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DOT to eliminate government’s “heavy hand” in HOS changes

Photo credit: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

A top Trump Administration official provided more context into the level of flexibility regulators will be considering when trucking hours of service (HOS) changes are rolled out in June.

Speaking on May 16 at the annual Global Supply Chain summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., Jannine Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), said HOS regulations – and making “common sense” changes to them – is one of the department’s near-term priorities.

DOT has been considering “rest breaks and what can occur during those breaks, the length of drive-time versus on-duty, personal conveyance, as well as something as simple as defining what an agricultural commodity is,” Miller said, while aiming to “take away the heavy-hand of government where it does not help the private sector, and make sure, obviously, we’re still protecting all the safety standards that we benefit from.”

Miller’s comments are in line with recent statements from her boss, DOT Secretary Elaine Chao, and from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Ray Martinez, regarding the tack the Trump Administration will likely be taking in its final proposed rulemaking as it strives to make HOS regulations more compatible for drivers.


“I can tell you the Department understands the importance of giving you the flexibility [to do your jobs],” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao told attendees at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March.

The HOS rulemaking is currently under review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and scheduled to be published for public comment in the federal register on June 7, although that could change depending on OMB’s review process.

FreightWaves SONAR data: average daily HOS utilization (in hours) over past year

Private companies, particularly startups, appreciate the flexible approach regulators under the Trump Administration have been taking on addressing new transportation technology. Speaking on the innovation panel alongside Miller, Jonny Morris, head of public policy at Embark, a developer of self-driving long-haul trucks, said it has been “really great” working with both Chao and Martinez.

“I think in the past the reaction has been, ‘we need new rules for this,’” Morris said. “But with Elaine Chao and her team, they’ve looked at all the existing rules dealing with equipment and operations and said, ‘which of these can we re-purpose, what existing authorities do we have that can ensure safety while allowing these [autonomous] vehicles to be developed and eventually deployed.’”


Morris cited the release in October 2018 of DOT’s AV 3.0 initiative, which includes guidance specifically addressing truck regulations. “We were pleased in that it held us to a very high safety standard that allowed a path forward for us, and resolved a lot of the uncertainty we had at the federal level,” he said.

Asked to comment on DOT’s approach toward autonomous long-haul truck technology such as that being developed by Embark, which claims to reduce costs and speed shipments by eliminating HOS limitations, “we definitely understand and are supporters of efficient freight flow, and the efficiencies that technology and automation can bring about – we’re laser focused on it,” Miller said.

“At the same time, safety is absolutely critical. What we’re really looking for are ways that autonomy can support safety. We think there are incredible safety gains that technology can bring that are maybe even beyond the efficiency gains.”

75 Comments

  1. Justin

    To start cattle trucks need regulated .if we get it they should more of them are driving tired.loading in California and driving to Colorado, Nebraska and so on as they please is bs . Lots of times I could keep going but eld says no so I know my body . If your going to do one part of trucking do all make it fair makes me want to go back to cow hauling so I can run how I want and make money

  2. Ej

    That’s just rude some people have a passion and love what they do to help and provide everything you have in your home and almost everything you own came in or on a truck so just thank them for getting it there for you and appreciate it

  3. Charles Ronald Cuthrell

    When are we going to get a real cdl holding official to oversee our industry,obviously SAFETY CANT BE YOUR GOLE,SINCE YOU HOLD US TO LONG INSIDE 14 HOURS!!!
    I AM FEDUP WITH BLEEDING HEART GROUPS RUNNING OUR INDUSTRY.
    I AM RETIRING SOON TO LEAVE IT TO THE NONCOMMERCIAL PEOPLE!!

  4. Michael Johnson

    I want to know when big brother is going to start addressing the safety issue with the major cause of the problems out on the open road and in particular in metro areas — the car and pick up truck operators? These people are not drivers! The only training they may have received was drivers Ed classes in high school. These people do everything they can to make driving an 18, or 10, wheeler nearly impossible – slowing down in front of us, passing and pulling in front then hitting their brakes, etc. , etc.

  5. Pat

    The company has no concern about/for safety., only compliance w/ DOT regs. If the ” Heavy Hand ” is reduced, it would. be in my opinion as a Driver, detrimental.

