Via Bloomberg
President Barack Obama’s administration maintained an 11-hour limit on truck drivers’ hours today, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest.
The Transportation Department’s proposed rule to reduce the daily driving limit to 10 hours was one of seven regulations the Obama administration said would cost companies at least $1 billion. Trucking companies opposed it, saying the shorter hours would force them to rework routes and hire more drivers.
Consumer groups were “keenly” aware of the industry’s lobbying in the year since the Obama administration proposed the 10-hour day, said Henry Jasny, vice president of Washington- based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
“This is a breach of promise of making safety the No. 1 goal of the agency and the Transportation Department,” Jasny said in a telephone interview today. “It’s more than disappointing.”
House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican had said the industry already had reduced driver fatalities and couldn’t afford additional personnel.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety will continue to pursue a 10-hour rule, and may take the issue to court, Jasny said. The debate over the revision of driving-time regulations that originated in the 1930s dates back to the creation of the FMCSA in 1999.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration failed to “definitively demonstrate” that the proposed 10-hour limit would carry “higher net benefits” than the current 11 hours, according to the rule.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget met with industry groups at least four times in October and November, according to the agency’s website.
The American Trucking Associations and the International Foodservice Distributors Association came in October. The Food Marketing Institute, the American Bakers Association, the Snack Food Association and McKee Foods Corp. met with OMB in November. The White House met with safety groups and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters once in October. A Nov. 28 meeting on the hours-of-service rules doesn’t list participants.
A mandatory 30-minute rest break came after seven consecutive hours of driving in the proposal. The final version pushed that back to eight hours.
The rule reduces a driver’s maximum possible work week by 12 hours to 70 hours, the Transportation Department said.
Companies and drivers committing “egregious violations” of fatigue rules will face penalties, the department said. Companies that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by 3 or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense. Drivers face penalties of $2,750 for each offense.
“Trucking is a difficult job, and a big rig can be deadly when a driver is tired and overworked,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an e-mailed statement.
There were 3,675 truck-related fatalities in 2010, up 8.7 percent from 3,380 in 2009, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As recently as 2006, there were 5,027 fatalities.
The average life expectancy of a truck driver is 61, or 16 years less than the U.S. average, LaHood wrote in a September 2010 blog posting, citing Centers for Disease Control data. Trucking is the most dangerous profession in on-the-job fatalities, and the eighth-most dangerous in deaths per worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A related $2 billion safety requirement to add electronic data recorders to monitor truckers’ hours that is opposed by independent drivers is still under consideration. That regulation isn’t opposed by the biggest trucking companies, which already have bought the equipment.
President Barack Obama’s administration maintained an 11-hour limit on truck drivers’ hours today, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest.
The Transportation Department’s proposed rule to reduce the daily driving limit to 10 hours was one of seven regulations the Obama administration said would cost companies at least $1 billion. Trucking companies opposed it, saying the shorter hours would force them to rework routes and hire more drivers.
Consumer groups were “keenly” aware of the industry’s lobbying in the year since the Obama administration proposed the 10-hour day, said Henry Jasny, vice president of Washington- based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
“This is a breach of promise of making safety the No. 1 goal of the agency and the Transportation Department,” Jasny said in a telephone interview today. “It’s more than disappointing.”
House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican had said the industry already had reduced driver fatalities and couldn’t afford additional personnel.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety will continue to pursue a 10-hour rule, and may take the issue to court, Jasny said. The debate over the revision of driving-time regulations that originated in the 1930s dates back to the creation of the FMCSA in 1999.
Costs, Benefits
The final regulation, which takes effect July 1, 2013, has annual costs of about $470 million and benefits of around $630 million, the U.S. Transportation Department said in a statement today.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration failed to “definitively demonstrate” that the proposed 10-hour limit would carry “higher net benefits” than the current 11 hours, according to the rule.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget met with industry groups at least four times in October and November, according to the agency’s website.
The American Trucking Associations and the International Foodservice Distributors Association came in October. The Food Marketing Institute, the American Bakers Association, the Snack Food Association and McKee Foods Corp. met with OMB in November. The White House met with safety groups and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters once in October. A Nov. 28 meeting on the hours-of-service rules doesn’t list participants.
Less Severe
While the regulation retained other changes opposed by the industry, it also made some less severe. For example, drivers must get at least two weekly rest periods spanning 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the Transportation Department, which oversees the FMCSA, said. The proposal was for two rest periods of 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.A mandatory 30-minute rest break came after seven consecutive hours of driving in the proposal. The final version pushed that back to eight hours.
The rule reduces a driver’s maximum possible work week by 12 hours to 70 hours, the Transportation Department said.
Companies and drivers committing “egregious violations” of fatigue rules will face penalties, the department said. Companies that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by 3 or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense. Drivers face penalties of $2,750 for each offense.
“Trucking is a difficult job, and a big rig can be deadly when a driver is tired and overworked,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an e-mailed statement.
Fatality Counts
Regulators weighed industry costs against billions of dollars in health-care savings and reduced accidents in a profession that has more on-the-job deaths than any other in the U.S.There were 3,675 truck-related fatalities in 2010, up 8.7 percent from 3,380 in 2009, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As recently as 2006, there were 5,027 fatalities.
The average life expectancy of a truck driver is 61, or 16 years less than the U.S. average, LaHood wrote in a September 2010 blog posting, citing Centers for Disease Control data. Trucking is the most dangerous profession in on-the-job fatalities, and the eighth-most dangerous in deaths per worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A related $2 billion safety requirement to add electronic data recorders to monitor truckers’ hours that is opposed by independent drivers is still under consideration. That regulation isn’t opposed by the biggest trucking companies, which already have bought the equipment.
The government and these consumer groups just dont get it. Do they think truckers like driving 10, 11 or 14 hrs a day? The issue is money. Truckers have no avenue to make money. Between the cost of fuel, inflated tolls, and heavy traffic, truckers have to push things in order to be profitable. Decreasing drive time hours even further will only create a deeper shortage of drivers, drivers who break the law and drive over the limit, or an increase in consumer products. On average, a truck needs to make $1000 to pay all the expenses with a little profit leftover. And thats $1000 every day. Do the math for yourself. Its a minimum of $1.10 per mile just to run the truck. For example... If you drive from charlotte, nc to reading, pa at 550 miles with driving at an avg 50 miles/hr it will take the average trucker 10-11 hrs. Rates are traditionally about 2.20/mile to the truck or about $1250. At 5 miles per gallon youll need 110 gallons of fuel. 110 x $4.10 per gallon youll spend $450 just on fuel. Your $1250 is now $800. Subtract 20% for future maintenance issues, 10% for wear and tear youre down to $500. Out of that $500 the driver and the company both need to make a profit. Dont forget not only will you pay taxes on that profit but youll also spend another $30-40 per day for insurance, plus your monthly cell phone bill, quarterly IFTA taxes, yearly HUT taxes at $550, a couple grande per year for apportioned registration, as much as $75 for a single toll like the Verezanno Bridge, and lets not forget the thousands spent on breakdowns and blown tires per year(not to mention the cost of replacing 10 tires at $300/tire). And now you see how slim the margins are. And thats doing a very favorable long haul, with no traffic issues or other delays... which are often hard to come by. Somethings got to give...do the math...
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