After coming from the Mid America Trucking Show last week where by his own admission he received a significant amount of ELD-related hostility, new FMCSA administrator Raymond Martinez had a quieter first public appearance a few days later.
Martinez gave a speech to the Truckload Carriers of America meeting near Orlando which covered the usual array of topics one would expect: safety, cooperation and the ELD mandate. There were no questions taken, and no hecklers, so there was no repeat of the MATS conflict.
But the one statement during that address that could have been viewed as somewhat newsworthy was when he said he was “all ears” in addressing not so much the ELD mandate itself, but the presumably stricter need to comply with Hours of Service regulations as a result of the greater precision of data coming out of ELDs.
In an exclusive interview with Freightwaves after his TCA speech, Martinez—on the job for all of four weeks—said he did not want to specify what changes in the HOS rules might be considered. Getting suggestions “is what I was hoping for at the MACT,” he said. “It didn’t end up that way. You get three or four people who get the microphone and they rail against government in general.”
Martinez emphasized that he understands “the frustration and the passion, but from where I sit, I can’t make law.” However, there may be regulatory changes that could be undertaken by FMCSA to relieve some of the biggest pain points in the combination of the HOS rules and the possibility of stricter enforcement of them as a result of ELD data.
Detention on his mind
And while Martinez emphasized a second time in the interview that he could not be specific about any possible changes, when asked if there were any issues that had been cited frequently while on his listening tour, his answer was succinct: detention.
“When people tell me they are on the clock and they are stuck, when they say ‘I was there for 3, 5, 6 hours,’ well, I’m not sure how that happens, but I’m sure it does,” Martinez said. “Are there abusers of the systems were folks are being put in that position on a regular basis? That is something we need to know.”
The “aggressive listening” that Martinez said he is undertaking does not expect to get “a unanimity of opinion, but I’d like some consensus,” he said. He has received recommended steps from various groups in the industry, “and if I have multiple organizations that submit 20 recommendations, but five of them match up across the group, then that gives me some basis to go forward.”
Martinez said any sort of regulatory process to change a regulation, short of changing a law, would probably take a year to implement. “You don’t want to open yourself up to a challenge in the courts,” he said. “You can only have certain latitude and the regulatory process is not short.”
On the coming implementation of the full ELD mandate this Sunday, Martinez said in his speech to the TCA general session that the data he has seen indicates that roadside enforcement reveals that there is 96% compliance with the mandate. Asked if that meant that the sort of hostility he faced at MATS represented a minority, he replied yes but said “that doesn’t mean their position is not worth listening to.”
There also is no reason why full ELD compliance may not be causing other issues. A truck could be in full compliance with the ELD mandate, but with less flexibility the HOS rule could still be creating difficulties for the trucker. Martinez alluded to that reality when he said that while the goal is to get to 100% ELD compliance, that may reveal “other inefficiencies,” like issues with detention. “These are things we need to get a full understanding of,” he said.
Steve
If the FMCSA, by it’s own admission, does not have a good understanding of how the HOS affects carriers and shippers, who in their right mind would enact laws that affect it?
Jeff Clark
My wish list. Let the 30 minute rule ne cumulative. 2 15 minute breaks. You could do 20/10 whatever adds up to 30. Let road drivers have the same 16 hour exception that domiciled drivers get. The adverse weather exception should apply to the 14 hour rule as well as the 11.
Charles gazell
They need to get a full understanding that all eld is doing is allowing a driver to legally kill someone if he/she is tired and don’t have enough sense to pull over and nap just because that damn computer says you have hours to drive doesn’t mean your psyically or mental fit as far as being tired to do so… So did they solve anything hell no…. it’s just now if you drive tired no one can say you illegally killed someone even though you were too stupid to pull over and rest…. Come on dude use your head use a common sense approach as. Trump would say!!!!
Jp
This fuking people don’t know what is drive to put food on the table….. that’s going to be more sleep drivers on the road whit them fuck ELD
Larry Nichols
Another Government Official, that knows nothing about what he is the head of. 2,3,4,hr’s+++, "being stuck somewhere", happens every day that you have to go to 1 or more docks. 10 state workers fixing a pothole, can screw up a day. They cannot tell me that almost every truck has speed up. Drivers getting more aggressive as the sand runs out of the (14) hour glass. All in the name of safety, BS, government control.
Indnruss
Back in the days of paper when one would go to a dock, especially a grocery warehouse, one was allowed to be on duty for 15 minutes and then go off duty or in the sleeper for the remainder of the time because you were released of any duties while the truck and trailer were locked to the dock and the DOT Never had any qualms about that!
And as someone stated earlier, once you start the clock it’s just a race to get from point A to point B no matter how fatigued the driver gets! Has anybody noticed all of the single truck accidents along the interstate system where you know the driver just fell asleep because there’s no skid marks leading to the marks that he leaves in the median or the ditches!
Arline
Thats BS read the book Martinez you can change things
Twisted Metal
Don’t worry. We’ll just keep the pedal to the metal. We’ll keep bobbing and weaving thru traffic. We’ll continue to Debo all the lil 4 wheelers that get in our way as we race the clock. We’ll keep the highways clogged up during the morning rush hour since the entire industry runs the same hours now. Yeah the rollover and fatality rate will spike but HEY since no one seems to realize that that 14 hr clock is hindering the public’s safety we continue to drive like the fast and the furious.