HOURS-OF-SERVICE
Here is a synopsis of the old and new Hours-Of-Service rules issued by the U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and printed on a credit card-sized card by J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Neenah, Wisconsin:
Old Hours-Of-Service rules:
1) CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle) driver may drive 10 hours after 8 hours off-duty.
2) CMV driver may not drive after 15 hours on-duty, following 8 hours off-duty.
3) CMV driver may not drive after 60/70 hours on-duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
New Hours-Of-Service rules:
1) CMV driver may drive 11 hours after 10 hours off-duty.
2) CMV driver may not drive beyond the 14th hour after coming on-duty, following 10 hours off-duty.
3) CMV driver may not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
>A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off-duty.
How To Make It Work
Friday, October 16th and I'm busy with the usual problem: not enough equipment. But I'm taking loads anyway, not realizing I am short a driver because Jimmy just got in from Florida (I mean, he just parked the truck.) and did not want to work the rest of the day. I didn't blame him. He has been gone for six days and he is tired. But Jimmy needs money and I need a driver.
"Hey, Jimmy," I said. "Do you want to deliver a load of apples to Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing?"
Johnstown, New York and Schodack Landing, New York are 88 and 148 miles east and southeast of Canastota, New York, our home base. This is a short haul from Canastota, but when you have three pickups and have to drive 176 miles west of Canastota, it becomes a time-consuming deal. It was a load I knew Jimmy would not want to pick up (I didn't blame him.), but the money was good and I did not want to pass it up. So before Jimmy could answer, I pressed on.
"I'll go get it and you deliver it," I said. It was a load Jimmy could deliver tomorrow morning and be back home tomorrow afternoon.
"Yeah," he said reluctantly. "If you go get it, I'll deliver it." I know my drivers.
"I'll go get it," I said. "It's got three pickups...Empire, Albion, and Bucolo...so I'll go. I'll leave right now."
I didn't want to go because I knew these three pickups were going to be a time-consuming pain in the ass. But I had to cover the order, and I knew Jimmy wouldn't go if he had to pick it up and deliver it. So after getting expense money from Jeff and directions to Bucolo Cold Storage in Burt, New York from Jimmy (I have been to Empire and Albion.) I left the yard at 11:15 am. My pre-trip inspection consisted of asking Jimmy how the truck was running.
"Good," he said. "It's running a little hot, but you'll be all right with it. We can look at it when I get back. It's got water so it's got to be something simple because it doesn't run hot all the time...Something electrical because the fan doesn't kick on at the same temperature all the time."
I was at my first pickup, Empire Fruit Growers in North Rose, New York at 12:28 pm.
"I'm here for Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing," I told the receptionist as she got up from her desk and lumbered over to the sliding glass window separating the lobby where I stood and her office.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing," I said.
"Oh," she said. "Let me check."
The receptionist returned to her desk and computer. After tapping a few keys and staring at the screen for an answer to her input, she looked at me. "They haven't sent your order over yet," she said.
"Oh," I said. Damn, I thought. "I guess I'll just wait in my truck until you get the order from the shipper."
When I got back to my truck I called my wife, my sounding board for whenever I am aggravated, frustrated, angry, confused; and need solace, security, pacifying, opinions, and help. "Judy," I said. "I'm at my first pickup and they don't have my orders yet. I'll be lucky if I get home by midnight...and I forgot to bring a magazine!"
"Where are you?" Judy asked.
"North Rose," I said.
"Where's that?" she said. "Near Buffalo?"
"Judy, I just left an hour ago. I'm in a truck, not a plane."
"Then where are you?" she asked.
"Thirty to thirty-five miles northwest of Syracuse."
"When will you be home?"
"I don't know. They don't even have my orders yet. So if I leave here by three, I'll be in Albion by five. If I leave Albion by six, it's almost an hour to Burt, my last pickup. If I leave Burt by seven...seven-thirty, I'll be back in the yard by ten-thirty...eleven. I should be home before midnight."
"Sounds like a long day to me," Judy said. "Especially without your magazine."
My next call was to the produce broker who arranged this load.