    1. Scoots

      Let me correct that statement for you Pat… the companies care about the “appearance” of following DOT regs. The heavy hand always comes down on the drivers neck since the company will shift 100% of the blame to the driver as soon as anything goes wrong. If your over hours its your fault in the eyes of the law… they don’t care what the company said. For this reason I always tell dispatch I am recording the conversation when they tell me to break the law. This is the only way to fight back… legally.

      1. Brian

        FMCSA prohibits coercion of drivers. Coercion is much broader than harassment. It can involve motor carriers, shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries (brokers and others). Coercion is a threat to take adverse employment action against drivers, or to withhold business, employment, or work opportunities from drivers, to get them to violate FMCSA regulations. Carrying out such threats to punish drivers who refuse to violate the regulations also constitutes coercion. The ELD Rule specifically prohibits a motor carrier from coercing a driver to falsely certify his/her data entries or record of duty status.

        https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/harassment-protection

        1. douglas hasner

          the driver coercion rule is a bit of a joke, no one is going to report it
          1. because they do not have definitive proof as most of the instances are either over the phone or are face to face
          2. if they do report it and the company or what ever party did the coercion gets fined they will know exactly who made the complaint as each instance of coercion is very specific in its circumstance and can easily traced back, so now the company will find a “legitimate” reason to fire or otherwise sanction said driver.

  6. BRENDA

    Though this is about Long haul transportation. DOT needs to make sure and follow through that private and secondary companies do not abuse these “loopholes” . Many already are and drivers have to get quite verbal repeatedly to stay safe.

    1. Scoots

      You know BRENDA, it is really sad that we are forced to sit here and wine about the same retarded, misguided, insane regulatory crap for 10 years… probably even longer than that. This is not about safety… its about money… and people are getting pissed off and leaving the industry because of asinine subjective regulation and the fact many carriers pay under .60 cpm which is a sad joke.

      1. Joe2boltz

        Scoots, it’s always been tough. But it was fun when I started in 77 as an oo. No school. No training. I bought a cab over leased it to BJ McAdams and figured it out.
        Now it’s just a job. A bad one. And the trucks today are terrible. We never went in the shop then as we do now.

  7. Steve

    The rules were put in place in the 1930’s to protect drivers from having the companies push them into dangerous situations or lose their jobs. Now technology has removed the protections for the driver and the companies see how many hours the government says you can drive and when you have to take a break. So if you stop because you’re tired, the company threatens you with your job or your paycheck. Flexibility needs to return to the driver, so if he needs to stop every two hours to go to the bathroom or just a quick walk around the truck, the DRIVER is protected, not condemned, fired or penalized.

    1. Brian

      Harassment Penalties
      Any carrier who is found to have harassed a driver will be subject to a civil penalty for harassment in addition a penalty for the HOS violation.

      Reporting Harassment
      A driver who believes he/she has been harassed should file a written complaint within 90 days using the National Consumer Complaint Database at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov or with the FMCSA Division Administrator for the State (http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/field-offices) where the driver is employed.

      Coercion
      FMCSA also prohibits coercion of drivers. Coercion is much broader than harassment. It can involve motor carriers, shippers, receivers, and transportation intermediaries (brokers and others). Coercion is a threat to take adverse employment action against drivers, or to withhold business, employment, or work opportunities from drivers, to get them to violate FMCSA regulations. Carrying out such threats to punish drivers who refuse to violate the regulations also constitutes coercion.

      https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/harassment-protection

    2. Joe2boltz

      I run dedicated. My dispatch is stacked up 2 to 3 loads at a time. Average haul is 500 miles. They keep it just inside of the envelope most times.
      It cracks me up how these carriers try to account for every second. I love it when tihs happens, IE, traffic, slow to load or unload, flat tire or other. It throws a monkey wrench into the day.
      I’m done with this mess in june. I think.44 years is enough. I did the first as an OO. Had plenty of fun. this last 7 as a hired hand on fleet trash. And yes. Their is a big difference between an OO specked truck and fleet trash.
      It’s just getting too weird.

Comments are closed.

John Gallagher

Based in Washington, D.C., John specializes in regulation and legislation affecting all sectors of freight transportation. He has covered rail, trucking and maritime issues since 1993 for a variety of publications based in the U.S. and the U.K. John began business reporting in 1993 at Broadcasting & Cable Magazine. He graduated from Florida State University majoring in English and business.