.-Failing to implement random controlled substances and/or alcohol testing program.

Read the rest of this entry »

Finally, HOS is finalized! Well, sort of. On November 19, 2008 the FMSCA decided on the final rule adopting the provisions of its Dec. 17, 2007, interim final rule on the HOS rules.

According to Etrucker.com: “Under the final rule, commercial motor vehicle drivers may continue to drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the workday, following at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. And motor carriers and drivers may continue to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. The 11-hour and 34-hour rules were at the heart of Public Citizen’s second challenge to the hours rules.

The final regulation is set to take effect in 60 days, or Jan. 19, one day before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. ”

Which means that there is always the possibility of them revisiting HOS once President-elect Obama takes office. Why can they not just say “Ok, this is it, let’s not change it for X number of years?” instead of consistently swaying back and forth between yes and no.

Sleeper berth hours were not revisited this time around. However, electronic devices were. “In a related development, FMCSA also is publishing in the Nov. 19 Federal Register a notice of policy change regarding use of motor carriers’ advanced technology for compliance purposes. FMCSA had issued a memorandum in 1997 limiting use of such technology in compliance reviews and enforcement on the grounds that the government didn’t want to stifle technologies that were just emerging.

“This policy afforded the industry the opportunity to fully integrate the technology in its operations and overall safety management system,” FMCSA says in the notice to be published Wednesday.

But now advanced technology has become widely accepted and an integral component of the industry‘s logistics and operations management systems, FMCSA says. Since the policy has achieved its purpose, FMCSA says it is now rescinding it. The decision to reverse the policy may accomplish much of what the agency intended in proposing electronic onboard recorders. ”

So something else the FMSCA cannot make their mind up about, whether or not onboard recorders are good. First they did not want them and companies went ahead and started using them, now they DO want them and companies do not want them. It’s almost like a child. You tell a child not to do something and they do it anyway, then when you tell the child it is ok to do it, the child no longer wants to do it. Amazing how that works!

Hopefully though, they will leave HOS alone for awhile, since everyone is “almost” used to it now!

Certain folks want to strike. Well they are about to get their wish.

There are two ways to interpret the word “STRIKE”. One, the way that our little buddies who could NOT understand supply and demand were advocating has to do with work stoppage. Our little buddies figured that if we stopped work then all our “demands” would miraculously be met.

What they failed to understand, what they apparently REFUSE to understand, is that we live in a global economy. Oil is traded on the global marketplace. (they shouldn’t feel TOO bad because apparently the US Congress doesn’t understand that either, sue OPEC indeed!!) Oil is a fungible commodity. If the US doesn’t buy the oil, why, Russia, China, India, Europe, or any of a whole lot of OTHER countries are in line to buy that same oil. If we don’t buy it then, on the Global Market, the demand falls. If the demand falls , and the supply is constant, THEN the price also falls.

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I have had numerous discussions with drivers whom are slightly confused about the 14 hour rule. The truckers I have talked to say that they have to go “Off Duty” after their 14 hours has been used. That’s not true. The 14 hour rule only applies to your driving time, not your “on duty, not driving” time. If you go On duty not driving after 14 hours, you can remain on the clock so to speak for as long as you want. But you cannot drive after 14 hours until you have had a consecutive 10 hour break.

The reason I bring this up is because we had a driver in our fleet that told a receiver that he could not unload the trailer due to being out of hours. (The Drivers unload their own trailers). He had reached his 14 hours mark and thought that he had to go off duty. This was at 3am in the morning. Well, the receiver could not get in contact with anyone at our facility until 7am that same morning. Due to the driver not unloading his freight, the receiver had to shut their production down at 6am and the driver refused to unload the freight until he had a 10 hour break, when in fact he could have went on duty not driving and legally unloaded his freight and kept our valuable customer in production. We were able to get another driver in the area to arrive and unload the trailer for them so they could get back up and running. It was 9am before they were able to start their machines back up. 3 hours of downtime cost them approximately $9000 in production loss..and it could have all been prevented if the driver had been properly educated about the 14 hour rule.

PATT (Parents Against Tired Truckers) probably have their hearts in the right place, trying to protect the ultra safe four wheeler drivers from the big, bad killer truckers.

Founder of P.A.T.T. issues scathing testimony against FMCSA over HOS
The Trucker Staff  12/19/2007
WASHINGTON — Attempting to address fatigue on the highways by allowing truckers to drive more hours is like allowing motorists to consume more alcohol in order to alleviate drunk driving, the founder of Parents against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), told a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Hours of Service today.

It goes on with a lot of statistics. They’ve got their stats and we’ve got our stats to counter their stats. The problem with driving 11 hours isn’t driving, it’s working or even waiting without being able to sleep, then driving for 11 hours.

Read the rest of this entry »

I know this is from Australia, but it shows the technology available, besides, I like the title.

Carmel Egan
December 16, 2007
INTERSTATE truck drivers are switching off their lights to hurtle through the dark at 100kmh – and swerving to the wrong side of the highway – to avoid cameras.

They are avoiding the cameras because -

The truck drivers are turning their lights off to avoid detection by Safe- T-Cam, a network of point-to-point fixed cameras that collect, verify and store data on heavy vehicle movements on major arterial roads.
The systems – designed to combat heavy-vehicle driver fatigue – are positioned throughout NSW and South Australia but also catch drivers entering and exiting Victoria.
The overhead cameras focus on the driver’s face and the truck’s front number plate so their identities can be verified during police logbook checks.

I used to have the attitude that HOS needed to be strictly enforced, until they came up with rules I didn’t like. Even as a team we had trouble driving strictly by latest must drive 11 hours before stopping rule. What’s wrong with a little flexiblity in allowing drivers to rest when they want to rest, instead of forcing drives to drive when they’re tired and rest when they’re not.

Just like this article, it only takes a few idiots to mess it up for the rest of us.

Looks like we’re stuck with the HOS rules as they are right now. 11 on 10 off with a 34 hour restart. If I’m out here working, I want to be working instead of waiting for hours in a truck stop!

DOT maintains 11-hour driving limit for truckers
WASHINGTON (AP) – Big trucking companies got their wish on Tuesday when federal regulators maintained existing limits on drivers’ hours, rather than endorsing a court order sought by consumer advocates that would have required one less hour behind the wheel each day.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an interim final rule that maintains the current 11-hour driving limit, under which truckers are required to rest for 10 hours.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in September delayed until Dec. 27 a requirement that would reduce the continuous driving limit to 10 hours with eight hours of rest.

I’m a little confused. If the Court decision isn’t until the 27th, what’s the FMCSA coming out with their “interim final rule” now for? Read the rest of this entry »