A chance to speak up

Since the pandemic started in March 2020, there have not been a lot of opportunities for truck drivers to meet directly with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and ask their questions about regulations or voice their concerns about what they are seeing on the highway.

In conjunction with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, truckers received that chance during a Town Hall forum with FMCSA’s Joe DeLorenzo at September’s Guilty By Association Truck Show in Joplin, Mo.

The two-hour panel discussion with DeLorenzo, OOIDA President Todd Spencer and OOIDA Director of Government Affairs Collin Long tackled everything from hours of service to broker transparency and drug testing.

“OOIDA was founded back in 1973 by a bunch of truckers not unlike you guys,” Spencer said. “Not unlike you at all, they knew what they did was vital, but the system they worked in didn’t always reflect the realities. The idea was that if lawmakers and the regulators were aware of some of the situations we had to deal with, they might come up with some better ideas of how to do things. That is why OOIDA was started, and it’s still run by truckers. Our approach is that if it’s not good for the people behind the wheel, then it’s not going to be good for trucking.”

OOIDA invited DeLorenzo, the FMCSA’s director of compliance and enforcement, to the truck show so that drivers could let the agency know about some of those realities.

Hours of service

In September 2020, four main rule changes to the hours-of-service regulations went into effect.

Short-haul exception: The exception was expanded to 150 air-miles and allowed a 14-hour work shift to take place as part of the exception.

Adverse driving conditions: The exception expanded the driving window during adverse driving conditions by as much as two hours. The provision is for adverse weather conditions or unusual road or traffic conditions that couldn’t be reasonably known to a driver before the start of his or her on-duty period.

30-minute break requirement: The new rules kept the break mandate but allowed it to be fulfilled through 30 minutes of on-duty, nondriving time, such as while getting fuel or completing a maintenance check.

Sleeper berth provision: The sleeper berth exception was modified to allow drivers to take their 10 hours off duty in two periods, provided one off-duty period is at least two hours long and the other involves at least seven consecutive hours spent in the sleeper. The split could be 8/2, 7/3, or even 7.5/2.5.

The rule changes, which were prompted by an OOIDA petition, were intended to provide truckers more flexibility within the regulations.

The idea was to cut back on some of the rigidness of the regulations and give truck drivers more control in determining when it is safe to drive.

DeLorenzo said the hours-of-service rule changes are a good example of what can be accomplished when the agency and truck drivers work together. The final rule resulted from thousands of comments from truckers.

“OOIDA was the first one to put in a petition,” DeLorenzo said. “It didn’t come out exactly the way it was written in the petition, but that’s all part of the process. I know not everyone is 100% satisfied with hours of service, but rulemaking, like everything else in this country, is a result of compromise. Make sure as things come up that you take the time to get your input in. Even if it’s a short little note or comment. Somebody actually reads all of those comments.”

DeLorenzo said he was seeing a recent increase in the number of hours-of-service violations.

“We’re seeing an interesting little tick up in hours-of-service violations,” he said. “I’m never sure what to make of the statistics, but it’s been several months in a row that the number of violations on the roadside have started to go up. This is my off-the-cuff reason as to why I think that’s happening. One, I know false log citations on the roadside are going up, and that’s because of misuse of personal conveyance. The second reason that I think – and this is me guessing – is that we’re getting violations from people miscalculating split-sleeper berth time. If you’re off by a little bit, you create this running violation for three or four days until you get your time in.”

If using the adverse driving condition or personal conveyance because of being held up at a shipper or receiver, DeLorenzo suggested drivers make notes of what caused the need for using the provision.

“Make annotations when it’s not a normal day,” he said. “As a roadside officer or enforcement people, we’re trained to look for anomalies and things that don’t look right. And a lot of times, there may be something in your log that doesn’t look right, but there’s a reasonable explanation for it. Maybe it was an adverse weather condition so you drove more that day. Whatever the case may be … put a little note in there that explains what happened and why. Put a little annotation in there. ‘I got held up by construction on I-70 on mile marker whatever.’ Those things make the whole process easier.”

The adverse driving provision can be used for such things as an unexpected storm, a wreck, or an unforeseen traffic jam.

“If the problem wasn’t there before you left and you would have been fine without it, then that can be considered as adverse driving,” DeLorenzo said. “You wake up and check the traffic, everything is looking good and you’re going to make your run no problem. Then you head down the highway and sit there for two hours because there is a huge wreck. That allows you to continue to drive or work for two more hours that day. That’s where the log can help you when you put that annotation in there.”

In cases that a driver has run out of hours after being held up at a shipper or receiver for hours, DeLorenzo said personal conveyance can be used to get to the nearest safe place to park.

“If that happens at the shipper or receiver … you’re able to use personal conveyance to get to the nearest safe place to park. It’s not the place where you have your rewards points or the one you like the best, but it is the place that is closest to where you are that is a safe place to park. That’s considered off duty time and then you can work the rest of your calculations on off-duty time from there.”

FMCSA does not include a mile limit regarding the distance of the nearest safe place to park.

“We do not give a specific set of guidance,” DeLorenzo said. “I’m not going to say how far because notice that I used the words ‘nearest safe place to park.’ We’re not telling you to just go find somewhere to park. We want you to go somewhere that is safe and you can be there.”

If the distance to the nearest safe place to park is a considerable one, DeLorenzo said that is another instance when it is important to make that annotation. He also said that electronic logging devices can be beneficial because the device can corroborate a driver’s claims.

