Letters to the Editor: HOS (Cont’d.), CDL Database, Car-Only Lanes

These letters appear in the Aug. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Hours of Service

I continue to read and hear about the hours-of-service rules, so I have to voice a concern: The one aspect that has bothered me since the change is that once the clock starts, the 14 hours doesn’t stop.

As a driver, I have found that it pushes me harder to make the miles needed to make the same amount of money I was making back in the ’90s. With wait times at shippers and receivers, road construction, fueling and pre-trip/post-trip inspections having to be logged, I have to flirt with the law to make the miles needed.

When we could stop the clock while loading and unloading and take naps, I felt more refreshed and was able to make the needed miles each week.

I hope this will all play out where the politicians will listen to the real world and not have the laws set by someone behind a desk. Drive in our shoes for a week, and maybe they will understand.

Ernest Lee
Over-the-Road Driver
Sinton, Texas

Recent statistics in the trucking industry have shown the number of fatalities has decreased in the past two years.

In the latest ruling, the 34-hour restart was established to give the driver an additional 10-hour sleep period, and it’s working.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association had a valid point in wanting to split the 10-hour rest period into other combinations of rest. Most drivers cannot sleep for a 10-hour period consecutively, and splitting the rest period seemed to be the answer that would fit the sleep cycles of a driver. My advice is to leave well enough alone.

Les Lenhart
Driver Trainer
Keystone Diesel Institute
Hermitage, Pa.

I see no reason to eliminate the opportunity of split-sleeper use by workers when the population of the United States can take a nap without penalty.

I can stop for a two- to three-hour nap, but then I will violate the rules, should I continue to my destination. It’s a poor choice to face — continue driving while weary, or rest, refresh and resume — but violate rules.

While on vacation, I did nap and our trip took longer — I wasn’t subject to Department of Transportation rules. Yet, we traveled safely and comfortably. That is the purpose, right?

Mark Schroeder
38-Year Driver
Neenah, Wis.

The only thing changed in the driver’s best interest was the 14-hour on-duty rule. The 10-hour off-duty rule sounded like a good idea because the people who wrote the new rules could add 14 and 10, which totaled the hours in one day.

The only problem was they allowed the companies to break the driver’s rest after only eight hours off-duty, supposedly for communication purposes. After requiring the drivers to take 10 hours off, how exactly is this to their benefit when allowing the companies to break their rest period?

Albert Minnich
Over-the-Road Driver
Pine Grove, Pa.

CDL Database

Having a clearinghouse data-base for commercial driver license infractions at the Department of Transportation would be super
(8-6, p. 5).
 
I am an SAP, a substance-abuse professional who evaluates employees who have tested positive for drugs, and one of the most frustrating things is having a client “slip through the cracks” by getting another driving job and not going through the return-to-work process.

Having no person or agency to track infractions and successful completions — or unsuccessful ones — allows these persons to continue their destructive behavior and put themselves and the public at risk.

Once they hear that no one will really know, and no one is tracking it, many (certainly not all) are inclined to just keep going and get the next job — especially if they have not been with the employer for long.

Way to go, American Trucking Associations — I hope you are successful! All SAPs and the general public will thank you, if you are.

Barbara Oliver
Self-Employed
Substance-Abuse Professional
Canandaigua, N.Y.

Car-Only Lanes

Why not make “car-only” lanes?

Trucks should not pay the additional cost for truck-only lanes. Let the drivers who do not want to travel on the highways with all the “dangerous trucks” that supposedly kill people pay for and have their own lanes. Trucks already have paid for the majority of the cost of the highways that are already built.

Loyd Wallace
Owner
L A Consulting Services
Lowell, Ark.

New lanes only for cars would cost less and be faster to build. Lightweight roads only for cars would need to deal with 4,000-pound vehicles versus 80,000-pound trucks. Bridges could be built with less materials — overpasses would not need to be 14 feet high. Car lanes would not need wide shoulders — no oversize loads. Offramps could be shorter for cars; inclines and grades could be different for cars.

The present interstate system could be used for truck-only lanes. The service and support system for truck-only lanes would already be in place: for example, scales and truck stops. Present rest areas for cars could be additional parking for trucks at minimum cost.

Ronald Stevenson
Owner-Operator
Stevenson Trucking Inc.
Glade Spring, Va.