Category: Hours of Service

New 2020 Hours Of Service (HOS) Now In Effect

Posted on September 29, 2020 by - Hours of Service

On May 14, 2020, the FMCSA announced changes to their Hours of Service (HOS) rules for truck drivers. The new rules go into effect today, September 29, 2020.

The existing HOS rules have been in place since they were adopted by the FMCSA in 2013. The new 2020 FMCSA HOS changes have been called an overhaul of those 2013 FMCSA HOS rules.

But underneath all the legal jargon and politics, what has actually been changed, and what does it mean for you?

Below, we’ll cover everything you’ll need to know about the 2020 FMCSA HOS changes.

2020 FMCSA HOS changes

What HOS changed

There are four main updates to the FMCSA HOS changes. 

  1. The 30-minute break will be required after 8 hours of driving time instead of after 8 hours on duty. On-duty/not-driving periods can also count as the 30-minute break.
  2. The 10-hour off-duty requirement can be split into eight and two hours or into seven and three hours. Neither period will count against the 14-hour driving limit.
  3. In adverse driving conditions, two extra hours will be granted. This extends both the 11-hour driving time and the 14-hour on-duty time by two hours.
  4. Hours of service for short-haul drivers will be extended from 12 max hours to 14 max hours. The distance limit will also be expanded from 100 to 150 air miles.

How the HOS changes will affect you

These new Hours of Service rules are meant to provide truckers with more flexibility. Not as much as many have hoped for, but more than was available previously. 

However, some are worried that the changes to the off-duty split may force truckers to work longer hours since the total “active” time can now be essentially extended to 17 hours.

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Out With The OLD And In With The ELD

Posted on March 19, 2019 by - AOBRDS, DOT, Driver safety improvement, ELD features, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, FMCSA, HOS, Hours of Service, insurance premiums, Ray Martinez

Since 2017, the ELD mandate has been in effect. In December 2017 fleet owner’s with Automatic On-Board Recording Devices (AOBRDs) installed were given an extension to make the switch from AOBRDs to ELDs up until December 2019. With the new year in full swing the December 16, 2019 expiration date is quickly approaching.

At the 2019 Omnitracs annual user conference, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ray Martinez, urged drivers and company representatives to “prepare for this transition, if you have not done so already.”

The most strategic way to avoid procrastination when choosing an ELD is being in the know of what major differences stand between AOBRDs and ELDs.

Key Differences Between AOBRDs and ELDs

For many in the transportation business, the most proposed question that has been asked is, “why?”. The main reason behind the switch is to ensure companies are following the hours-of-service (HOS) law, which controls how much a driver can work in a day, aimed at preventing accidents and harassment of drivers. If someone has yet to make the switch from an AOBRD to a compliant ELD and are waiting to the last minute, the following differences in the two devices may be incentives to make the switch earlier.

Recording Metrics: AOBRDs does a lot of basic recording such as; location, date and time, mileage, engine hours and drive times, as well as duty status. ELDs record the same metrics plus information on the driver/user, motor carrier and vehicle including; log in and log out, engine on and off and also malfunctions.

Locations: When it comes to location AOBRDs allows users to record the change of location during each change of duty status and can be entered manually. With ELDs the location is automatically recorded every 60 minutes, whenever the engine is on or off when there is a change in duty status at the beginning and end of yard moves.

Edit History: AOBRDs record who makes edits and when and does not readily display edit history. ELDs require annotations when edits are made, with automatic events they can not be changed – only annotated and it readily displays edit history to DOT inspectors.

Driving Time: The driving time can only be edited when attributed to the wrong driver with AOBRDs and with ELDs that time cannot be edited.

Benefits of Making the Switch

The most recognizable benefit of the switch from AOBRDs to ELDs is compliance, but outside of ensuring that the trucking industry steers clear of harassment complaints the FMCSA wants to make the job of transporters a lot easier.

Low IFTA Audit Risk

The new ELD technology is driver-friendly when it comes to automatically calculating IFTA reports. The process of filing IFTA reports at the end of each quarter can be burdensome, and the overload of stress can cause human error. With this feature, the risk of facing an IFTA audit is reduced significantly.

Safety Improvement

By notifying drivers and management of malfunction issues and even identifying unsafe driving behaviors, ELDs do a great job at protecting all drivers on the road. According to FMCSA, ELDs help prevents roughly 562 injuries each year.

Lower Insurance Rates

Because of the increase in safety ELDs provide, insurance companies are happy to offer lower
insurance premiums to ELD users. By ensuring drivers stick to HOS regulations ELDs are eliminating the main cause of driver fatigue, which is reported to be at fault for 86% of truck-passenger crashes.

Safer Roads + Fewer Accidents = Lower Truck Insurance

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California Wildfire Relief Suspends Hours Of Service

Posted on December 11, 2017 by - California Wildfire Relief, California Wildfires, Hours of Service, Suspended Hours of Service, Thank a Trucker, Trucker Heroes, Truckers Providing Relief

The nation always needs truckers. You deliver essential goods like food and medicine across the nation.Without your hard work and determination, the economy could collapse. However, in certain times of emergency, we need you more than ever.

When the two major hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the country with full force we desperately needed truckers to deliver relief items to those in need. We also needed truckers to haul debris away. Now with the wildfires ravaging southern California truckers are needed again.

California Wildfire Relief

Over 350 firefighters have been hard at work attempting to contain a wildfire raging across southern California. As of Wednesday night, the fire was about 5% contained and has ravaged over 60,000 acres in Ventura County and over 150 acres in Bel Air so far. The smoke from the fire can actually be seen from space.

Los Angeles is under threat due to this fire and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes so far. With the Santa Ana wind gusts between 70 to 80 mph spreading the fire there is no telling how far the fire will spread, even though firefighters are desperately trying to make progress towards controlling it.

Governor Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency for Ventura County, which has suspended hours of service regulations for certain drivers. Those who aid in the relief effort by removing debris caused by the fire and those helping with the recovery effort will be able to operate under suspended hours of service.

Although, please note that if you’re helping with the recovery effort that there may be a few challenges to face. Evacuations are causing areas to fill with traffic that you will have to navigate through as people have to leave their homes.

 

Along with evacuations, there are a number of road closures making trucking routes extremely difficult. Parts of California Highway 150, California Highway 33, Freeway 405, and more are closed. Truckers trying to deliver their loads on time during the strict holiday season have been quite frustrated.

Be sure to have a map of the area available if you need to reroute and have your radio on to listen for evacuation notices. You will also want a backup, hand crank radio in the event of an emergency.

Other emergency items that will be good to have include extra water for yourself and to give out to those in need, along with nonperishable snacks. Take extra clothes, an extra phone battery, and safety tools.

Know that once you deliver a load to a relief area or go somewhere to pick up debris there might be a lot of waiting time involved. People may not know where they need to send you next. Also, don’t push your limits. Be safe and do not head into danger. You do not want to lose your rig or life in this fire.

Thank You For Helping

ExpressTruckTax would like to take a moment to thank you for all of your hard work. You make Christmas possible and take the time to deliver tons of important supplies all across the nation. You even step up to provide relief during times of emergency.

Please share your thoughts about the wildfire relief efforts in the comment section below and visit ExpressTruckTax for more trucking blogs.