Lawless emphasized the importance of adopting a Safe System approach, which acknowledges human fallibility and aims to mitigate crash impact on the human body. This approach involves designing and managing road infrastructure to minimize the risk of accidents and reduce injury severity when crashes occur. Lawless dismissed the notion that zero fatalities are unattainable, highlighting the need for a cultural shift and shared responsibility across various sectors, including healthcare and technology.

FMCSA’s efforts include addressing trucking industry concerns such as safe parking, detention practices, and driver compensation.

“We know creating more and better and safer truck parking is fundamental [to safety],” Lawless said. “… “We know the longer drivers stay in the industry, the safer they become.”

Lawless highlighted the bipartisan infrastructure law’s provisions for improving truck parking, citing significant investments in states like Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee. FMCSA is also conducting research to identify high-demand areas for parking and assess the cost-effectiveness of parking investments.

Additionally, FMCSA launched a driver compensation study to explore how pay influences career choices among drivers. The agency’s Truck Leasing Task Force is examining leasing agreements to understand their potential impact on safety incentives. These initiatives aim to enhance collision prevention by gaining insights into their underlying causes.

FMCSA is also advancing the implementation of hair sample testing in drug screenings and working towards finalizing an Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) rule. Collaborating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, FMCSA seeks to mandate AEB systems in new trucks and ensure fleet compliance. The publication of the final rulemaking is anticipated later this year, along with a compliance date.

“Technology has the promise of saving lives,” Lawless said.

Source: Commercial Carrier Journal

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ATA leaders argue that the recently proposed Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act could disrupt established compensation agreements between employers and employees, potentially causing disruptions in the supply chain—a crucial concern as the industry rebounds from pandemic-related disruptions.

“This proposal is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to boost trial attorneys’ fees. It would reduce drivers’ paychecks and decimate trucking jobs by upending the pay models that for 85 years have provided family-sustaining wages while growing the U.S. supply chain,” said Chris Spear, ATA president. “Truckload drivers today are earning nearly $70,000 on average plus benefits, and wages across the board continue to rise at historic rates year-over-year — except at Yellow, where one party’s refusal to come to the table destroyed 30,000 jobs. The bill would not affect owner-operators, who, as independent contractors, are not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Spearheading this opposition, ATA’s Chris Spear emphasized the potential repercussions of the legislation on a supply chain striving to recover.

“To support this misguided legislation is a vote for supply chain chaos and the inflationary consequences for consumers,” Spear said. “Rather than plaintiffs’ bar bailouts, lawmakers interested in actually supporting drivers could begin by fixing the nationwide truck parking shortage that costs drivers on average $5,500 in lost earnings annually.”

The legislation, introduced to legislative committees for evaluation, targets a section of the Fair Labor Standards Act governing overtime compensation for certain commercial drivers. If passed, it would essentially revoke an existing overtime exemption. As of now, no vote on the legislation’s consideration has been scheduled.

In reaction to the bill, Nathan Mehrens, vice president for workforce policy at ATA, said, “This is a solution in search of a problem. This is not going to actually guarantee anything, even though that’s in the title. And truckers are already doing pretty good in the compensation models that are in place. So, again, no showing of need has been made for making this very substantial change that would literally upend the compensation models of the entire industry.”

Democratic Senators Alex Padilla of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts are the primary sponsors of this legislation, gaining support from groups such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

“America’s truck drivers are on the front lines of our economy, enduring long hours away from home and, all too often, unpaid wait time at congested ports and warehouses. That’s because for decades, truck drivers have been excluded from overtime pay protections,” Padilla said. “If truckers are forced to wait while on the job, they should be paid. This is not just a matter of fairness; it’s a matter of public safety.”

“From the food we eat to the medical supplies we use in our daily lives, truck drivers make sure consumer goods and commodities reach their destination on time,” Markey said. “However, for almost a hundred years, obsolete labor regulations have denied truck drivers their rightful pay, leading to high turnover and supply chain disruptions.”

A parallel proposal in the House of Representatives is championed by Representatives Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.).

“Truckers have been left out of overtime opportunities due to archaic standards,” Takano said. “The impact of truckers on the supply chain to get Americans the goods they rely on entitles these workers to competitive wages. In an industry plagued with high turnover, the most common-sense solution is to guarantee overtime pay to drivers.”

Source: Transport Topics

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“The first priority we have is to go upstream in the safety life cycle all the way to prevention,” said Robin Hutcheson, FMCSA administrator. “That means we have to look at some root causes of why people become unsafe in the first place. The crash that never happens – that’s what we want.”

