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FMCSA Hours of Service Compared to Other Countries

In the past three and a half years, the US trucking industry has seen the most costly regulatory action in decades, imposing $46 billion in annual costs. The current discussion of making EOBR mandatory on all trucks would add another $2 billion to the figure.

There are about 500,000 trucking companies in the United States, up from 1.2 million in 2003. Of these 500,000, about 80% operate 20 or fewer trucks.

These smaller companies, the true backbone of an industrialized nation, along with independent and proprietary operators, are literally fighting for survival against excessive regulation. Regulations that always seem to come tagged with the term “safety”.

The most important rule for the professional truck driver is the Hours of Service (HOS) rule. These rules determine how long a driver can drive and work, which has the greatest impact on a driver’s earning potential.

The most recent HOS rule change to go into effect July 1, 2013 will limit a driver’s workweek to 70 hours, will not allow the driver to operate the CMV after working eight hours until a break has been taken of at least 30 minutes. and drivers who maximize their 70-hour workweek will be required to take at least two rest periods between 1:00 am and 5:00 am originating terminal time. This will remove the current use of the 34 hour reset provision where the driver will be able to use the provision only once during a seven day period.

This addition of more downtime for drivers, coupled with the push to get as many miles and paid work as possible within 14 hours, will ultimately lead to less safety. The 14 hour rule, in my opinion, is the worst and most insecure regulation that has ever hit a professional truck driver. Many motor carriers continue to push their drivers to the maximum of 14 hours with the maximum possible workload. Bottom line…the new HOS rules coming up, while ignoring the fact of how companies pressure their drivers, is a recipe for disaster.

Most countries have hours of service rules imposed on truck drivers, specifically industrialized nations like the United States, Canada, Australia, and countries in the European Union. So how does the FMCSA hours of service rule for truckers compare to the HOS rule of other countries?

Australia

• Drivers must rest 30 minutes every 5 hours and stop for 10 hours of sleep for every 14 hours of work (includes driving and non-driving duties).
• After 72 hours of work (not including time spent resting or sleeping), a driver must spend 24 hours outside the CMV.

Canada

There are two sets of hours of service rules, one for above the 60th parallel north and one for below.

• Below 60 degrees latitude, drivers are limited to 14 hours of service in any 24-hour period.
• 14 hours includes a maximum of 13 hours of driving. Rest is 8 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period, as well as an additional 2-hour rest period that must not be taken in blocks of less than 30 minutes.
• Drivers operate on a “cycle” concept.
• Cycle 1 is 70 hours over a 7 day period and Cycle 2 is 120 hours over a 14 day period.
• A driver using cycle 1 must take 36 hours off at the end of the cycle before being allowed to restart the cycle again.
• Cycle 2 has 72 hours out of service before it is allowed to start over.

Above the 60th parallel north

• Because this area is so remote, north of the 60th parallel, Canadian hours of service rules are basically non-existent.

European Union

• Non-stop driving time cannot exceed 4.5 hours.
• After 4.5 hours of driving, the driver must take a break of at least 45 minutes.
• The time can be divided into 2 breaks, the first of at least 15 minutes and the second of at least 30 minutes.
• Daily driving time will not exceed 9 hours.
• Daily driving time can be extended to a maximum of 10 hours, but not more than twice during the week.
• Weekly driving time cannot exceed 56 hours.
• The driver cannot exceed 90 hours of driving in a two-week period.
• Within each 24-hour period after the end of the previous daily rest period or weekly rest period, the driver must take a new daily rest period.

Mexico City

Where the US rules are set through the FMCSA government body, the rules for truckers in Mexico are set by constitutional mandate, meaning governed by the labor laws of the country.

• Maximum work week of 48 hours without going into overtime. (Average weekly work of 40 to 45 hours).
• With the right to a rest day with full pay, for every 6 days of work.
• 3 work shifts – Day Shift (8 hours), Night Shift (7 hours) and Mixed Shift (7 1/2 hours).
• Hours worked during these periods are considered overtime and pay is doubled, but cannot exceed 9 hours per week.

The United States

• 11-hour driving limit
• You can drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
• 14 hour limit
• You may not drive more than 14 consecutive hours after starting service, after 10 consecutive hours out of service. The time out of service does not extend the 14-hour period.
• 60/70 hour service limit
• You cannot drive after 60/70 hours of service in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver can restart a period of 7/8 consecutive days after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
• Provision of sleeping bunks
• Drivers using the sleeping bunk provision must spend at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeping bunk, plus 2 separate consecutive hours, either in the sleeping bunk, off duty, or in any combination of the two.

Changes to the HOS rule, July 1, 2013:

• 34-Hour Resets: Must include two periods between 1am and 5am local terminal time, and can only be used once per week.
• Breaks: You may drive only if 8 hours or less have passed since the end of the driver’s last off-duty period of at least 30 minutes.
• Duty Time – Does not include time spent resting in a parked vehicle. In a CMV transporting goods in motion, does not include up to 2 hours in the passenger seat immediately before or after 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper.
• Penalties: Driving (or allowing a driver to drive) 3 hours or more beyond the driving time limit may be considered a serious violation and subject to the maximum civil penalties.

As the US trucking industry continues to be bombarded with “safety regulations”, the real solution to the problem is not more regulation, but control of the real problem. Since truck driver fatigue is touted as a leading cause of truck accidents, along with other variables like sleep apnea, the real causes of driver fatigue are ignored.

Delaying drivers at shipping and receiving docks, dispatchers pushing drivers past legal hours of service, lack of safe parking and rest areas, anti-idling laws, and failure to provide an APU system to the driver , lack of time at home and detention of drivers for months at a time; just a few of the many real causes of driver fatigue and safety factors.

The issue with truck driver fatigue and safety issues will only be resolved when the FMCSA takes a hard look at the practices of shippers and receivers and motor carriers that continue to push the professional CMV driver above and beyond human capabilities.