Food for Thought RE Hours of Service

[ATeam]

Diane and I have read a little but have not yet put a lot of thought or study into the new hours of service regulations. We will be attending a meeting about them later this month at Landstar HQ when we are there for BCO Days (an annual event Landstar holds for its contractors a/k/a BCOs). After that we will give the topic more attention.

Diane came across this entry today in the Life With No Fixed Address blog. This team ran a big truck with Forward Air, then with FedEx Custom Critical under the flat rate program, and now with Landstar. Life with No Fixed Address is one of the best written truck driver blogs out there.

It proved especially so with its January 1, 2012 entry in which the author explains EXACTLY how her and her husband's income will be cut by the new rules and how trucker safety is degraded.

It is a very informative piece but also discouraging. After reading it, Diane and I had a serious conversation about finding our way out of trucking and into something that presents a less restricted and more positive future.

Trucking ain't what it used to be and it ain't what it was when we entered the industry only eight years ago. The things that drew us in are fading away.

Yes, there will be ways to adapt and there will be people who find ways to succeed under the new rules and the cultural changes taking place in the industry; but at what cost and under what definition of success?

 

[scottm4211]

What career path would you lean towards if it came to that?

 

[layoutshooter]

What career path would you lean towards if it came to that?

I would go into politics, then I could rob people legally!

Maybe work for my friend who is opening a gun range/gun shop.

 

[highway star]

If you truly love what you're doing, I can't imagine this being enough to change your mind. I think it's just another case of folks being sure that "this" will be the straw that brings down the industry. Trucking first got on my radar as something I wanted to do for a living in the early 70s. I remember when the "energy crisis" resulted in the 55mph speed limit. Truckers were outraged. "We'll never be able to make a living!!" I don't know of any documented cases of the 55 speed limit putting people out of business.

Electronic engines. Drivers were certain the roadsides would be littered with trucks that wouldn't run. Never happened.

Electronic logs. The end of the world!! You'll never be able to make a living. I know people that love 'em.

Whenever something happens, it's a crisis. The only thing that's had a real effect was deregulation. That was huge.

The big thing seems to be the change in the 34 reset. But, you know, it wasn't that long ago that there was no reset at all, and drivers were making a living. You just had to wait to get hours back in the recap.

I'm sure someone could come up with a senario on paper to show how bad this will be. In the real world? Probably not much more than a blip.

 

[davekc]

Not seeing much of an issue either. Have to go with Star on this one.

 

[greg334]

Oh God the sky is falling

This change is made for the million or so drivers who do not drive A straight truck but a tractor which makes up the majority if freight. The problem I see isn't with the same 34 hour reset but the rather dumb restrictions of the time block within that reset.

On top of all of that, the CARRIER has to make the adjustment to their sales of that service for any given customer, giving the edge to the driver more so than ever.

 

[zorry]

I also agree with Star. No big deal. Remembar a reset is not neccessary,just convenient. We got lazy and did them because they didn't require thinking. For a large fleet, if some reset Fri-Sat and others Sat-Sun theres less of an effect. As for the carrier changing service standards, as long as we all play by the same rules, it's OK. Thats why I like mandatory EOBRs

 

[ATeam]

Whenever something happens, it's a crisis.

In the short eight years Diane and I have been in the business, we have seen many somethings happen and we are still here.

It's not that this is a crisis that will bring the industry down. It's that this is one more thing that is having a cumulative and negative effect on the desirability and profitability of remaining in this business.

The team in the No Fixed Address blog (mentioned above) specialize in cross country team loads. They don't call the new rules a crisis. They don't cry out that the sky is falling. They describe in a rational and believable way how the new rules will reduce their productivity and income.

Diane and I don't do loads on a regular schedule like they do so the new 34 hour rules will not likely affect us as much as them. But it is easy to understand how the industry might lose a highly professional team and the country will lose a pair of safe drivers as they feel the noose tighten.

Note that they write not just about the 34 hour reset but larger trends in play that trouble them too.

 

[ATeam]

What career path would you lean towards if it came to that?

The career path I would lean towards if it came to that would be trading (explained here).

