Opinion: Don’t Leave Compliance to Chance

By Carol Bumbaca

Vice President of Professional Services

Cadec Global

This Opinion piece appears in the Aug. 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Despite prolonged wrangling among various factions over their requirements, the new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours-of-service rules finally went into effect July 1. Although the HOS include changes that will alter the way trucking companies do business, carriers opting to approach them armed with change-management programs will find they have an edge when it comes to meeting the revised rules’ challenges.

Change management is defined simply as transitioning individuals, teams and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. For drivers, that means providing them with information they can act on and will help them modify their behavior — as well as helping them understand the implications of repeated violations of the HOS rules.

The new HOS’ biggest impact may come from the requirement that, after eight hours behind the wheel, drivers take a 30-minute break — and document it properly.

Drivers have been taking breaks all along, of course, but they have tended to be short, undocumented stops here and there to grab a sandwich or a soda or use a bathroom. Now, a full 30-minute break is mandatory, and repeated violations will affect Compliance, Safety, Accountability program scores and a carrier’s standing with FMCSA.

Despite what’s at stake, drivers may not find it easy to alter long-entrenched behavior. Some rarely take breaks, and when they do, documentation is sketchy to nonexistent. They are likely to resist change, which has many companies fearing the new rule will require them to hire additional drivers in a market where they’re already scarce. Other carriers fear they will have to reduce daily deliveries to comply.

Driver coaching will help make deliveries more efficient by demonstrating how wasting five minutes here and 10 minutes there over the course of a shift can have a significant effect on productivity. By “optimizing” time spent behind the wheel, drivers may find they can take a planned 30-minute break without disrupting the rest of the schedule.

Implementing the 30-minute break rule also may require teaching drivers to maintain route logs that reflect shift activities more accurately, now that they must document actions many never have recorded before.

In addition, with the July 1 change, drivers and supervisors need to recognize that paper logs may not be equal to the HOS’ new challenges — and that old habits can be hard to break. It’s not exactly news that HOS information can be recorded inaccurately on paper logs or even falsified. Under the new FMCSA rules, even seemingly minor HOS infractions are considered “egregious” violations that promise to be prosecuted aggressively.

That’s why industry experts and FMCSA encourage the use of electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs), not only to improve fleet operations, safety and efficiency but also to help drivers avoid being out of compliance with the HOS.

EOBRs are, in effect, an electronic “coach” inside the cab. Depending on the EOBR, the devices can be configured to automatically notify drivers when they are approaching a threshold of noncompliance with HOS rules and need to take a break to avoid a violation. The same notification goes to managers or supervisors in the back office. When the driver does take a break, the spot is GPS-located and time stamped and the information recorded automatically in the EOBR’s database.

Reinforcement is often critical in change management — another chief advantage of EOBRs. The driver always knows where he or she stands in regard to HOS violations and is continually encouraged to take steps to avoid noncompliance. Because the company has an electronic record of the driver’s performance, it can work with persistent violators to modify behavior.

EOBRs can help stop HOS violations before they happen. Because they automatically record and report all route activity, including violations, trucking companies can be aware of potentially serious issues before FMCSA discovers them.

Here are recommendations for helping drivers deal with the HOS:

• Make sure drivers understand the implications of the HOS as the rules apply to their daily routine.

• Communicate face-to-face with drivers because studies show that written notices, including e-mail, aren’t as good at helping people understand their roles and responsibilities when implementing and managing change.

• Make sure people affected by the new rules agree with — or at least understand — the need for change and have a chance to decide how the change will be managed, as well as being involved in the planning and implementation of the change.

• Help drivers optimize their time by avoiding short breaks between deliveries to accommodate a planned 30-minute break that doesn’t disrupt the rest of the schedule. Trucking companies may change how they plan routes and manifests by building in an additional 30 minutes per driver per day in a way that doesn’t interfere with the ability to service customers.

• Take advantage of EOBR technology to continually coach drivers on their behavior in relation to the HOS rules.

Change is inevitable, but if you take a bird’s-eye view of the landscape, drivers won’t be overly disoriented. Truck company officials and drivers will be able to keep the new processes and documentation in perspective.

Change needs to be understood and managed in a way drivers can cope with effectively. Communicate, involve, enable and facilitate change from your drivers’ standpoint as early, openly and fully as possible.

Cadec Global, Manchester, N.H., offers companies a system to allow real-time monitoring of drivers and vehicles.