DOT Hours of Service for Truck Drivers

Being a truck driver can be a great job. You drive your house around, get to see the country, and you get paid for it. The downfall is if you have a spouse and small children, you're gone from home a lot, and of course, you have to follow DOT hours of service for motor carriers. The hours of service changed a few years ago because of, what else, government bureaucracy, and of course, because of stupid people. And yes, I mean stupid people who have either wrecked with a big truck or had family who wrecked. As we have examined in past posts most accidents between four-wheelers and big trucks is because the driver of the four wheeler failed to exercise caution and good sense while driving on the road with big trucks. But I have ranted about that enough!

What does hours of service mean? There are regulations set up by the Department of Transportation that are intended to make sure truck drivers get enough rest so they aren't driving while tired. Every truck driver who operates a big truck, whether a tractor trailer, straight truck or day cab, that weighs more than 10,001 pounds and operates outside of a one hundred mile radius of their home city, must keep a log book. These can be in a tablet type book or loose leaf, but are always done in duplicate. The driver keeps one copy and turns the original in with each trip sheet. Log books must be updated before each trip and at each break, and must include mileage, date, city, state, times, length of stops including fuel stops, sleep time, pre- and post trip inspections, off duty time, and must be presented to State Troopers or DOT Officers upon request.

Basically, a truck driver's day is broken up with a fourteen hour work day and ten hours of sleeper time. Of the fourteen work hours, only eleven of those can be used for driving, the other three are "on duty not driving" hours. These hours can be used for fueling, PM (preventative maintenance), truck wash, tire shop, etc. Now that sounds like a pretty good work day and a lot of travel time. The problem with these new regulations is it doesn't take into account dock time.

Dock time is the amount of time a truck spends being loaded and unloaded. A driver can be in a dock for any amount of time, but usually several hours. Some places, like the vegetable loads in Nogales, AZ, can take as long as 8-10 hours. Sometimes longer. Unloading in places like Wal-Mart distribution centers can take five or six hours and sometimes longer. It's not unusual for a driver to use dock time to sleep.

So what's the problem? It sounds like multi-tasking doesn't it? A driver is in the dock and sleeping too, sounds like killing two birds with one stone. Ah, but that's a rational conclusion, and you have to remember the DOT is an entity of the federal government--where no rational or logical decisions have ever been made.
Even if a driver is in a dock for eleven hours and sleeps during that time he cannot log it as sleeper time. He must log it as "on duty not driving", which leaves him only three hours for actual drive time. When you have a load going across the country and a certain amount of time to get it there, three hours is no time at all.

With all the problems plaguing truck drivers from the general public to the lack of truck parking to DOT regulations it's no wonder so few new drivers are being hired. In fact, many truck driving schools have shut their doors because there simply aren't enough people learning to drive truck to keep them in business, and many companies are now offering driver training to those with no experience driving big trucks.

I don't know the answer to getting DOT to post realistic guidelines, but I do know that the public in general can be responsible drivers, follow the rules of the road for sharing the highway with big trucks and reduce the number of accidents involving big trucks.

If you're interested in learning more about the trucking industry, try the following sites:

Trucking Truth

Life On The Road

Share The Road

The girl driving this car was trying to light a cigarette while getting on the freeway, ran off the road into gravel, lost control and hit a semi. She survived.

Having criss-crossed the country several times, I am still amazed at the way four-wheelers drive around big trucks. Truckers understand that their rigs are big, slow and can slow other travelers down. After all, truck drivers don't drive big trucks all the time, when we're home we are four-wheelers too. I drive a Ford F-150 4x4,  Nathan drives a Honda 1500 SE motorcycle, and we also have a Ford Ranger. We live in the boonies and often have to follow log trucks for miles before we're able to pass. It can be frustrating to drive five or ten miles an hour below the speed limit, or whatever self-imposed limit one might have, but trying to outrun or pass carelessly just isn't a good idea. Eighty thousand pounds vs. four thousand pounds--guess who's going to lose that one!

Here are a few simple rules to help us all share the road and be just a bit more friendly:

1. Don't tailgate a big truck. Slipstreaming does not improve your gas mileage and makes it impossible for the truck driver to see you. If you can't see his west coast mirrors, then he can't see you!

2. When passing a big truck, don't slide back into the lane right in front of the truck. Make sure there is at least three car lengths between you and the big truck at all times. Remember, it takes a big truck three hundred feet to come to a complete stop at fifty miles an hour.

3. Don't hang out in the hammer lane next to the trailer. The driver has blind spots and if he can't see you when he changes lanes, you aren't going to like what happens next. And neither will he, the paper work is crazy!

4.When a big truck is signalling to make a right hand turn, he really is turning right no matter how it may look from behind. Trucks make wide right turns to keep the trailer from running up on the sidewalk or taking out the signal light pole, so don't try to cut under his trailer and beat him to the turn. That is a suicidal move and you can be killed when the trailer runs over you.

5. If you are in front of a big truck, do not hit your brakes suddenly. A big truck cannot stop quickly and will run over you. Again, you will not like the results of this action.

6. There is this invention on every vehicle. It's a lever on the left side of the steering column and when you push it up the lights on the right will flash indicating you want to turn right and when you press it down, it indicates you want to turn left. This is called a turn signal and lets other drivers know what you intend to do. I don't think very many people are aware it exists because I see so few using it.

7. When coming off an exit onto a roadway, do not creep out in front of traffic. Truck drivers pay attention to get ons and will see you coming. Get up to speed and get on the road. If you creep up, you may get run over.

