As you no doubt know by now, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s latest request for comments included their proposed hours-rule changes in more definite form. As is the case for so many of us, I’ve voiced opinions on some of these elsewhere and in this forum, and I will admit I have mixed feelings about them in general, and one change in particular.
I will say definitively, though, that yes, we need greater flexibility. After all, we are professionals, and no one knows our needs better than we do. Still, there are areas that need clarification, and drivers should also understand that while these changes do not allow us more drive time, they do have the potential to extend a driver’s day and thereby allow a kind of added time capacity into the market.
It’s anybody’s guess how that would affect truckload rates, ultimately.
Think about the proposal to allow a daily 14-hour-clock pause button of up to three hours. Three off-duty hours smack in the middle of the duty day, if taken daily and on-duty limitations otherwise maxed out, could amount to 15 hours’ worth of time over the course of a week before hitting the 70 limitation. Few drivers would use the pause that much, it’s sure.
Nonetheless, 15 or so hours in the middle of a driver’s day is 15 or so hours in the middle of a driver’s day, and so much depends on how it’s taken. For me, personally, it could help eliminate wasted time on the road in congested areas. The temptation would be there to use it to gain back lost time spent waiting for shippers and receivers in those moments I can in fact release myself from duty.
At once, I know that kind approach to the use of any pause button has potential to devalue my time at the docks, a principal reason for the mixed feelings I have about the pause button.
It brings a risk of exploitation by multiple parties.
