RE:TRUCKINGS DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

http://www.bulkloadsnow.com/News/index.cfm/2011/12/17/Truckings-dirty-little-secret#comments

This recent blog stated:

Commercial drivers are required by law to take a period of eight consecutive hours off after driving for 14 hours, and all drivers must stop driving after operating a vehicle for 70 hours in a week.

THIS IS INCORRECT. HOURS OF SERVICE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS. DRIVERS ARE GIVEN A 14 HOUR WORK DAY OF WHICH ONLY 11 HOURS CAN BE DRIVING TIME. FOLLOWED BY A MANDATORY 10 HOUR BREAK. ALSO THE 70 HOURS(WHICH ARE ALLOWED IN AN 8 DAY PERIOD) ARE NOT JUST DRIVING. ALL ON DUTY TIME GOES TOWARDS THE 70 HOURS. THIS IS 70 HOURS TOTAL FOR DRIVING, FUELING, LOADING , UNLOADING, ETC - ALL TIME LOGGED ON DUTY BY THE DRIVER. KEEP IN MIND IF A DRIVER STARTS HIS DAY AT 7AM, UNLOADS - DRIVES TO HIS RELOAD AND HAS A 5 HOUR DELAY TO LOAD...THE 14 HOUR CLOCK IS CONTINUING TO TICK SO EVEN THOUGH THE DRIVER MIGHT NOT HAVE COME EVEN CLOSE TO HITTING 11 HOURS DRIVE TIME BY THE TIME 9PM ARRIVES HIS DAY IS DONE REGARDLESS BECAUSE HE HAS HIT THE END OF HIS 14 HOURS. ALSO AT THE END OF 70 HOURS A DRIVER CAN TAKE 34 CONSECUTIVE HOURS OFF AND "RESET" HIS LOGBOOK AND BEGIN ANOTHER 70 HOURS AVAILABLE FOR THE NEXT 8 DAYS. CURRENTLY FMCSA IS LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWERING THE DAILY DRIVE TIME TO A MAX OF 10 HOURS AND EXTENDING OR GETTING RID OF THE "34 HOUR RESTART".

in another section of the blog it stated:

The log is a legal document that tracks a trucker's regulated hours of work, which, among other requirements, includes a 13-hour limit on driving.

Also incorrect as stated above max legal drive time per day is 11 hours.

The public already has a perception that big trucks are the biggest cause of fatal accidents on the road - incorrect information such as a statement that commercial drivers can drive for 13 or 14 hours per day does not help that perception.

accident research done by the AAA Foundation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) shows that blame for the fatality rate should not be placed on truckers alone. “The AAA study found that in 73% of the truck-car crashes studied, no unsafe act on the part of the truck driver caused the accident,” he said.

Additional studies comparing non-commercial and commercial drivers have found the following:

• Passenger-car drivers are four times more likely to rear-end a truck than truckers are to rear-end cars;

• Non-commercial drivers are 10 times more likely to crash into a truck head-on than vice versa;

• Passenger-car drivers are three times more likely to speed in poor road conditions (such as rain) than truck drivers;

• Non-commercial drivers are eight times more likely to be involved in crashes involving drowsiness.