WASHINGTON — If drivers have to be federally regulated by hours-of-service rules, brokers should be required to pay drivers for time lost waiting to pick up freight because it ends up making roads less safe.
That is the argument of a group of owner-operators and small trucking companies as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans a new study on the effects of driver detention time on road safety and trucking operations.
While carriers of all sizes have long been concerned about the effects driver detention has on safety and operations, “it affects us differently [than] established trucking companies as they are able to negotiate a maximum wait time and they are given priority when it comes to service,” stated one owner-operator commenting on the information collection request (ICR) for the study, which FMCSA must submit to the Office of Management and Budget for approval.
“Brokers would rather sacrifice the independent owner operators rather than hurt their relationship with the shipper or receivers [because] they would automatically lose their contracts.”
Another commenter to the ICR asserted that although brokers know where and when a truck is heading for a pickup or delivery, “we get there and still have to sit for hours and hours while our clock’s ticking. As soon as we arrive, we should all start being paid on the clock. It will also make these shippers and receivers move faster to send us on a safe journey from pickup to delivery.”
Arctic King Logistics LLC, a trucking dispatch service, said wait time-related pressure to get back on the road to make a delivery or to pick up the next load may lead drivers “to make compromised decisions, potentially endangering themselves and others on the road.”
However, “it’s important to note that not only brokers are responsible,” the company stated. “Certain facilities contribute to the issue, often being ‘short-staffed’ or simply not caring and creating conditions where detention time is almost guaranteed. Regulating and improving these facilities is essential for enhancing overall safety and the welfare of drivers and all participants on the road.”
Several commenters said FMCSA should allow for an industry-accepted two free hours of wait time, after which it should require a $100-per-hour detention time fee be paid by the broker, shipper or receiver.
“Hit them where it hurts: their bottom line,” said one, recommending a $100-per-hour fee go to the driver and $300 per hour to the carrier, “paid immediately by the offending party prior to [the driver’s] departure via an industry accepted payment method. Carriers must pass on full driver share to driver, no exceptions, and carriers cannot, as a condition of employment, compel drivers to sign any portion of their share away.”
Chris Burroughs, vice president of government affairs for the Transportation Intermediaries Association, which represents truck brokers and 3PLs, said that TIA has been investigating the detention time issue for years, pointing out that technology has made it easier to track detention time metrics which in turn improves transparency with customers.
“However, it’s essential to emphasize that sharing accurate data does not automatically guarantee the fair compensation of detention time,” Burroughs told FreightWaves.
“TIA steadfastly views detention time as an industry-wide concern, urging that it should not be the FMCSA’s role to regulate. Instead, the agency should remain dedicated to its core mission of ensuring safety rather than dictating commercial provisions. As brokers, our priority is to nurture fruitful relationships with motor carriers, ensuring that they are justly compensated for any time unnecessarily lost due to detention. It’s our responsibility to advocate for these hardworking professionals.”
The American Trucking Associations, which represents major trucking companies, has also insisted that FMCSA steer clear of attempting to regulate detention time, contending that it is an economic issue and therefore best addressed by carriers and their customers.
“Whether detention time is also a safety issue — and therefore an issue within FMCSA’s statutory authority to address — is another question altogether,” ATA stated in its comments to the ICR.
“While there has been no end of speculation that excessive waiting times provide incentives for unsafe behaviors, numerous studies have failed to substantiate even a statistically rigorous correlation between detention time and crash risk, much less a causal link.”
But the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and truck safety advocates disagree, pointing to a 2018 U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General report’s conclusion that detention increases the likelihood of truck crashes involving death and serious injury.
“Most of [Truck Safety Coalition] victim volunteers have been forever and irreparably impacted by a fatigued and/or speeding truck driver,” commented the group, which advocates on behalf of crash victims’ families. “It is from a place of tragically somber experience that TSC unapologetically asserts that the proposed [study] is imperative for FMCSA to perform its functions.”
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Sales Guy
To those who want to get rid of brokers, remember that virtually every major carrier both truckload and LTL has a brokerage arm in their business model. For a small carrier with 8 or 10 trucks, (97% of carriers have 10 or less trucks) where do you find your freight? Who is selling for you? Who is checking their credit and determining if they are a worthwhile shipper?
As for free time. The hourly clock for the driver should start as soon as the driver arrives and checks in with the shipper or receiver and end when they check out.
Whatever is done must be federally mandated and enforced,
David H
Sure. Make the driver wait. BUT, if the company sets an appointment and the driver is on time, then detention MUST be paid. JB Swift is the absolute worst about getting things on time. They don’t load on time, nor do they unpaid on time. Horrible company. But one company wats to charge a fee if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment. But if THEY can’t get your truck loaded/unloaded in two hours they refuse to pay detention. If FMCSA wants to regulate then they need to look at terminals, not just brokers. Terminals are really getting bad.
Peter
Carriers should be compensated without hassle whenever detention happens and they communicate the delay so broker and shipper have opportunity to prevent it. If you start paying carriers hundreds per hour for detention they will be hiding and dragging their feet at shippers. Certainly, there are just as many shady carriers as there are shady brokers and shippers. Shippers (especially small businesses) cant afford to pay $1200 ’cause a forklift broke down for a few hours or any other number of things that can go wrong. I like another commenter’s suggestion that shippers get ratings-but we already have google reviews. Maybe a detention app that tracks truckers time onsite in background and reports back for other users?
Joshua Polk
There should be an average load time posted like fast food places used to do in the restaurant. If it takes 30 minutes to load from start to finish anything after should be calculated as cost.
If average load time is NOT listed on rate Cons brokers should be responsible.
If average load time is NOT met there should be a universal charge of $1.00/minute
Anything over 5 hrs is automatic layover fee of $150 + detention minutes accrued.
If a company unloads a truck before scheduled appointment they should be able to deduct that on their taxes and write off saved time in Trucking.
Complex system but easy results
Nancy
If a shipper had to pay the driver cash before he left the dock for Detention, I would imagine they would get trucks loaded much more quickly.
Richard Davis
This is not rocket science. The ONLY way this problem is solved is if the Government makes a law that says every hour sitting at a dock be paid. Don’t leave it up to the trucking company as to whether they want to charge detention. That way the shippers/receivers can’t pick and choose.
Jeremy Castillo
Someone should have done something about these brokers years ago we are regulated with hours of service but we are supposed to allow the shipper or receiver 2 hrs of our time what is the logic in that cause no matter what when someone clocks in at work they get paid from the time they start so why shouldn’t we.
Richard Davis
People have been brainwashed to think truck drivers or truck owners should give a place 2-hours of their time and equipment for free. WHY, is that? The old outdated saying is that detention/waiting at a dock is part of the job or the pay is built into the rate. Even if the pay for detention were in the freight rates, that doesn’t help a driver.