Private Fleets Favor HOS...So Far
A lot of fleets went through 'Y2K' fears about the new HOS.
Jim Winsor
Executive Editor
Fleet representatives speaking at the recent National Private Truck Council conference in Atlanta were decidedly upbeat about the new hours of service rules, but said they're cautious about upcoming peak summer schedules.
Private fleets, running distribution fleets for the most part, are giving good marks to the new federal rules after four months. However, they say it will be nearly a year before all the kinks are worked out.
Most of the problems and driver complaints about the new HOS (many reported in this magazine) have come from the truckload for-hire side of the industry, which is worlds apart from corporate trucking. Biggest differences are that many, if not most, loads and runs are to regular corporate accounts and destinations.
These drivers, as a group, tend to be older, have much more seniority and stay with their companies. In addition, many deliveries and pickups are to company plants and distribution centers where drivers have 24-hour access and corporate security knows them, which is a big time-saver working under the new 14-hour on-duty rule.
Here are three small case histories:
Maytag Appliances has a corporate fleet of 70-plus drivers and tractors and 300 trailers operating out of three Midwest locations. Joe Krejcki is fleet operations manager. "I think we and others went through a lot of 'Y2K' fears (about new HOS) only to find no real adverse effects," he said.
Maytag drivers average 55 years of age with 30 years' experience. Krejcki said the new HOS so far have been a nonevent. "There's been no changes impacting either our local or long-haul drivers." If anything, the 11-hour rule has been positive, he said. Drivers can make 500-mile days OK. The 34-hour reset rule is a bonus, although most drivers have two days off anyway.
If drivers are delayed at the dock, whether at company facilities or "outside," drivers switch to hourly pay ($14.50) from mileage and the delaying point is charged $60 per hour. The same policy applies for equipment breakdowns. Maintenance providers are held responsible.
Fleet experiences for Graham Woods Group, a nationwide retail distribution and warehousing firm, is very similar. Don Staniszewski is VP of operations. Drivers switch to hourly pay, and locations are penalized after a one-hour delay. For the most part, there have been only minor glitches.
Sentinel Transportation is primarily a hazmat tanker fleet furnishing dedicated truck transportation services for DuPont and ConocoPhillips. Ralph Benson is president. He said the 34-hour reset rule more than offsets the impact of the 14-hour on-duty rule. He reported some drivers are now running more miles, which means more money. Pay for delays is unchanged but liberal.
Benson said driver satisfaction with the new HOS is mixed. There's less overall flexibility, which stresses some — especially when there's a change in home time. He said the real test will be this summer during peak business cycles.
In private conversations, I got the feeling that more local and long-haul drivers are now carrying lunch pails to work, eat on the run and/or when they're being loaded/unloaded. And they aren't happy about it. Another concern, which may become an issue when there are peak business cycles, is forced dispatches after a 34-hour clock restart. This is speculation thus far, but some drivers like their two full days off and would hate to be forced out early. On the other hand, some "hungry" driver might welcome additional trips.
No one I talked with reported any drivers being put out-of-service under the new HOS rules. A bigger concern: The new HOS rules are meant to provide a 24-hour clock. This works fine when drivers are "on" 14 and "off" 10. However, in many fleet operations drivers are completing their work day in 10 or 12 hours and go "off duty." If they start again after the mandatory 10 hours off, they're back onto a 20 or 22-hour clock.
Fortunately there are many operations where a driver's starting time is the same every day, so the 24-hour body clock prevails.
