Truckers say an electronic device that measures the hours they drive each day sometimes leaves them

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

stranded just 30 minutes from home

It wasn't low wages, long hours, or a lack of benefits that drove Brian Pape out of the trucking industry.

Instead, it was a tiny device that measured how many hours he drove each day and told him when to stop.

-snip-

Truckers are allowed to work for up to 14 hours a day, with a maximum of 11 hours driving. They can't do this all in one go: after eight hours of consecutive driving, they need to take a 30-minute break.

-snip-

"If you're 30 minutes from home and you get to your 11 hours, you must shut down or else you get an automatic hours-of-service violation," Pape said. This incurs a fine and could jeopardize a trucker's license.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/truckers-say-an-electronic-device-that-measures-the-hours-they-drive-each-day-sometimes-leaves-them-stranded-just-30-minutes-from-home/ar-AAT3kCr

[stopdiggin]

1. understand the frustration

Last edited Sun Jan 23, 2022, 06:32 PM - Edit history (1)

but also think it's a good idea that service hours are tracked (and enforced). And, from personal testimony within the ranks, I know that the manual/written log books were (are?) routinely falsified. Also think that 11-12 hours on the road is a reasonable cut off point.

[2naSalit]

2. I agree.

I drove long before all the technology was around and I ran 20hr days regularly, take a few days off and do it again. Things were a lot different then too, like the way highways are configured and actually existing-some interstate hwys we're not there back then and many were incomplete. We had a lot of two-lane travel back then. But you could make it work because you chose when to rest, when you needed it rather than at some mandatory time. And we checked our rigs because we did some of the maintenance on them and knew what to do. The name of the game back then was to get from point A to point B as fast as you can with as few problems as possible. And there was considerably less traffic on the roads in general.

[IbogaProject]

3. We need to move more freight back to rail

We need to move more freight back to rail. The main reason industry moved to trucks is Rail is very securely unionized. Cross country and even interstate should be more by rail than truck. Truck should be for the last stages of the shipping chain and the first where theing originate domestically.

[Thunderbeast]

4. When the driver's clock expires, they STIILL drive home

The truck is parked...

The company sends a "rescue" driver in a company car or light truck.

The drivers swap vehicles.

BOTH drive to the terminal.

The original driver is STILL driving....just in a smaller vehicle.

Most of the time, the delays are unplanned; Caused by weather, traffic, or repairs.