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August 8, 2006
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Headline News
FedEx Ground Seeks Clarification of “On-Duty” Time
FMCSA announced on Monday, July 31, that it has received an application from
FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (FedEx) is requesting an exemption from the
on-duty time definition under the Federal drivers hours-of-service (HOS)
regulations for drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). If
granted, the exemption would allow FedEx's home-delivery drivers to operate
property-carrying CMVs to and from their residence, without being considered
“on duty”. FedEx states the subject property is normally a package or packages,
which were expected to be delivered during the workday, but for one reason or
another, could not be delivered that day. Thus, the drivers would operate laden
CMVs from the point where the final home delivery was made for that workday to
their residence, and from their residence the following workday to a FedEx
terminal. FMCSA requests public comment on the FedEx application for exemption.
FedEx requested an exemption to modify the hours-of-service (HOS) standard for
determining whether the final “leg” of a FedEx driver's day, driving the
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) from the point of the last delivery to the
driver's residence, as well as the first leg of the following day driving the
CMV from the residence to a FedEx terminal, is “on duty time” as defined in 49
CFR 395.2.
The HOS rules define “on-duty time” as “all time from the time a driver begins
to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time the driver is
relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work'' (49 CFR 395.2).
FMCSA permits time spent going to and from a residence in a CMV to be treated
as “off-duty time” if two conditions are met. First, the driver must be
relieved from work and all responsibility for work while operating the CMV.
Second, the CMV must be “unladen,” or empty.
Click Here for a copy of FedEx Ground's request as it appears in the
Federal Register
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“Catch-22” for TCA Member Between FMCSA HOS Regs. and
DoD Regs.
FMCSA announced that it has received an application from Landstar System, Inc.
(Landstar) for an exemption from the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers'
hours-of-service regulations for its drivers when transporting high-security
cargo that requires constant attendance. The HOS regulation requires that CMV
drivers using the sleeper-berth exception remain in the sleeper berth for at
least 8 consecutive hours during one of the 2 rest periods used to accumulate
the equivalent of 10 hours off duty. Landstar states that, for team-driver
operations, this prevents the driver in the sleeper berth from attending to the
cargo while the other driver takes a restroom break, and conflicts with
requirements for all persons to exit the vehicle for a security inspection when
entering certain military installations. FMCSA requests public comment on the
Landstar application for exemption.
The hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
drivers in 49 CFR part 395 apply to motor carriers and drivers operating CMVs
in interstate commerce. Landstar transports sensitive cargo for the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD) and states this high-risk cargo must be attended at
all times as required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 CFR
397.5) and DoD regulations.
Landstar states that, during team-driver operations, the sleeper-berth
requirement for at least 8 consecutive hours, would not allow the driver to
stop for a comfort break because the second operator (in the sleeper) would not
be allowed to attend the vehicle without interrupting his or her 8 consecutive
hours in the sleeper berth.
Landstar also states that security procedures at military installations require
both drivers to exit the vehicle for a security inspection when the vehicle
enters the installation. For team drivers using the sleeper-berth HOS
exception, the second operator would have to interrupt his or her 8 hours of
sleeper-berth time to accommodate these military security procedures.
By all accounts, Landstar has found itself in a proverbial “Catch-22”. By
following the current HOS regulations, they would operationally violate DoD
regulations, and by following DoD regulations, they would operationally violate
FMCSA HOS regulations.
Click Here for a copy of the Landstar's exemption application as it appears in
the Federal Register
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Exemption Based on Nature of Business
Summit Helicopters, Inc. ( Summit ) requests HOS exemption from FMCSA based on
the nature of their business. This request is for their CMV drivers who
transport materials to and from job sites to assist Summit 's aerial
application of herbicides. The exemption, if granted, would enable their CMV
drivers to conduct these operations, including transportation to and from the
herbicides application sites, without having to comply with the HOS
regulations. Summit believes that relief from the HOS regulations would permit
their CMV drivers to work longer periods of time and maintain a high level of
safety.
