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.

February 25, 2010

Hello everyone!

It's been a little while since my last post but we wound up in Kansas City for a few days due both to weather and being out of driving hours and then the ice storm hit and no loads were moving. I am not complaining however, being in a hotel with cable, shower, room service and internet access wasn't exactly difficult to live with. lol

Back on the road last Monday, we headed to Delaware to pick up secret federal documents and take them back to Kansas. They padlocked the load so unfortunately, I haven't been able to read any of them. Of course my imagination suggests the documents will reveal the truth about the Kennedy assassination, or they're all about Watergate and the Nixon administration. As Nathan said though, they're probably receipts for how much the military spent on socks last year!

The weather was cold,  but clear so we had good driving conditions, which was much appreciated through Baltimore and Washington D.C. I did hope to catch a glimpse of the President because I have a few things I'd like to say to him. Apparently he's been in meetings and I didn't get the chance!

That's all for today, so from Indiana Nathan, Rie, Harley and Sonya hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Breaker One Nine!

Since I'm here at a hotel in Kansas City and it's snowing like it's Christmas, I thought I'd an answer a few questions and offer a little road advice since big trucks and four wheelers must share the road.

I knew this question would come up eventually! Allison asked, "What about the bathroom?"

Of course, I use the bathroom when we stop for fuel, showers, and at the end of the driving day. Also, the dogs need to get out about every four hours and we try to stop at rest areas for this so we can use the facilities. Occasionally, there are times when one just has to "go" and there's no time to stop the truck, or we happen to be in the middle of no where, so for those times, I have a 44 ounce plastic pop cup from the Quik Trip. It has a plastic lid and gets dumped, rinsed and dried, and kept for future emergencies. For those occasions when we have to have a bm and can't make a rest area, there's a trash can, lined with a Wal-Mart bag and paper towels. It's not exactly comfortable, but it works. Toilet paper and baby wipes are a necessity on a truck!

Some of the newer trucks do come equipped with showers and toilets, some even have mini-kitchens with cook stove and sink. These are called "apartments" and are longer than a normal tractor. They are very expensive and you may have seen them pulling moving van trailers.

Driver CB Lingo:

Remember those trucker movies from the 80's  BJ & The Bear and Smokey & The Bandit? They used trucker talk like "hey good buddy" "10-4" and "breaker-breaker," while some of the speak hasn't changed, some of it has changed meaning. So here's some Trucker-speak so when you rush out and get a CB for your car, you'll know how to talk to the truckers!

Good Buddy-This used to be a reference to any truck driver who was courteous or had done some kindness, however, now it means a gay or bi-sexual trucker looking for a partner for the night

Brake Check-vehicles are slowing or coming to a stop

Breaker One Nine-someone wants to talk

Radio Check-wants to know if  CB is working

Lot Lizard-male or female prostitute who works truck stops

10-4 or 10-affirmative, yes, or I understand

Smoky/Full grown/Statey/Bear-State Trooper

Care Bear-Any cop sitting in construction with lights on to slow traffic and protect workers

Plain Wrapper (any color)-Unmarked cop vehicle

Polar Bear-White unmarked cop vehicle

Kojak w/a Kodak-any cop shooting radar or taking pictures

City Kitty & Local Yokel-City cop

County Mountie-County Sheriff

Chicken Coop-weigh station

Yard Stick-mile marker

Meat wagon-ambulance

4-wheeler-any four wheeled vehicle

HazMat-Hazardous Materials require placquard on trailer

Straight truck-A truck w/tractor that doesn't detach from trailer

Bob tail-Tractor w/o trailer attached

Seat cover-A female in the passenger seat

Covered Wagon-A flat bed trailer with removable wooden sides and rails covered with a tarp

Flat Bed-A trailer used to haul heavy objects like steel, pipe, etc. and has no sides or roof, not to be confused with a step-deck, used to haul heavy equipment, or a low-boy, used to haul trucks or other large vehicles

Day Cab-tractor with just seats, no sleeper

Tanker-hauls fuel or any liquid, usually hazmat

Parking Lot-A trailer used to transport vehicles

DriveAway-A tractor that has other trucks piggy-backed on it

Reefer-hauls cold/frozen foods, sometimes hauls hazmat that requires temp. control

Dry Van-hauls any type of load not requiring temp. or humidity control

Bull Hauler-big, metal trailer that hauls livestock

Chicken hauler-flatbed loaded with metal crates hauling live foul

Boom Bar Load-These tractors have a large bar that attaches to the 5th wheel and has another tractor attached, facing rear so it can be towed

Dammit Girl-Driver has just seen a sexy woman in a four wheeler

Dammit Boy-same as above, but used by female drivers

Dammit Girl/Driver-A response used to express surprise, interest, or excitement (usually in response to a sexual comment)

Shut up stupid-a response to arguing truckers and one I hate hearing

I ain't got no panties on-usually whispered over the CB when no one is saying anything, a conversation starter, or in my case, a way to get me to turn off the CB

Some trucker's friends we met along the way

February 18, 2010

SNOW! SNOW! AND MORE SNOW!