“I know this will get a groan from all of you, but this is where your ELD can help you, because it will require you to put that annotation in there,” he said. “You can put it in there, and that visibility can support what your situation is. Your ELD will be able to show where you were, how long you were waiting, and that you didn’t move for five hours. That will support your claim that you were held up at the receiver. Putting that notation in there is really important.”

For truck drivers required to use ELDs, DeLorenzo stressed the importance of having the proper documentation ready when stopped for an inspection.

“The first things the roadside officer is going to do is start talking to you about data transfer and if you have the user manual,” he said. “Make sure that you do. If you don’t, ask your ELD provider to give them to you. If not, it’s going to end up taking a lot more time. At least have some familiarity with how to do that electronic transfer, because the roadside officers are going to ask you for that, and if you can do that quick and easy then it’s going to make the process go faster.

“The goal is to have everyone as compliant as possible, make the roadside inspections go as quickly as possible and to avoid some of those things.”

Drug testing

Marijuana is the most common substance that leads to a failed drug test for CDL holders.

DeLorenzo reminded drivers that marijuana use is prohibited for CDL holders regardless of state law and also told them to use caution before taking any CBD products.

“Not surprisingly, marijuana positives lead the pack,” he said. “There are a lot of things that contribute to that, but there are two things to keep in mind. One, the legalization of marijuana in a state has no impact on a truck driver’s ability to use it. Secondly, be really careful if you choose to use some sort of CBD product. I get a lot of phone calls, and a lot of drivers are ending up positive because they are buying some sort of CBD oil at a truck stop, and they’re not really doing the research, and it ends up driving a marijuana positive … I’m seeing that as a trend.”

In February 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a notice warning drivers against using CBD products.

Marijuana is defined as having 0.3% of the psychotropic THC. Even though a label on a CBD product may say there is only a small amount of THC, the Department of Transportation said “there is no federal oversight to ensure that the labels are accurate.”

“There are a lot of CBD products out there now,” DeLorenzo said. “Some of them carry enough of a concentration for you to come up positive. I know there are some benefits to them, but you need to be sure. The last thing you want to do is come up positive, because the reason doesn’t matter. That positive is going to stick with you. You’re going to be in the Clearinghouse for five years, and prospective employers are going to see it. So be aware of that.”

Entry-level driver training rule

The agency’s entry-level driver training rule goes into effect on Feb. 7.

Although the rule won’t change much for current CDL holders, DeLorenzo said he wanted everyone to be aware.

“I want everyone to be aware of it because I don’t want anyone showing up to get their license after Feb. 7 and then having to backtrack and go through the training process,” he said.

Earlier this year, the FMCSA launched a Training Provider Registry to “help commercial driver’s license applicants connect with training providers who are self-certified to provide entry-level driver training.”

The entry-level driver training rule details the curriculum for individuals seeking Class A and Class B CDLs to drive trucks and/or buses. Additional curriculum segments are included for specialized niches, like hazardous materials. The rule does not include a specified amount of time required for behind-the-wheel training for either the range or on-road training.

“Training for new drivers was all over the map – from really good to not very good,” DeLorenzo said. “But it didn’t really matter. If you could go to your DMV and pass the test, you got your CDL and off you went. Now you have a baseline to where all drivers have to have a certain amount of training.”

Several drivers at the forum mentioned problems with the current lack of training. Spencer noted the lack of qualifications it takes to become a driver trainer and also suggested the implementation of a graduated licensing system.

“One thing that should get some discussion is the idea of a graduated licensing system,” Spencer said. “You can get your CDL, but there would be a period of time laid out for learning. Maybe it’s short haul, but a graduated licensing system would make a lot of sense.”

Broker transparency

After the pandemic started in March 2020, freight rates began to plummet. In May 2020, dozens of truckers traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest the lack of transparency in broker transactions.

OOIDA filed a petition to FMCSA, asking the agency to enforce a regulation that requires brokers to keep records of transactions with motor carriers. One subsection of that regulation gives each party to the transaction, including the carriers, the right to review the record. OOIDA said many brokers get around the regulation by including a provision in their contracts that requires a motor carrier to waive its rights to access the records.

Now that freight rates have gone back up, the issue over broker transparency has quieted down. However, DeLorenzo said it doesn’t mean the agency has forgotten about it. He said FMCSA is expected to publish a notice in order to gather comments on the issue.

“I do think we will publish something in the not-too-distant future seeking comments on the broker issue,” DeLorenzo said. “It was a big issue, and then when rates came up everyone kind of forgot about it again. But I know it’s still there, and I know it’s still a problem.”

Feedback

Truckers used the forum to voice their concerns on everything from automation to the lack of truck parking and state and local laws that make their jobs more difficult, such as being able to drive in the left lane in Chicago or Kansas City or rest areas that don’t allow truckers to park overnight.

Spencer said the frustrations of truckers are understandable and suggested that safe and experienced drivers not be held under the agency’s microscope in the same way as new drivers.

“These guys are frustrated because for decades they’ve managed to provide a needed service to America and they don’t run over people,” Spencer said. “They don’t crash trucks, but all of these crazy regulations apply to them, and they look around and see these folks through their actions every day who do crash trucks. And they’re all subject to the same regulations. We’ve suggested before that after someone has so many miles or demonstrated safe performance, why are we leaning on them? Why do we have so many regulations instead of focusing on where the problems likely are?”

OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh encouraged drivers to be more active in the Association and to voice their concerns to the FMCSA and their lawmakers.

“We need more truckers to get involved,” Pugh said. “Make your comments. Our Association is only as good as the involvement we get from our members. And if you know younger people, try to get them involved.” LL