As explained on the linked-to pages, I don't talk about my trading strategies or results. Trading has nothing to do with expediting and I mention the activity here only because you asked. Suffice it to say that after putting literally thousands of hours into it since 2008, it makes sense to continue.

Another option would be full-time writing for trucking magazines and other publications. I have a number of pieces out there already. Feedback from professional writers and publishers suggests that I could enter this field with relative ease and make a go of it.

Another option that has been informally offered to us by the company owner is for both of us to work full-time for a financial services company that, among other clients, serves truckers.

Other opportunities come to mind as I think about it but there is no need to go into them. I'm a trucker today with an interest in trading who does a bit of writing on the side. That pays the freight today, so to speak.

It would not be our choice but you may be interested to know that some good friends of ours who drove with FedEx Custom Critical for 19 years reached their limit a few months ago and got out of trucking altogether. They found a job working as live-in managers of an assisted living facility.

 

[moose]

Before you (or the other team) pack your bags,
i will beg the difference between lost productivity and lost profitability.

the new HOS will provide for AMPLE sectorial opportunity's.
it is going to be a carriers market for some time.
a good indication is the O'l mighty ATA(the shippers association ) being one of the 1st to place a court challenge.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

If you truly love what you're doing, I can't imagine this being enough to change your mind. I think it's just another case of folks being sure that "this" will be the straw that brings down the industry. Trucking first got on my radar as something I wanted to do for a living in the early 70s. I remember when the "energy crisis" resulted in the 55mph speed limit. Truckers were outraged. "We'll never be able to make a living!!" I don't know of any documented cases of the 55 speed limit putting people out of business.

Electronic engines. Drivers were certain the roadsides would be littered with trucks that wouldn't run. Never happened.

Electronic logs. The end of the world!! You'll never be able to make a living. I know people that love 'em.

Whenever something happens, it's a crisis. The only thing that's had a real effect was deregulation. That was huge.

The big thing seems to be the change in the 34 reset. But, you know, it wasn't that long ago that there was no reset at all, and drivers were making a living. You just had to wait to get hours back in the recap.

I'm sure someone could come up with a senario on paper to show how bad this will be. In the real world? Probably not much more than a blip.

Maybe it's not that "this thing" is that bad, but rather that it's getting tiresome dodging new and constant BS flung at us by the gubmint ajentseas.

Guess I was right. I read Ateam's response after I posted the above.

 

[highway star]

I can't imagine that there's anyone that heard about the 34 reset and said, "Wow, that's what I needed. I'm getting into trucking!" Along the same lines, I can't imagine anyone deciding to get out because it's getting tweaked.

I'm sure there will be folks that just get tired of changes. We talk here about newbs doing their homework before jumping in, and anyone that did that homework would know that trucking has been evolving, fair to say devolving, even, for a very long time. Whether it's at the policy making level or out on the highway, truckers often feel like we have a target on our backs.

The bottom line is, we are regulated and we chose to deal with that when we got into this. For me, I'm still not dealing with so much of it that I need to get out. I keep my view of it grounded in the reality of doing my job on a day to day basis. Not what I read in some blog, I don't read blogs at all, not what some loud mouth says while sitting at the counter in a truck stop or any other questionable influences that are out there. Even when I got 5 DOT inspections in 1 year, it just wasn't that big a deal. You go through them and get on with your day. It's now been almost a year since my last inspection. My reality is that it's not nearly as bad out here as some would have you believe.

As a stereotypical group, truckers do think everything is a crisis. They get wound up over the littlest things. That may not be what the the writer of the blog is doing, but it does seem they may be taking the easy way out, instead of looking at ways to still make their business work.

Now, if I could just get some freight...

 

[beachbum]

The rules will not affect new drivers since they have not run under any of the rules we have, just as when the rules came out the last time it only affected people in trucking already.

As for changing with the times I guess I went to the extreme when I went from TT to Cargo Van (tall sprinter) Just might get into local driving in the next year if I find a place where I want to drop my roots for good. Not like now where I use families houses. might move to Florida or back to Ca. just don't know yet.