8. Pick a speed and stick with it, especially on two-lane roads. Do the speed limit, don't speed up and slow down only to speed up again. Trucks are heavy and it is difficult for them to get up to speed, so when they are following someone who is talking on the phone and not paying attention to their driving, this impedes their driving. Most trucks have manual transmissions and having to push on a stiff clutch to downshift and then upshift because a driver in front of them doesn't maintain their speed can cause a number of difficulties for the truck and for you.

9. Trucks are very heavy and especially slow going up hill. Be patient, they aren't driving that slow just to hold you back and when they can move out of the way to let you pass, they will. Trying to pass a truck on a hill or curve is stupid and will get you killed.

10. When road conditions are slick, please slow down and use all safety measures around big trucks. If they have to hit the brakes because a car cuts in front of them and their trailer loses traction, they may jack knife, or go into a skid. Again, you're not going to like what happens next.

11. When travelling, if you stop at a truck stop for fuel or to use the bathroom, truck parking is NOT for you. Even if you're in an RV or pulling a travel trailer, do not park in truck parking slots. Truck drivers are required by federal law to stop driving after a certain amount of time and truck stop parking lots are built specifically for this reason. Every time an RV or travel trailer uses a truck parking slot they are keeping a hard working man or woman from obeying DOT regulations. This includes rest areas as well--RV's and travel trailers can use car parking, just take two or three slots and park vertically, problem solved!

Everyone is in a hurry to get to where they're going but you want to arrive alive, so hang up your phones, eat your hamburger while stopped, read your newspaper at home, answer your email when you get to your destination and use common sense. There are more and more vehicles on the road every day and more and more big trucks, but we can all use the same roadways if we just take a few more minutes. What's five extra minutes to get somewhere compared to eternity six feet under?

Next time on My Road Trip I'll be talking about DOT rules of service for motor carriers. I hope it'll help everyone understand exactly what truck drivers have to deal with on a daily basis.

A speeding Camaro lost control on a wet roadway, spun into a semi and this vehicle then rear-ended the semi. The only survivor was the truck driver.                                                                            

March 3, 2010

You ever have one of those days when you're absolutely sure Murphy's Laws are piling up on top of you? This week has been like that for us and I have to tell you, I'm not thrilled! After another trip to the east coast and back to Kansas City, we picked up a load in KC headed for Phoenix. Upon arriving at our destination we waited for nearly four hours for a dock, and once in the dock Nathan took Harley and Sonya for a walk. Suddenly, I hear yelling and look up to see a German Shepherd attacking all three. Poor Sonya escaped her collar and ran, so of course the Shepherd went after her. I bailed out of the truck, barefoot, and yelled at the dog, who came to a halt as Sonya dashed under the truck. When I called her name, she jumped into my arms and I was able to put her safely in the truck. Nathan already had Harley in his arms, since Harley is twenty-three pounds of attitude with no fear or common sense, but the Shepherd had gone after Nathan and fortunately only got booted a few times.

First, you have to understand my husband is very protective, possessive and absolutely loves Sonya to death. So  he gave Harley to me, and with his knife in one hand he went after the owner of the dog. The main problem was Nathan has a temper and the dock workers were Asian and didn't speak but a few words of English. After much shouting and a broken table, I finally convinced Nate to call the police and report them for having a dog uncontained in a business area with no collar or leash. The Mexican dock workers ran and the Asian workers kept repeating, "No police. No police."

After Nathan calmed down enough to tell the dispatcher what happened she asked if he wanted an officer to respond and he said no because he knew they would probably take the animal and dispose of him. Being the dog lovers we are, we didn't want the poor animal to pay for having stupid owners. Sonya was a little wet, bruised, and scared, but otherwise unhurt so all turned out well. And we've never had the trailer unloaded so quickly either!

After that little incident, we continued to Nogales where we were to pick up a load of vegetables from three different shippers, all within a block of one another. We had a six o'clock appointment with the first shipper, but didn't get loaded till after midnight, which meant the other shippers were closed. The next morning we went to the second stop and were loaded right away. However, when we reached the third shipper the product still hadn't come across the border from Mexico and we didn't get loaded till after two a.m. Wednesday morning and then the load was over weight and we had to go back to get a pallet removed and the load rearranged so it could be secured.

This load is going to Parma, Ohio and was a relay load since Nathan has to go to court for his ticket on Friday. We were originally supposed to meet the other driver, who had a load delivering in Phoenix in the morning, in Tucumcari, NM, but due to the FUBAR situation in Nogales he had to drive all the way to Las Cruces, NM instead. We met him there and switched trailers, but also got to shower, do laundry and have steak and eggs for brunch.

You may be asking why all the trouble in Nogales? During the winter months the produce you buy in the stores comes from Mexico to Nogales where it is then loaded and shipped. This year however, California has passed some stupid laws about truck's reefer unit engines having to be a certain low exhaust type engine and replaced every seven years. Most trucking companies simply cannot absorb this cost and no longer go into California. So Mexico is now supplying 75% more produce than they were in previous years, and by this summer I'm sure the produce prices will increase.

But the good news is I have new photos from the trip to Phoenix. We deviated from the normal route and went down the Salt River Canyon, which is between Show Low and Globe, AZ. If you ever get the chance to take this trip, it's beautiful and there's plenty of places to stop and take pictures and enjoy the view....just not in a big truck! (Remember these were taken while driving, so some may be a little blurry)

The cliffs are colored rust from iron and green from copper.

Looking back the way we came.

There was plenty of snow when we got to the top on the Globe side. This family was having fun!

This is west of Globe.

West of Globe.