Missing data irks trucking industry

Firms want study of new guidelines

CalArk Inc. began alerting its truck drivers of coming changes to hours-of-service rules nearly a year in advance. Training on best practices for dealing with the federally mandated changes began at the Mabelvale firm in April, three months before the July 1 implementation.

Companies throughout the industry have similar stories of how they began working ahead to comply with the new guidelines. They have done so without field-study data that was promised but still has not been delivered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“We did our best to be proactive,” said Malea Hare, safety director at CalArk. “It would have been nice to have some hard data, though, before we implemented the changes.”

Hours-of-service changes were mandated by the agency to improve safety within the industry. Drivers are now required to take a 30-minute break during their first eight hours, and they’re required to rest for 34 hours before they can start a new workweek, which is now capped at 70hours.

A required study on how those rules might affect drivers and companies was due before July 1. Those results have still not been delivered. Fifty-one members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Steve Womack, Rick Crawford and Tom Cotton from Arkansas, have asked the Department of Transportation when the data will be available. Lawmakers have asked for a response by Thursday.

“These regulations, which strictly limit the use of the 34-hour restart provisions and mandate inflexible rest periods, greatly decrease driver flexibility, and raise costs for the already over-burdened trucking industry - at a potential cost of up to $376 million annually to this single industry alone,” they wrote.

“Disappointingly, and counter to a commonsense approach to regulation, these rules were enacted without the completion of afield study and subsequent report legally required by Congress.”

Delays in the study apparently stemmed from a lack of willing participants. Industry sources said members of the Trucking Alliance have agreed to participate. J.B. Hunt of Lowell, Maverick Transport of North Little Rock and Schneider National, a Wisconsin-based company with a large terminal in West Memphis, are among the companies taking part in the hours-of-service study.

When the study will be complete was not clear.

Crawford, the First District Republican and a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said he’s hopeful the study will provide more insight into managing hours of service.

“It’s key to find out what the manageable figure is,” Crawford said. “You know the old saying, ‘time is money?’ If that truck is idle and on the side of the road, it’s costing the company money. What we need is the safest and most economically viable option. Ultimately, these companies have to maximize earning potential, but do it in a safe way.”

Companies are concerned that the changes will lead to delays in delivery time, which would affect their earning power.

Early results on how the rules have affected drivers is mixed. Rance Claypool Sr., a 14-year veteran of Wal-Mart’s fleet, said he has noticed little change. Other than the occasional 30-minute break that prevents him from ending the week sooner than he’d like, Claypool said he has had few issues with the new regulations. Claypool, however, said he has heard from drivers with other companies who said the rules are confusing and constricting.

“Not everybody likes it, that’s for sure,” Claypool said. “If you’re raring to go, that break is a mood breaker.”

Hare, of CalArk, said the current hours-of-service rules took about three years from proposal to implementation. If the field study supports the idea that the rules should be relaxed, Hare doesn’t think the process would go quickly, but she is willing to offer insight her company has gained over the last two months.

“We’re not looking at tomorrow,” Hare said of the possibility of relaxing the rules. “This change took three years, so it’s not going to be next year. There are steps with Federal Motor Carrier Administration and those other agencies. … I’m more than willing to provide any information to whoever wants to see our data. I’d much rather provide that hard data and analyze that and see where changes need to be made.”

Business, Pages 31 on 09/07/2013

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