 

[ATeam]

That may not be what the the writer of the blog is doing, but it does seem they may be taking the easy way out, instead of looking at ways to still make their business work.

For every owner-operator, there are always ways to make a trucking business work. And when changes come, there are always ways to adapt and make the business work again.

But it is not effortless or cost-free for one to change one's business plan or ways of operating. Whether such efforts are made and the costs are incurred depends on how willing a given owner-operator is to do the work and bear the expense.

For example, fleet ownership is an option for Diane and me. We have plenty of on-road experience. We have the means to buy trucks. We know how to keep a set of business books. We could probably do a fair job of recruiting and retaining good drivers. But we would leave the business before exercising that option because we are not willing to take the risks and do the work that successful fleet owners must to be successful fleet owners.

Getting a lot of miles and an immediate positive cash flow is an option for us too. But we don't exercise that option because we are not willing to run cheap. Knowing that major truck expenses lurk in the future, we are not willing to run at or near break-even levels today just to see some cash flowing in. Also, we are unwilling to max out our log book hours week after week. There is more to life than keeping the wheels rolling and resting for 34 hours so you can keep them rolling more.

Moving into a truck that is cheaper to own and operate than the one we have now is an option that would increase our profit margin on every load. But that is not something we are willing to do either. We lived and worked in factory sleeper trucks for three years and know we can do it. But having been spoiled by the creature comforts our big sleeper provides, there is no going back. Our truck (paid for long ago) has several good years in it yet, but after that, if the money cannot be found in the industry to support such a rig, we're gone.

If we did not have other options outside of trucking, this would be an entirely different conversation; but we do. Our unwillingness to make the kind of business plan changes that might be necessary to remain in trucking, combined with opportunities outside of trucking, make it more attractive to exit the industry and something else.

We're not going anywhere anytime soon, but like many who have quit the industry before us, the time may come when we say enough is enough. When the tangible and intangible costs of trucking FOR US exceed the benefits, we'll move on.

There remain today good reasons to stay in the industry. The most recent changes to HOS rules are not among them. When placed on the stay-in or get-out decision scale, these new rules add weight to the get-out side.

 

[davekc]

Things always change. Any of the above posts could describe many other businesses.

 

[greg334]

So it looks like the sky is falling

 

[davekc]

I guess if all you are doing is looking up and expecting it.

 

[greg334]

I guess if all you are doing is looking up and expecting it.

True but for the most part we have lived with the 34 hour reset and no one has gone out of business.

I have a feeling that this will be contested and the court may review it if the lobby money source wants to get it changed.

 

[Brisco]

Diane came across this entry today in the Life With No Fixed Address blog. This team ran a big truck with Forward Air, then with FedEx Custom Critical under the flat rate program, and now with Landstar. Life
with No Fixed Address is one of the best written truck driver blogs out there.

It is a very informative piece but also discouraging.........

I don't exactly agree that it is one of the "Best Written Driver Blogs" out there.

Just spent a good hour reading over their past Blogs.......

Didn't exactly like what they said in one of their Blogs:

I kept telling Greg, if they kick us out after the first week, it will still have been worth it. We were a difficult case for the Schneider trainers, obviously well-educated, well-spoken, street-smart - a couple kept asking us why we were there, maybe secret Department of Transportation inspectors.........

This was written in one of their (Her) Blogs for their 1 year anniversary in Trucking back in 2009. IOWs, they haven't even hit 4 years in Trucking yet.

IMO, they came into Trucking with their Noses "High" already looking down upon others that were getting into trucking, or had been in trucking for years (her quote "difficult case for the Schneider trainers"...).

Not a Blog I'm going to be following much. I'm already a "Fan" of another Blogger very similar to this. My head would explode trying to keep up with 2 "over educated - well spoken" Bloggers.

 

[davekc]

True but for the most part we have lived with the 34 hour reset and no one has gone out of business.

I have a feeling that this will be contested and the court may review it if the lobby money source wants to get it changed.

True. I don't see the major impact for expediting, but with Phil's story of the OTR tractor team, it might make some difference.
Just not sure there is enough of them to really overturn something like that.