The HOS compliance problem arises during the night shift as their CMV drivers
have already worked a day shift consisting of several hours of driving and
on-duty time, followed by approximately 6 hours spent in the motel. All of this
time is counted towards their “running 14-hour clock'', and therefore the
driver would not have the necessary available driving hours during the night
shift.
Summit is a private motor carrier comprised of approximately 21 tank trucks,
which are based in Cloverdale , Virginia and are dispatched to various jobsites
in the states of Alabama , Georgia , North Carolina , South Carolina , and
Arkansas . After arriving, they go to a “water source'' to be loaded with
water, which is subsequently added to an herbicide from a box-truck, which
creates the mixture to be dispensed from a helicopter. While at the jobsites,
they will normally travel no more than 20 miles between the tracts of land
where the chemicals are dispersed. Once the morning jobs are complete, they
will drive a pick-up truck to a motel and will have an off-duty period of
around 6 hours (usually from around 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Then they will repeat
the same work process during a night shift, according to the Federal Register.
For a copy of Summit 's exemption application,
click here.
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Files Arguments Against Current Hours-of-Service (HOS)
Regulations
TCA is supporting the court efforts of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers
Association (OOIDA) by filing arguments on July 18 th with the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as an intervenor against the
current Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations. OOIDA filed its legal challenge to
those regulations with the court on January 23 rd . The other associations,
which have joined TCA as intervenors, are the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (IBT), AFL-CIO, California Trucking Association (CTA), and Ohio
Trucking Association (OTA).
The intervenors argue about the way in which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) officials went about arriving at the current HOS
regulations. In stern language throughout the 42-page argument, the intervenors
challenged the fact that in the “notice of proposed rulemaking” leading up to
the current regulations, FMCSA officials merely “proposed” the 2003 version of
the regulations. In addition to “proposing” the 2003 regulations, FMCSA
officials broke down the notice into 29 areas of inquiry, each of which
contained multiple questions about the 2003 rule and possible changes to the
regulations. “The breadth of the options under consideration was extremely
wide, and the lack of focus on specific proposals for a new rule was obvious”,
the argument states. T he notice of proposed rulemaking and the way in which
information was presented and how the comments were solicited was more of an
“advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” approach, rather than the last stop
before a final rule is announced.
They challenge the current regulations by arguing that they are “arbitrary and
capricious” because FMCSA's determination is not based on the record that was
before it. “In many instances the agency either misconstrued the evidence
before it or quoted portions of that evidence out of context in order to create
a justification for its revisions to the exception,” the intervenors argued.
The oral arguments on the court challenge of the current HOS regulations has
not been scheduled by the court, but expected sometime this fall, according to
the Land Line Magazine .
For questions, contact TCA's Director of Safety, David Heller, CDS, at
703-838-8847 or via e-mail at
dheller@truckload.org.
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Will Find Brake and Tire Failures
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is offering a grant to fund
the development of new thermal imagery technology to find brake and tire
failures. The period of performance for the grant is 24 months from the date of
award.
The authorized funding for the grant is $2 million and the funding is subject
to reductions resulting from obligation limitations, recisions, and takedowns
as specified in SAFETEA-LU or other legislation. The actual amount available
for this grant after those reductions is $1,412,044. It will offer the grant to
one recipient and make incremental payments at intervals corresponding to
performance milestones agreed upon by the parties, according to the Federal
Register.
For more information about the grant,
click here.
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Remedies To Recruiting Difficulties
Increases in pay could improve the recruitment of drivers, which will enable
truck companies to meet the demands of their business. What are the recruiting
difficulties being encountered by truck companies? This article talks about
their recruiting difficulties and the proposals being discussed to remedy the
situation.
U.S. trucking companies have been enjoying a boom period, but executives say
it's never been harder to find people to do the driving. In fact, the driver
shortage has become so serious that some experts are proposing moves like
raising pay by 30 percent or inviting workers from Mexico to do the job. But
even those solutions might not be enough to meet demand in the industry, which
moves more than 80 percent of domestic freight cargo. Some analysts see
shippers turning to the railroads, which need fewer staff and charge lower
prices. The problem for the trucking business is that young Americans are more
focused on quality of life, executives say. Many people would rather work for
less money than sit behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer on journeys that can
keep them away from home for days on end.
