subject: How about the DOT regulations on hours of operations [print this page] How about the DOT regulations on hours of operations
Each person and lobbyist will have their own opinion about this regulation. It is law and the only ways to fox it is by making your opinion known in whatever forum you can get it into and then get others to read your side of the story. If you have driven you will of course have an opinion.
Let's make sure everyone knows the basics first; a driver is allowed to drive for 11 hours in a 24 hour period. Those 11 hours must be driven within 14 hours and then the driver has to take a mandatory 10 hour break.
Easy enough, now let's add some areas of this where it conflicts with a drivers reality. After sleeping at the truck stop nearest his/her destination they wake up at 05:30; arrive at the delivery at 06:00. They are late to open and you don't get unloaded until 08:30. By rule your log book started at 05:15. 15 minutes to do a pre inspection is a required entry. There is three hours and fifteen minutes of the 14 hours.
Your boss finally finds you a load around noon. You drive hour or more to pick it up. Let's pretend that things go smoothly and you are out of there in only an hour. Let's see now you are reloaded and ready to leave the shippers office and it is around 14:00(2:00pm). You've been on the clock for 7 hours and 45 minutes. The load is going 700 miles with an early morning delivery time.
The 4 hours will only get you about 250 or so miles to the destination. It is not very likely you would make it within the allotted time.
On the other hand when you have a load that is going across the country you can actually log legally log between 700 and 800 miles in a day. Speed limits and the speed your truck can go will make the difference in how far you can actually log. Days like these you can make good money, where the aforementioned scenario makes you want to pull your hair out or cut some corners in order to make the deliveries.
Without looking at the statistics it is hard to speak for or against the regulation. When a driver is tired they are a danger to everyone including themselves. You would like to think that a driver would know when to get off the road and sleep.
It is not always possible to do so. Truck stops fill up early and when a driver is feeling good at 9, 10 o'clock they may not want to stop and then when it finally hits them and it is next to impossible to find a place to park. The on and off ramps on the interstates are lined with trucks because they can't find any other place to sleep. The really sad part is that there are several States that insist on the laws being enforced, but won't allow trucks to park on the ramps. They even construct the ramps so narrow that it is impossible to park.
That case right there is a real puzzler, don't you think?