"Hold on," Mike said. And after a short pause, "Hello."
"Mike," I said. "I'm at Empire and they don't know what I'm picking up?"
"What are you doing in the truck?" he asked. Mike recognized my voice, even on my cell phone calling from a relatively dead zone. That's a good sign, I thought.
"The guys have been working hard lately, so I've been doing a little driving...to give 'em a break."
"Hold on," he said. And after another short pause, "We'll get the order to them in a few minutes. We've been real busy today."
"I understand, Mike," I said.
"Thanks for calling," he said. "Bye." Mike's all business.
I left North Rose at 2:34 pm and arrived in Albion (about thirty-five miles west of Rochester) at 4:22 pm. Another truck (that I hired) was already here which made me happy because they were usually late to Albion. "They work on their own schedule, not the customer's," Gary, the loader here once told me, hinting that he would be extremely happy if I never used this carrier again. But today the truck was on time. And I had carried some of this truck's apples across from North Rose so it would not have to make all the pickups I was making. This driver's day was going to be easier than mine.
I saw Gary and asked him if he was ready for me. He said he was waiting for another truck that he had to load first, but since I was here he would start on me until the other truck arrived.
"That truck isn't coming from Bucolo's with my stuff, is it?" I asked.
"No, he's not," said Gary.
No such luck, I thought.
Gary finished the truck I hired and had started on me when the truck he was waiting for finally arrived.
"I've got to get him out first," said Gary. "He's going to Boston, then to Portland, and then back to Tewksbury, Mass."
"All tomorrow?" I asked.
"Supposed to," he said. "And he's got to stop at Empire to finish."
"Why didn't they throw his stuff on me?" I asked.
"I don't know," Gary said.
"Have at 'em," I said.
Gary had the Boston/Portland/Tewksbury all in one day truck done and on his way to Empire in a matter of minutes. He had me on my way to Bucolo's Cold Storage at 5:10 pm; and I pulled into their yard at 5:56 pm for the two pallets of apples nobody could bring to Albion for me. After loading the two pallets and a brief conversation (drivers, the cost of fuel, the scarcity of trucks) with Chris, the owner's son, I was on the road again at 6:13 pm. After stopping once for fuel and to eat an apple I stole from Bucolo's, I pulled into our yard at 10:15 pm. That is, I went off duty at 10:15 pm.
That is: eleven hours of service on duty and I'm back to go. There's still 88 more miles to Johnstown, sign in, unload, sign out (This alone can be time-consuming. Have you ever been to Safeway Stores distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland?), another 60 to Schodack Landing, sign in, unload, sign out, and wait for the next dispatch or return to the yard for further instruction. The Wal Mart appointment is for 3:30 am, and then ASAP to Hannaford Bros. And since these are two of the produce broker's most favored customers, I did not want to be late or I'll be out a most favored customer. But, I have a problem. The way I see it, and I think I see it right, the problem is hours of service on duty. I have already been on duty for 11 hours, which means, once I get to Johnstown I have to go off duty for 10 hours before moving on to Schodack Landing. That's not ASAP. And I dreaded making a call to Mike (remember, he's all business) in the middle of the night to tell him I could not deliver his apples to a most important customer for another 10 hours because I was 60 miles away from Schodack Landing and had to go off duty. Oh Lord, find me another most important customer!
BUT..! This was a tandem deal. I was only picking up the load of apples. Jimmy is going to deliver it.
It took Jimmy approximately 11 hours and 45 minutes from the time he left our yard to the time he returned to our yard--to deliver Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Bros., Schodack Landing and come home. Gosh darn chain store distribution centers hold you up sometimes. And Jimmy's a big man. He likes a nice, big, time-consuming breakfast after he's empty. But we did the delivery legally, which begs the questions...
How many small, fiscally strapped, overly regulated, in need of every load they can get trucking companies have extra employees on the payroll who can spare tired drivers and make every delivery on time and do it legally? Or...
How many small, fiscally strapped, overly regulated, in need of every load they can get trucking companies have a compassionate owner with a CDL...like me?
