HOURS-OF-SERVICE--Round 2
"Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate." G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, ch. 12
It's almost February and I am just getting to the December, 2004 issue of Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ since 1911). It's usually like that for me. I have a hard time getting through our trade magazines. Some years ago I gave them up because they did not seem relevant to my trucking business. But now that I have started this blog, I thought it would be a good idea to start reading again. Get the skinny on all the big companies and new products...emulate the bigs and tack all the new stuff onto my trucks so they run faster and more fuel efficient, with fewer breakdowns, more alert drivers, and less downtime.
I started with a nice article by Chip Magner. Chip is the executive publisher of Commercial Carrier Journal, and his article was about a World War II veteran who was on the beach at Normandy, June 6, 1944. Read the article by Avery Vise, the editorial director of CCJ, skipped over Paul Richards, the Journal, equipment, technology (Wi-Fi, right), safety, and law sections; finally stopping at the operations section and reading "Promises, Promises--Negotiating with drivers over loads carries pitfalls." by David Goodson. His theme: be fair with your drivers and owner-operators. Mix the good loads with the bad and do it equitably. I think I do that. I mean, I do throw a little b---s--- now and then to get a load covered. But my drivers and o-os that work for me know it all evens out in the end. And it does. I'm fair.
What caught my attention was a sentence I thought to be a non sequitur, and certainly subject to my cross-examination. To quote Mr. Goodson: "One of the blessings of the change in hours-of-service rules is that it helped reduce greatly the amount of work drivers were asked to perform for free, such as sitting at docks waiting to be loaded, or hand-loading trailers." Pg. 33.
"REDUCE GREATLY!" I thought.
I would like to know where Mr. Goodson got his inside info or hands-on experience about this greatly reduced "work drivers were asked to perform for free, such as sitting at docks waiting to be loaded, or hand-loading trailers." I would like to add, sitting at docks waiting to be unloaded or unload the trailer or pay an outrageous lumper fee. All the inside info and hand-on experience I have culled from my drivers and owner-operators suggests that the new hours-of-service rules do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to "reduce greatly" anything. We haul produce; and if the produce is not ready for loading, or the shipper has only two docks and they are filled, or the shipper is busy because it's a holiday season, or if the help didn't show up, or if the forklift truck is down, or if we're early, or if we're late...WE WAIT! When we are finally loaded we haul ass to our destination. And when we get to our destination and the consignee does not need the produce on our truck right away, or if the consignee has only two docks and they are filled, or the consignee is busy because it's a holiday season, or if the help didn't show up, or if the forklift truck is down, or if we're early, or if we're late...WE WAIT! That's the produce business, Mr. Goodson. The new hours-of-service rules have "reduced greatly" NOTHING for my company.
What is the solution to this problem, Mr. Goodson? How DO we "reduce greatly" in the produce industry the free work you speak of? I have been in this business for thirty-three years and I still do not have a clue. But I am not "a management consultant specializing in transportation," pg. 33. You are...Help me, because I do not want to stop reading our trades again.
The Highway Reporter
It's almost February and I am just getting to the December, 2004 issue of Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ since 1911). It's usually like that for me. I have a hard time getting through our trade magazines. Some years ago I gave them up because they did not seem relevant to my trucking business. But now that I have started this blog, I thought it would be a good idea to start reading again. Get the skinny on all the big companies and new products...emulate the bigs and tack all the new stuff onto my trucks so they run faster and more fuel efficient, with fewer breakdowns, more alert drivers, and less downtime.
I started with a nice article by Chip Magner. Chip is the executive publisher of Commercial Carrier Journal, and his article was about a World War II veteran who was on the beach at Normandy, June 6, 1944. Read the article by Avery Vise, the editorial director of CCJ, skipped over Paul Richards, the Journal, equipment, technology (Wi-Fi, right), safety, and law sections; finally stopping at the operations section and reading "Promises, Promises--Negotiating with drivers over loads carries pitfalls." by David Goodson. His theme: be fair with your drivers and owner-operators. Mix the good loads with the bad and do it equitably. I think I do that. I mean, I do throw a little b---s--- now and then to get a load covered. But my drivers and o-os that work for me know it all evens out in the end. And it does. I'm fair.
What caught my attention was a sentence I thought to be a non sequitur, and certainly subject to my cross-examination. To quote Mr. Goodson: "One of the blessings of the change in hours-of-service rules is that it helped reduce greatly the amount of work drivers were asked to perform for free, such as sitting at docks waiting to be loaded, or hand-loading trailers." Pg. 33.
"REDUCE GREATLY!" I thought.
I would like to know where Mr. Goodson got his inside info or hands-on experience about this greatly reduced "work drivers were asked to perform for free, such as sitting at docks waiting to be loaded, or hand-loading trailers." I would like to add, sitting at docks waiting to be unloaded or unload the trailer or pay an outrageous lumper fee. All the inside info and hand-on experience I have culled from my drivers and owner-operators suggests that the new hours-of-service rules do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to "reduce greatly" anything. We haul produce; and if the produce is not ready for loading, or the shipper has only two docks and they are filled, or the shipper is busy because it's a holiday season, or if the help didn't show up, or if the forklift truck is down, or if we're early, or if we're late...WE WAIT! When we are finally loaded we haul ass to our destination. And when we get to our destination and the consignee does not need the produce on our truck right away, or if the consignee has only two docks and they are filled, or the consignee is busy because it's a holiday season, or if the help didn't show up, or if the forklift truck is down, or if we're early, or if we're late...WE WAIT! That's the produce business, Mr. Goodson. The new hours-of-service rules have "reduced greatly" NOTHING for my company.
What is the solution to this problem, Mr. Goodson? How DO we "reduce greatly" in the produce industry the free work you speak of? I have been in this business for thirty-three years and I still do not have a clue. But I am not "a management consultant specializing in transportation," pg. 33. You are...Help me, because I do not want to stop reading our trades again.
The Highway Reporter
posted by The Highway Reporter at 3:18 PM
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