After the ticket in Green Valley, AZ, we finally made it to Nogales to pick up a load heading to Rochester, NY instead of the planned on Florida anniversary trip. By the time we made Missouri, the cold weather had set in and only continued to get worse the farther east we went. St. Louis began the really bad weather and it took nearly an hour to get across to Illinois, and by the time we hit Indiana our top speed was about twenty six miles an hour. Needless to say, we didn't make our appointment in New York. But we did make it, which is more than some can say.

Most of the wrecks were four wheelers (cars), due to driving too fast.  We had a couple of close calls with four wheelers who didn't want to be behind or beside a big truck, so they sped by, lost control in front of us, and thanks to some great driving on Nathan's part, we avoided being caught up in their stupidity! Because of the deep snow, there were no real injuries, except to the pride of those who landed in the ditch or median. Unfortunately, there were a couple of big truck accidents that did result in injuries to the four wheelers who hit them, and I have to say, I am very proud of the drivers who chose to dump their trucks in the ditch rather than directly hit the vehicles who tangled with them.

If you saw the 40 car collision on highway 71 north of Columbus, Ohio, you know what we were dealing with. Fortunately, the wreck, with its twenty-nine mile back up, was on the southbound lanes and we didn't wind up sitting for hours at that location.

Following are some pics I took along the way. Please remember all the pics are taken while the truck is moving, and some of the roads are very rough, especially on the ice and snow, so some are blurry. My bad! :)

Sunset in AZ

F4 Phantom located in Corona, AZ at the VFW

This truck lost his trailer tandems in Oklahoma

The tandems that should be under the trailer!

The blue car was driving too fast when trying to make a left on to the on-ramp.

Snowing in Missouri near St. Louis.

Near St. Louis.

A car lost control in front of this truck and he hit the median guardrail.

Like I said, we were driving! Sorry about the focus.

The St. Louis arch in the snow.

This truck also swerved to miss hitting a car. (Illinois)

Pieces of the bumper.

The driver was injured in this crash.

This truck and car were involved with the truck above.

Westbound lane as we were heading east.

All part of the westbound wreck.

This was in Ohio on 71N.

The cab of the above truck.

This straight truck just slid off the road in front of us.

This car was involved in the 40-car pile up on 71N. 

Most of the vehicles had already been moved by the 

time we reached the wreck area, but a few cars and

quite a few trucks were still being towed.

Special Post February 12, 2010

Today I have a special post because we kind of got stuck in Nogales, AZ while on our way to pick up a load of corn going to Florida. Our anniversary is on the 17th and this trip to Florida was supposed to be a little honeymoon trip for us. We were going to be able to take some time off, park the truck, rent a car and drive down to Key West to play in the ocean and take a little break. We haven't had a honeymoon vacation since we got married 10 years ago. Because of what happened the load was cancelled, we spent the night in a WalMart parking lot and the load we are picking up today is going to the Syracuse, NY area--so much for a honeymoon!

Now, I am not placing fault here, it's just one of those things that happens sometimes and you deal with and move on. It was really just our turn I suppose you could say. While on I-19 headed from Eloy to Nogales we were pulled over by a State Trooper because he noticed a mud flap on the outside of the DOT bumper. This is called a "courtesy check" but when it happens all paper work is scrutinized, including log books, fuel receipts, registration of the tractor and trailer, plus insurance, bills of lading, etc.

For the first time in eight years, Nathan received a ticket for a log book violation because while we were in Eloy, we stopped at the Pilot Truck Stop and I did laundry while he took the truck for a PM (Preventative Maintenance), which occurs about every 25,000 miles because this truck is equipped with a Tri-Pak, and then he took the truck through the truck wash to get some of the salt removed since we'd been on the east coast. While doing his log book, he didn't mark the PM or wash as "on duty, not driving", and then, stupidly, he inadvertently marked the day as the 10th, which was actually the previous day, so he had two days dated as 2/10. That's considered falsification of a log book and got him a ticket, along with a fix it ticket for the DOT bumper being bent, AND he got a warning about an Arizona requirement that trailers have a reflective "L" in the upper corners of the trailer doors that isn't required anywhere else. And we were put out of service for ten hours!

The trooper was very nice, and very cute. I could be a cougar for this cutie-pie!

Cost of a PM $236.00
Cost of a truck wash $77.00
Seeing the look on my husbands face when he got ticketed: PRICELESS

Officer Azbill writing the ticket!

Signing the ticket!

"Look, you stupid truck driver, just sign the damn thing!"

"Hey, I have a gun, you know!"

This is my view of them at the trooper's truck.

I kept waiting for the handcuffs to come out, but again, I was disappointed!