New HOS pilot programs could give truck drivers more flexibility
Key takeaways
- HOS pilot programs aim to give drivers more daily flexibility without extending work hours.
- FMCSA will study sleeper berth splits and 3-hour clock pauses to improve driver scheduling.
- ELDs provide data to support smarter HOS adjustments, boosting efficiency and compliance.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.
For 50 years, we’ve familiarized ourselves with this phrase time and again. This summer, “Jaws” celebrated its golden anniversary. In our industry, however, you might be uttering: “Just when you thought you understood hours of service” as it pertains to a driver’s daily schedule and the nuances that always seem to exist for our industry’s much-maligned regulations.
If you stopped reading this column here, you might assume that this was about personal conveyance, electronic logging devices, or the emergency exemptions that often get issued when our nation needs our trucks to roll. However, this column deals with the recent news regarding the Pro-Trucker package that the Trump Administration issued as an executive order to improve the lives of America’s truck drivers.
The order itself suggests that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and President Trump are loyal readers of my monthly columns, given my repeated calls for increased flexibility in the hours of service (HOS) regulations. Just when I thought my request had fallen on deaf ears, the administration announced that they would be studying the impact of Hours of Service.
Trump administration launches pilot programs to modernize HOS
Through the launch of two pilot programs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will be exploring the increased flexibility in HOS regulations by reviewing the sleeper berth portion and the possibility of incorporating a pause of up to three hours in the 14-hour clock, a worthwhile effort to improve driver working conditions.
I have said for years that if we can extol the virtues of our industry as being one of the most flexible forms of freight delivery in this country, then we must insist that the professional truck driver be afforded the ability of ultimate flexibility. We aren’t talking about extending the day either. After all, there is no feasible way we can crank out a 25th hour in a 24-hour day. In fact, in most cases, we average approximately 6.5 to 7 hours of drive time per cycle—not anywhere close to what the current regulations allow for. Knowing that, we don’t need more time, but we do need the luxury of flexibility.
In the professional driver’s world, no two days are ever the same. The challenges of traffic, weather, and detention are just a few examples of situations that present themselves daily. In other words, a driver must adapt to the conditions that arise, aware that a ticking clock is the battle they fight to remain compliant. As an industry, we cannot advocate noncompliance. We can, however, argue that our drivers need the wherewithal to adjust their day, and that is what these two pilot programs will seek to do.
Studying the ramifications of a 6/4 or 5/5 split to the sleeper berth portion of the 10 hours off-duty can be paramount to increasing the productivity that our nation needs. Faced with traveling in an urban area during the height of rush hour? Split your sleeper berth into a more reasonable option to avoid it altogether. Our nation’s infrastructure challenges almost require a driver to do that.
Yet, here we are, following an announcement in which the administration has recognized the value of our industry and its driving diversity by acknowledging that a strict rule could still allow for changes to an atypical day. In today’s age of deregulation, this is not a case of removing a rule but rather streamlining one and making it better. It is not as if the results can be misconstrued either.
The introduction of the electronic logging device (ELD) provides an opportunity to gain valuable insights and accurate data that support the notion of a change being needed. Inaccurate or fraudulent logs could have always reflected the perfect driving day. In our ELD-based world, that rarely exists. Highlighting congestion, detention, or even opportunities to rest can be examined through this pilot program, providing our industry with opportunities to be more efficient and productive when delivering the goods that our nation consumes.
Flexibility over extension: Giving drivers control of their day
At the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), one of our fundamental core beliefs is to improve the driving job. Let’s make life easier for those who put food on the table, provide medicine to those who need it, and allow our first responders to respond first—just by doing their job. Applauding the administration for supporting America’s truck drivers, we look forward to participating in these pilot programs that will positively impact professional truck drivers.
Looks like it’s time to dive back into the HOS waters after all.
About the Author
David Heller
David Heller is the senior vice president of safety and government affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association. Heller has worked for TCA since 2005, initially as director of safety, and most recently as the VP of government affairs. Before that, he spent seven years as manager of safety programs for American Trucking Associations.