A Boomer and Millennial Sound Off on Proposed Hours of Service Changes

October 21 is the deadline to voice your opinion on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed Hours of Service changes. Click here to leave your comment!  

This week we discussed the proposed Hours of Service changes with Nolan Fuller, a millennial truck driver, and Sam Willoughby, a trucker from the boomer generation. Nolan entered the trucking industry almost two years ago and drives dry vans over the road for Paschall Truck Lines out of Kentucky.

Sam Willoughby (left) and Nolan Fuller (right)

Sam is an owner operator with a tractor and a 48-foot step deck, leased on with us at PDQ America. He’s been in the industry since 1974 and spent 24 years driving with a Tyler, Texas, grocery company.

Both of these drivers had a lot of insight to offer into the proposed HOS changes. Here’s what they had to say:

During your time in this industry, how have you seen aspects of trucking change, from technology, to regulations, to working conditions?

Sam: Well, some things are better…the safety of the equipment is a lot better. The company that I worked for, pulling the dry boxes and reefers when I first started, we had some old trucks over there that were just death traps. No power steering, no air conditioning, holes in the floorboard…There was one old truck over there that the frame was broke on it, they welded it back up. And then when the DOT came in and finally started really doing stuff that forced them into replacing their whole fleet, which made it better for us, much more comfortable, much safer. 

But at the same time, safety can be an overburden. It can be carried too far. A prime example is Exxon and XTO. XTO had to break off from Exxon because of safety regulations where their own people got to the point they couldn't do jobs. There was a job we were on and it was in the middle of a cow pasture, you know, no fence around the location. And the Exxon guy said, if a cow walked up on location, we will shut the job down. Okay. Can we shoo the cow off? No. We had to wait until the cow leaves on its own accord before we start the job back up. And that's how safety can be a burden, be a hindrance instead of a help. 

 How do you feel about the current state of Hours of Service as they exist right now? How did the advent of ELDs impact your job as a driver?

Nolan: Right now, it’s stressful…with my company we were on AOBRDS (Automatic On-Board Recording Devices) which were electronic logs but not ELDs (Electronic Logging Devices). All the big companies have to switch to ELDs by the end of the year. I just got switched about a month ago and even that change has been ridiculous. I think I was very comfy for a year and a half [with the AOBRDS]…and now I’m realizing with the ELDs, it’s pretty bad.

The first proposed change would allow drivers flexibility with the 30 minute break rule by allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on duty status, rather than off duty…Do you think that change helps you or hurts you as a driver? 

Sam: I don't think it makes any difference either way. Really, I don't like the mandated 30-minute break period. You know, I just, I don't care for that and I'm against any kind of new regulation because we've got so many now you can't keep up with them…But changes like that… I think it's just fluff. 

Nolan: You could be at of shipper or whatever getting unloaded and that on-duty time can fill your break and not have to wait the extra 30 minutes logged in off duty. That, I mean, that definitely frees up…that’s exciting. 

The second proposed change would modify the sleeper berth exception. This would allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods, one period of at least seven consecutive hours in the sleeper berth and the other period of at least two consecutive hours, either off duty or in the sleeper berth. Neither period would count against the driver's 14-hour driving window. How do you feel about this?

Sam: Well, I never was one to split my sleeper time anyway because I usually drive, drive, drive. Anytime I get through at the end of the day I'll just want to walk around a little bit and kick back. But for guys that do that, I think that's great. You know, it gives them flexibility. But… I'm an old man. I got to have my beauty sleep instead. 

Nolan: That's pretty nice. So currently there's a thing called the eight/two split where a little similar to that, but the difference with this proposed change is that neither would count against your 14-hour, which is very nice. I've only used the eight/two split that’s currently in effect, say, five times and I've been driving for a year and ten months…not a bad change, though.

The third proposed change would allow one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes but not more than three hours. This would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window, providing the driver takes 10 consecutive hours off duty at the end of the work shift. What are your thoughts on that one? 

Sam: Well, I, I kinda liked that one. That goes back to the old school way, back when we could work 15 hours in a day and uh, you could make that stretch out to a 20-hour day by doing these things like this. It takes a little pressure off of you, but at the same time you got to realize that is lengthening the day. I see that, you know, you got to have 10 consecutive hours off, but, myself, I can do that. I can be up and do 18-20 hours time, but ain't many of us left that can. You know what I mean? Some people just can't do that. And whoever's dispatching them needs to know that driver. And what kind of rest he's got to have. And you talk about some of these big companies…I don't know how they keep up with their names, much less get to know them. So it all goes back onto the driver. He's got to be responsible for his own safety, which is always the case. 

Nolan: It sounds pretty good. Especially if every day you're trying to run out your clock, the fact that you could have the ability to have two or three hours and it pause your clock … You know, if you're really making every mile that day count, that's very good. I'm usually not that, I'm usually not running my clock out every day, so it's not a big deal for me. But more flexibility sounds pretty good.

The fourth proposed change would modify the adverse driving conditions exception, extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted. What are your thoughts on this?

Sam: Well, there are some gray areas are that they need to clear up. If you know the situation is there before you head that way and you get in it, are you allowed to take that extension? Like with ice and snow in East Texas for instance, you know, that's just ridiculous…the problems it caused. It always came up at this other place that I drove at… The worse it got, the more the orders came in. You know, the heavier that load was, the more product was shipped out, the worse the roads got, the more that went out. At the time, the rule was that if you encounter adverse conditions during your route, you could do this. But if you leave knowing it’s there, do you get that extension or not? In other words, ‘well I can extend my day two hours, I'll make it.’ But if it's already there, they need to clear that up. 

The fifth change would alter the short haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the driver’s maximum on duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles. How do you feel about that?

Sam: I think that's fine. Yeah. I mean, I see no problem with that. You’re giving a guy a chance to, to get off what he needs to get off for that day. You know, like during the holidays, these little brown trucks that run around…You know… they got to hustle, hustle, hustle, and they're always wanting them to hurry, hurry, hurry. This here might slow this hurry, hurry, hurry business down. When you hurry, you open, you see up wide open to accidents, slips and fouls and all kinds of crap.

Nolan: That’s very nice. That doesn’t currently apply to me. I’m really considering getting a local job. I imagine if you were in that situation it would be a blessing. Especially if you’re doing short haul, when you’re unloading and loading it takes up a lot more of your work day…so that seems like a pretty good change. 

Any additional thoughts?

Nolan: If I could comment here about probably the biggest issue of the whole system itself… is the 70-hour, eight-day reset clock. As it stands, you can’t be on duty and driving for more than 70 hours in eight days. You can drive for 11 hours currently beyond duty for 14. If you did that for only five and a half days, that you had reached that max before, you have to do 34 hours of the reset, not 24, not 11… 34! I think that's the biggest current issue with ELDs. 

Sam: Just everybody to be careful. There are too many trucks on the road now. And I see a lot of tailgating impatience. And I get impatient too with some of these guys that are both going 65mph trying to pass one another, you know, for miles and miles. But you always have to think…don't tailgate somebody, because if a deer runs out or a car slammed on the brakes in front of you, and you're riding on his bumper, what are you going to do? You're going to be the first, the second one at the scene of the crash, you know? So just stay off people's butts.

What do you think of these proposed changes? Be sure to make your thoughts really count by telling the FMCSA through this link!