FMCSA’s Joshi talks driver retention, detention time with OOIDA

During a meeting with the OOIDA Board of Directors, FMCSA’s acting Administrator Meera Joshi thanked truck drivers for their commitment to the nation and discussed ways to improve driver retention and highway safety.

Joshi joined the final day of the OOIDA fall 2021 Board of Directors meetings via videoconference on Thursday, Nov. 4. The OOIDA Board also was joined virtually by FMCSA Executive Director and Chief Safety Officer Jack Van Steenburg and FMCSA Chief Counsel Earl Adams Jr.

“I want to start with what was obvious to the trucking industry and made even more obvious in 2020 … the indebtedness the nation has to truck drivers,” Joshi said.

Joshi became FMCSA’s acting administrator in January and is expected to be confirmed as the agency’s permanent administrator soon. During her time at FMCSA, she has made driver retention and the lack of compensation for detention time a focus.

In July, Joshi joined Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh for a trucking roundtable to discuss driver recruitment and retention.

During her Senate nomination hearing in September, Joshi said that driver retention and highway safety are linked and that unpaid detention time leads to problems with the supply chain.

Joshi told the OOIDA board members that the administration wants more data regarding driver’s detention time and unpaid hours.

“What is the drivers’ experience on the road? What is their work life like, and how does that affect safety?”

Joshi said she believes the way to get that data is through electronic logging devices. However, current law prohibits the use of ELDs for anything other than monitoring hours of service. Joshi mentioned the possibility of a volunteer research group to get the information.

“We want to be able to put a number on that,” she said. “What percentage of the week is unpaid time? Right now, the agency is not allowed to use ELDs for research. It would be one factor that would give us absolute insight.”

Although most truckers would want something to be done about unpaid detention time, there is concern that allowing the government to expand the use of ELDs would be opening a can of worms. For instance, some lawmakers have suggested using ELDs as a way to determine the miles for a truck-only vehicle-miles traveled tax. OOIDA has been a major opponent of ELDs and petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition of the initial mandate.

OOIDA President Todd Spencer said that in order to get truck drivers to volunteer, they would need to know the devices wouldn’t be used in other ways.

“The key thing here would be providing a level of assurance of what it would be used for and what it can’t be used for,” Spencer said.

Other topics discussed Thursday included the upcoming entry-level driver training rule, autonomous vehicles, and overall highway safety.

Spencer said the key to improving highway safety starts with listening to the nation’s truck drivers.

“We take highway safety very seriously, and we believe that if any policies are going to improve highway safety then they have to be embraced by drivers and they have to be practical,” he said. LL

Editor’s note: The December-January issue of Land Line will have more in-depth coverage of Joshi’s visit with the OOIDA Board.

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