‘Turn out the numbers’

Rest assured, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is on top of all the key issues in trucking and is in constant communication with lawmakers and regulators.

However, OOIDA’s message is all the more powerful when the decision-makers receive direct communication from the men and women who keep the nation’s economy moving.

“For us to be successful, we have to get folks on the ground to be engaged,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said during the Association’s Board of Directors meetings in April. “Lawmakers aren’t going to be predisposed to work for small business. So we need to turn out the numbers.”

Whether it’s illustrating the safety concerns that come with the nation’s lack of truck parking or explaining the dangers that would come with mandatory speed limiters, the arguments carry more weight when truck drivers make an effort to be heard.

“Grassroots are what we have,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh said. “That’s the bullet we have in our gun. We have to communicate with truckers to get them more active.”

OOIDA’s new and improved Fighting for Truckers website has made it easier than ever for truck drivers to learn about the latest issues in trucking and to let lawmakers and regulators know what’s really happening out on the highways.

A new feature enables members to click on a link and quickly send a letter urging their lawmakers to oppose legislation that is not in the best interest of truck drivers. In recent months, OOIDA members have been able to utilize the feature. Truckers asked their lawmakers to support a bill to repeal the overtime exemption for truckers in the Fair Labor Standards Act and to submit comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal on emission standards.

“The site has made it absolutely easy for truck drivers to get in contact with their lawmakers,” Spencer said. “It will tell you who your lawmakers are and will let you know all of the issues OOIDA is involved with and will allow them to send a pre-crafted letter.”

With only a few clicks, a truck driver can deliver a letter to their lawmaker and support the cause.

“The improvements to the website are fantastic,” OOIDA Board Member Linda Allen said. “Grassroots efforts are hard, but we need people to take action.”

OOIDA Board members spent much of the Association’s spring meeting discussing current issues that are important to truckers.

Detention time

It is not uncommon for truckers to spend five, six or more hours stuck at a shipper or receiver. According to a 2020 OOIDA Foundation survey, drivers report that they lose from $907 to $1,512 per week because of detention time.

The Biden administration’s Trucking Action Plan includes the goal of improving driver retention. It cites a turnover rate of 90% or higher among the large carriers. The plan includes an overall driver compensation study as well as a study specifically on detention time.

The American Trucking Associations characterizes the problem as a driver shortage, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has frequently cited a DOT statistic suggesting that 300,000 truck drivers leave the industry every year.

“It’s been documented over and over that the real problem is retention, and one of the main reasons drivers leave is because of scheduling and detention,” Spencer said. “I think that’s why they want to gather the data. Where it goes from there, that’s by no means clear. But sometimes just increasing awareness can cause those things to change.”

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will partner with the Transportation Research Board to determine how detention time affects safety and driver compensation. At the Mid-America Trucking Show this past March, FMCSA acting Administrator Robin Hutcheson estimated that the study will take anywhere from 18 months to two years.

OOIDA Board Member Bryan Spoon said he is curious how the study will determine whether a driver is in detention.

“A lot of port drivers, their detention time is even before they get to the gate,” Spoon said. “They can’t get to the gate. That’s where their detention is at. They’re still in line.”

FLSA bill

For years, OOIDA has advocated for the motor carrier overtime exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act to be removed. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation listened and included the measure among its list of 62 policy recommendations to improve the supply chain.

Even better, OOIDA and the report helped persuade Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., to introduce the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act, which would repeal the overtime exemption.

OOIDA is hopeful the bill can be passed and place value on a driver’s time.

“Maybe the FLSA bill will have a snowball effect on detention time,” OOIDA Board Member Johanne Couture said. “If that was to go through, maybe that could be part of the solution.”

Personal conveyance

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is calling for the FMCSA to place mileage and time limits on the use of personal conveyance. CVSA petitioned the agency in March.

FMCSA’s current guidance doesn’t place limits and says that a truck driver may use personal conveyance when the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier.

CVSA previously petitioned FMCSA about personal conveyance in 2018. The agency rejected it in 2020, saying there was not a sufficient safety basis for initiating a rulemaking.

In addition to saying that truck drivers have every right to use their vehicle for personal reasons during their off time, OOIDA also has explained that personal conveyance can be a necessity for drivers who need to find a safe place to park.

“The example that we give the agency over and over is that every day truckers run out of hours at shippers and receivers, and they have to leave,” Spencer said. “Tell us how to comply. Personal conveyance is a way to comply. It’s also a way to get somewhere safe to rest. And there can’t be mile limits on that, because it depends on where you are.”

Truck parking

The need for more truck parking was listed in the U.S. DOT’s supply chain report, as well as in the Trucking Action Plan.

However, last year’s infrastructure bill that was passed into law didn’t dedicate any funding to the truck parking crisis.

OOIDA said it will continue to push for Buttigieg to use discretionary funding from the bill to provide more parking spots for truck drivers.

Restroom access

In April, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee passed a bill into law that is intended to make sure professional drivers receive access to restroom facilities. OOIDA, the Washington Trucking Associations and ATA worked together to support the bill.

OOIDA also is teaming with the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association to pass a similar law in that state.

Specifically, the bill would require retail establishments, shippers, receivers and port terminals to provide truck drivers restroom access when delivering or picking up goods during regular business hours.

OOIDA is hopeful these bills will serve as a model for the nation.

“It’s awful that it’s necessary to legislate something like this, but that’s where we are,” said Mike Matousek, OOIDA’s director of state legislative affairs. LL