The Highway Reporter
Old Hours-Of-Service rules:
1) CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle) driver may drive 10 hours after 8 hours off-duty.
2) CMV driver may not drive after 15 hours on-duty, following 8 hours off-duty.
3) CMV driver may not drive after 60/70 hours on-duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
New Hours-Of-Service rules:
1) CMV driver may drive 11 hours after 10 hours off-duty.
2) CMV driver may not drive beyond the 14th hour after coming on-duty, following 10 hours off-duty.
3) CMV driver may not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
>A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off-duty.
How To Make It Work
Friday, October 16th and I'm busy with the usual problem: not enough equipment. But I'm taking loads anyway, not realizing I am short a driver because Jimmy just got in from Florida (I mean, he just parked the truck.) and did not want to work the rest of the day. I didn't blame him. He has been gone for six days and he is tired. But Jimmy needs money and I need a driver.
"Hey, Jimmy," I said. "Do you want to deliver a load of apples to Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing?"
Johnstown, New York and Schodack Landing, New York are 88 and 148 miles east and southeast of Canastota, New York, our home base. This is a short haul from Canastota, but when you have three pickups and have to drive 176 miles west of Canastota, it becomes a time-consuming deal. It was a load I knew Jimmy would not want to pick up (I didn't blame him.), but the money was good and I did not want to pass it up. So before Jimmy could answer, I pressed on.
"I'll go get it and you deliver it," I said. It was a load Jimmy could deliver tomorrow morning and be back home tomorrow afternoon.
"Yeah," he said reluctantly. "If you go get it, I'll deliver it." I know my drivers.
"I'll go get it," I said. "It's got three pickups...Empire, Albion, and Bucolo...so I'll go. I'll leave right now."
I didn't want to go because I knew these three pickups were going to be a time-consuming pain in the ass. But I had to cover the order, and I knew Jimmy wouldn't go if he had to pick it up and deliver it. So after getting expense money from Jeff and directions to Bucolo Cold Storage in Burt, New York from Jimmy (I have been to Empire and Albion.) I left the yard at 11:15 am. My pre-trip inspection consisted of asking Jimmy how the truck was running.
"Good," he said. "It's running a little hot, but you'll be all right with it. We can look at it when I get back. It's got water so it's got to be something simple because it doesn't run hot all the time...Something electrical because the fan doesn't kick on at the same temperature all the time."
I was at my first pickup, Empire Fruit Growers in North Rose, New York at 12:28 pm.
"I'm here for Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing," I told the receptionist as she got up from her desk and lumbered over to the sliding glass window separating the lobby where I stood and her office.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Brothers, Schodack Landing," I said.
"Oh," she said. "Let me check."
The receptionist returned to her desk and computer. After tapping a few keys and staring at the screen for an answer to her input, she looked at me. "They haven't sent your order over yet," she said.
"Oh," I said. Damn, I thought. "I guess I'll just wait in my truck until you get the order from the shipper."
When I got back to my truck I called my wife, my sounding board for whenever I am aggravated, frustrated, angry, confused; and need solace, security, pacifying, opinions, and help. "Judy," I said. "I'm at my first pickup and they don't have my orders yet. I'll be lucky if I get home by midnight...and I forgot to bring a magazine!"
"Where are you?" Judy asked.
"North Rose," I said.
"Where's that?" she said. "Near Buffalo?"
"Judy, I just left an hour ago. I'm in a truck, not a plane."
"Then where are you?" she asked.
"Thirty to thirty-five miles northwest of Syracuse."
"When will you be home?"
"I don't know. They don't even have my orders yet. So if I leave here by three, I'll be in Albion by five. If I leave Albion by six, it's almost an hour to Burt, my last pickup. If I leave Burt by seven...seven-thirty, I'll be back in the yard by ten-thirty...eleven. I should be home before midnight."
"Sounds like a long day to me," Judy said. "Especially without your magazine."
My next call was to the produce broker who arranged this load.
"Hold on," Mike said. And after a short pause, "Hello."
