LAST MONTH IN THIS SPACE, I DISCUSSED THE NEED TO REVISEthe truck driver hours-of-service (HOS) regulations. I believe the datasupport the argument that, contrary to their original intent, the HOS regsactually make the nation’s roads less, not more, safe, as they force truckoperators to beat the clock—driving too fast to reach destinations or safeparking spots before they run out of hours. If drivers were not on theclock, they could drive at lower speeds and take breaks when needed.

But the HOS regulations are only part of the story. Another factor contributing to the speeding problem is the way drivers are paid.

Since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of1938, truckers have been exempted from many normalwork-for-hire regulations, including eligibility for overtime pay. Instead, drivers are customarily paid by themile. It has been this way for more than 80 years. Evenwith the adoption of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, theexemption remained.

There were reasons for the exemption at the time. Backthen, little freight was hauled by trucks. Good roads werescarce, and railroads dominated the freight industry.We didn’t have the long-haul trucking we have today.Instead, trucks primarily hauled farm goods. Servicehours were not capped, so drivers could take as long asneeded to reach their destinations. The more miles theydrove and loads they hauled in a day, the more moneythey made.

Most truckers at the time liked being paid by the mile, as they couldboost their earnings by working longer days and logging more miles.Owners liked the system because they could easily calculate the cost todeliver each load.

Fast forward to today. The only way to boost earnings under HOS andmake up for wages lost to traffic delays is to log more miles by drivingfaster. But those added earnings come at a cost. Of the nearly 147,000truck speeding violations recorded in 2018, the first full year under theHOS regs, 10.3% were for driving 15 mph or more over the posted limit.

Critics argue that paying by the hour would overpay drivers for timespent on nonproductive tasks like fueling and loading and unloading. Butthat happens in every job where some functions are valued more thanothers.

Let’s instead look for a better way to pay drivers. Adequate hourly pay orpayment by the load are two ways. Or better yet, pay drivers safety-basedbonuses that more than make up for any earnings lost by ending the pay-by-the-mile system. It’s time to value the drivers and not the miles theydrive.

BIGPICTURE

Editorial Director

Let’s stop paying truck drivers

by the mile
David Maloney
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