“Business is very good right now,” said Randy Marten, chief executive of
refrigerated truck operator Marten Transport Ltd. “But the personnel situation
sucks.” Marten and other trucking executives said they had tried repeatedly to
boost flagging driver recruitment with better benefits and incremental pay
rises, but with little effect. Although drivers at Mondovi, Wisconsin-based
Marten Transport, are among the highest-paid in the United States , the
60-year-old company finds it more difficult than ever to recruit them. Like
many U.S. trucking companies, Marten Transport has seen business increase
rapidly in recent years. In its case, growth stemmed from a shift by U.S.
consumers from canned goods to fresh foods, which must be refrigerated. Many
truck operators have also benefited as U.S. manufacturers outsourced production
to developing nations like China -- and then needed to transport the imported
products to warehouses across the United States . But rather than enjoying the
increased demand, trucking executives are worrying about how to meet it in
light of the driver shortage.
According to a May 2005 study by Global Insight for the American Trucking
Associations, the industry was short 20,000 drivers. The Boston-based
consulting firm warned that as the U.S. population ages, that shortage could
hit 111,000 by 2014. Worst hit are truckload, or long-haul operators, which
moved more than two-thirds of the estimated $610 billion in U.S. freight in
2003, according to the latest ATA figures. Phoenix-based truckload company
Swift Transportation Co. Inc. highlighted the impact of the driver shortage
when it reported second-quarter results last week, saying it had nearly 500
trucks unassigned at the end of June. Net income rose “despite an extremely
tight driver market that is as challenging as I have seen in my career,” CEO
Robert Cunningham said in a statement.
Marten and others said that sooner or later trucking companies would have no
choice but to raise salaries up to 30 percent to attract American drivers. John
Wiehoff, CEO of Minneapolis-based truck brokerage and logistics company C.H.
Robinson Worldwide Inc., said such a pay increase could make a difference. “To
be honest, it's a crappy living,” he said, “and a big pay rise would not be
unreasonable.” According to May 2005 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, truck drivers earned average annual wages of $35,460, but the
top-paid in the industry made more than $50,000.
Others in the industry say money is not the only problem. A big pay rise won't
solve the lifestyle issue, said Jeff Cook, vice president of Future Truckers of
America, an Asheboro, North Carolina-based school that trains about 350 drivers
a year. “Long-haul driving is hard,” said Cook, who spent nine years as a
driver. “And when people weigh lifestyle against the dollar sign, lifestyle
often wins.” Logistics expert John Vande Vate of Georgia Tech suggested
allowing Mexican truck drivers access to the U.S. market as a way to alleviate
the personnel shortage. He added, however, that U.S. drivers would probably
oppose such a measure as it could push pay levels down. With immigration a
contentious issue in U.S. politics this year, Vande Vate said any moves to
allow in Mexican drivers would be a long time coming.
Some analysts look to railroads to pick up any slack from long-haul trucking
companies, which have been losing share to them over the past two years. Trains
provide a cheaper alternative because they are more fuel-efficient and need
fewer workers to haul more goods. This has led trucking operators to partner up
with the railroads with intermodal services, using standardized containers
interchangeable between different modes of transport. Schneider National Inc.,
the largest private U.S. trucking company, in June launched such a service
between Marion , Ohio , and Kansas City , Missouri , with railroads CSX Corp.
and Kansas City Southern. “Generation X and Generation Y don't want to haul
goods long distance over the road,” said CSX CEO Michael Ward. “We expect more
business like this in the future.” Analyst Peter Smith of research firm
Morningstar said a major pay rise for truckers, combined with high fuel prices,
would push more goods off the roads and onto the rails. “In the long run,” he
said, “railroads stand to gain even more from the driver shortage.” according
to Reuters.
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