"Mike," I said. "I'm at Empire and they don't know what I'm picking up?"
"What are you doing in the truck?" he asked. Mike recognized my voice, even on my cell phone calling from a relatively dead zone. That's a good sign, I thought.
"The guys have been working hard lately, so I've been doing a little driving...to give 'em a break."
"Hold on," he said. And after another short pause, "We'll get the order to them in a few minutes. We've been real busy today."
"I understand, Mike," I said.
"Thanks for calling," he said. "Bye." Mike's all business.
I left North Rose at 2:34 pm and arrived in Albion (about thirty-five miles west of Rochester) at 4:22 pm. Another truck (that I hired) was already here which made me happy because they were usually late to Albion. "They work on their own schedule, not the customer's," Gary, the loader here once told me, hinting that he would be extremely happy if I never used this carrier again. But today the truck was on time. And I had carried some of this truck's apples across from North Rose so it would not have to make all the pickups I was making. This driver's day was going to be easier than mine.
I saw Gary and asked him if he was ready for me. He said he was waiting for another truck that he had to load first, but since I was here he would start on me until the other truck arrived.
"That truck isn't coming from Bucolo's with my stuff, is it?" I asked.
"No, he's not," said Gary.
No such luck, I thought.
Gary finished the truck I hired and had started on me when the truck he was waiting for finally arrived.
"I've got to get him out first," said Gary. "He's going to Boston, then to Portland, and then back to Tewksbury, Mass."
"All tomorrow?" I asked.
"Supposed to," he said. "And he's got to stop at Empire to finish."
"Why didn't they throw his stuff on me?" I asked.
"I don't know," Gary said.
"Have at 'em," I said.
Gary had the Boston/Portland/Tewksbury all in one day truck done and on his way to Empire in a matter of minutes. He had me on my way to Bucolo's Cold Storage at 5:10 pm; and I pulled into their yard at 5:56 pm for the two pallets of apples nobody could bring to Albion for me. After loading the two pallets and a brief conversation (drivers, the cost of fuel, the scarcity of trucks) with Chris, the owner's son, I was on the road again at 6:13 pm. After stopping once for fuel and to eat an apple I stole from Bucolo's, I pulled into our yard at 10:15 pm. That is, I went off duty at 10:15 pm.
That is: eleven hours of service on duty and I'm back to go. There's still 88 more miles to Johnstown, sign in, unload, sign out (This alone can be time-consuming. Have you ever been to Safeway Stores distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland?), another 60 to Schodack Landing, sign in, unload, sign out, and wait for the next dispatch or return to the yard for further instruction. The Wal Mart appointment is for 3:30 am, and then ASAP to Hannaford Bros. And since these are two of the produce broker's most favored customers, I did not want to be late or I'll be out a most favored customer. But, I have a problem. The way I see it, and I think I see it right, the problem is hours of service on duty. I have already been on duty for 11 hours, which means, once I get to Johnstown I have to go off duty for 10 hours before moving on to Schodack Landing. That's not ASAP. And I dreaded making a call to Mike (remember, he's all business) in the middle of the night to tell him I could not deliver his apples to a most important customer for another 10 hours because I was 60 miles away from Schodack Landing and had to go off duty. Oh Lord, find me another most important customer!
BUT..! This was a tandem deal. I was only picking up the load of apples. Jimmy is going to deliver it.
It took Jimmy approximately 11 hours and 45 minutes from the time he left our yard to the time he returned to our yard--to deliver Wal Mart, Johnstown and Hannaford Bros., Schodack Landing and come home. Gosh darn chain store distribution centers hold you up sometimes. And Jimmy's a big man. He likes a nice, big, time-consuming breakfast after he's empty. But we did the delivery legally, which begs the questions...
How many small, fiscally strapped, overly regulated, in need of every load they can get trucking companies have extra employees on the payroll who can spare tired drivers and make every delivery on time and do it legally? Or...
How many small, fiscally strapped, overly regulated, in need of every load they can get trucking companies have a compassionate owner with a CDL...like me?
The Highway Reporter
posted by The Highway Reporter at 7:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home