DC Velocity - March 2013

ly impact truckload drivers operating over long distances. However, less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers will be affected as well, according to Bray.

For example, if an LTL driver operating between hubs or between terminals makes a 2 a.m. delivery on a Monday, finishes the shift at that time and starts the 34-hour clock, the driver would have to wait until after 5 a.m. on Thursday to return to the road, Bray said. That’s because the requirement for two consecutive days of rest between 1 and 5 a.m. nullifies the driver’s ability to operate on Tuesday and Wednesday, he added.

Donald A. Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security for Green Bay, Wis.-based truckload and logistics giant Schneider National Inc., predicted that enforcement would begin July 1 as scheduled. “Two months ago, I wouldn’t have said that,” Osterberg said in an interview in early January.

Osterberg argued the appellate court is “HOS-weary” and will bow to the FMCSA’s opinion regarding the best balance between safety and economics. To prepare, Schneider is reconfiguring the routes operated by the portion of its fleet providing dedicated capacity and miles to customers, he said.

In a post-2013 HOS world, Osterberg said, shippers must reframe their service expectations of their carrier partners and accept some friction in the supply chain as a cost of doing business and keeping the roads safe.

“The shipper’s view has always been that
‘The drivers will figure it out,’” he said.
“The belief was that the driver was the elas-
tic link in the supply chain. Well, the driver
link is becoming inelastic.”
Osterberg said the advent of electronic
logging with on-board recorders has
reduced the use of paper-based logs, thus
making it impossible for drivers to be cre-
ative with their trip reports. In addition,
the launch of CSA 2010, the FMCSA initia-
tive to identify and winnow out unsafe
drivers, holds drivers and their carriers
accountable for proper logging and HOS
compliance, he said.

The rule’s enforcement could also mark a turning point in trucking’s role in the supply chain, according to Osterberg.

“Historic levels of service are not achievable or sustainable,” he said. “We’ve trained a generation of supply chain professionals to believe that inventory is bad. It’s time to slow the supply chain down, both from a safety and productivity standpoint.”

SAFETY FIRST

The paramount concern is the well-being of all who use the nation’s highways and roads. Since trucking deregulation in 1980, annual truck-related fatalities—based on miles traveled—have been cut in half, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data. In 2010, there were 3,484 large trucks involved in fatal crashes, compared with 4,902 in 2004. There were nearly 2. 6 million more “large” trucks—those with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds—registered in 2010

than in 2004, NHTSA said.

In 2010, 3,675 Americans were killed in crashes involving large trucks, a 9-percent increase over 2009 fatalities, NHTSA said. The increase came despite NHTSA data showing that 200,000 fewer big trucks were registered in 2010 than in 2009.

Opponents of the new rules contend they go too far to address a problem that is already well on its way to being fixed. Despite occasional upward blips, the long-term trend in truck-related deaths is down, they said.

However, Osterberg said the status quo is far from good enough. “Can we say that because there’s been a historical improvement, that 3,675 deaths—or about 10 truck-related fatalities a day—is somehow OK?” he asked. “The numbers are better, but they are not acceptable. It’s still too high.” ;