Hutcheson highlighted the necessity to scrutinize how truck drivers are reimbursed and the shortage of secure parking spaces as fundamental factors.

“We have to dig pretty deep, and that means looking at compensation – how drivers are compensated,” Hutcheson said. “The effect of detention time – are drivers waiting too long and therefore speeding to their next location? … Why are women not joining the workforce? Do they not feel safe and secure? Are there predatory leasing arrangements that are distracting to drivers, making them unable to focus on the roadway? We know the answer is yes … Are truck drivers tired? Do they need more rest? Are they having trouble finding places to park? These are all root causes of why a driver may become unsafe in the first place.”

To tackle these underlying issues, FMCSA initiated investigations into driver compensation and detention time. Additionally, it established the Women of Trucking Advisory Board and Truck Leasing Task Force, urging states to make use of grants for expanding truck parking facilities.

Mandated by Congress under the 2021 infrastructure law, the driver compensation study led FMCSA to partner with the Transportation Research Board to examine the safety and retention impacts of compensation methods. This includes hourly pay, payment for detention time, and other industry payment approaches. Hutcheson announced that the compensation study’s report is slated for release in July 2024.

FMCSA is also examining detention time, which occurs when truck drivers face prolonged waits at shipping and receiving facilities. The study, anticipated in 2025, will collect and analyze data on truckers’ detention time to determine its frequency and severity. In 2018, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General highlighted that detention time heightened crash risks and costs, yet limited data stopped further analysis.

The Women of Trucking Advisory Board targets the removal of barriers preventing females from entering the industry. The committee plans to submit recommendations to FMCSA, with the agency expected to deliver its report to Congress within a year.

The Truck Leasing Task Force aims to eradicate exploitative lease-purchase agreements in the trucking industry, where carriers lease trucks to drivers, often resulting in drivers owing money at the pay period’s end without eventually owning the truck.

Hutcheson emphasized that truck drivers affected by these predatory programs are likely to exit the industry.

“Why do we care about lease-purchase? Because the trucker that (is in the industry) the longest is the safest,” Hutcheson said. “We need to retain them for safety.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA have advocated for increased truck parking nationwide, recognizing the safety hazards arising from parking shortages and regulatory constraints on driving time, leading to trucks parking in unsafe locations.

“There’s been more than one horrific crash where a commercial motor vehicle wasn’t parked where they should be,” Hutcheson said. “Is it totally their fault? I say no. They’re following the hours of service.”

Source: Land Line

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“When you’re loaded, you want to get empty,” Smith said. “When you’re empty, you want to get loaded. There’s constant anxiety. This has developed into a 70-hour work week. You’re either driving or sleeping. If you’re not working, you should be sleeping.”

The National Academies of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board driver compensation committee was established in January to investigate how different compensation methods for drivers impact safety and retention. This includes hourly pay, compensation for detention time, and other industry-standard methods.

As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, heavy-haul truck drivers earned a median salary of $48,310 in 2021. However, members of OOIDA have informed the committee that this figure does not tell the whole story. Many truck drivers have to work 60-70 hours per week to earn this amount, which paints a different picture of the average wage.

“We should all be paid for our time,” Hochfelder said.

Truck drivers are often not paid for essential tasks such as loading and unloading, equipment checks, and refueling due to the current pay-by-the-mile system. Furthermore, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 exempts employers from paying truck drivers overtime. Stay informed of the ongoing challenges faced by truck drivers in the modern workforce.

“You need to require overtime,” Smith said. “It’s just unconscionable in this day and age that we don’t have overtime for truck drivers.”

According to Smith, if company drivers earn overtime, this can benefit owner-operators by providing them with higher wages. Additionally, Spoon informed the committee that the weight of responsibility placed on truck drivers should be shared amongst all parties involved in the supply chain.

“My paycheck goes up and down, up and down,” Spoon said. “The trucker can’t be the one that carries all of the burden of that up and down. It’s a burden that needs to be shared.”

According to the OOIDA members, if the overtime exemption is removed, it would transfer the responsibility of estimating the value of a truck driver’s time onto shippers and receivers. This shift in burden could have significant impacts on the industry.

Last week, Representative Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey voiced his opposition to the overtime exemption at a hearing of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

“Truckers are an essential component of our nation’s supply chain and compensating them appropriately is the least we can do to support them,” Van Drew said. “Let’s be fair. Let’s be decent to the hard-working men and women who do this job.”

The Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act, which was aided in its creation by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, is anticipated to be re-presented to Congress in the near future.

Source: Land Line

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