Helpful Presentation On The New HOS

Below is a URL for a helpful presentation on the new HOS rules. The presentation was put together by Swift. Just thought some of you that are having questions about the HOS would find this useful!

Mr Chicken

Thanks for the info! Good info by Swift. Sounds like they know it is coming and trying to get ready. I think this new law will make company's think more about teams than solo's? Thanks again!

Thank you for this information. My company has given us NO info in this other than to tell us that "things are a-changin' ".
Without this info from you, I would have been in big trouble. I understand that some states are going to be a little lenient (sp?) but so far Ohio will be writing tickets at 0001 on the 5th.

Mr. Chicken, I thank you for the post and found it interesting. It also tells me tht Swift might want to point out a few things to their drivers. For instance, the fact that the split break is still alive and well under the new HOS rules.

I encourage any driver to try this: go to the "visual example" on the Swift site and print out only the sample log pages that include all of day 1 and all of day 2. Take pencil in hand and see if a driver couldn't legally shave a few hours from the sample.

To begin with, Swift has both the old rules and new rules drivers logging a two-hour wait to load as off duty and then logging the two-hour loading process as on duty... Huh? That seems like some wasted productivity to me.

I doubt if the driver is shrink wrapping product, throwing pallets, operating the forklift, or doing much more than putting in a couple of load locks and picking up paperwork for a partial load at the first stop. I'd log 3.75 hours in the sleeper berth (legal and I don't have to be sleeping, just relaxing) and .25 hours throwing in the load locks and picking up the BOL.

I'd drive on to the next P/U in Bolingbrook and arrive at the same time as Mr. Old Rules driver. Instead of logging another two hours for loading a partial, I would again go in the sleeper berth for the legal minimum of two hours. Yes, I'm going to have to show at least a quarter hour picking up bills, etc., and yes, that will put me on the road 15 minutes after Mr. Old Rules. But... I've already banked 5.75 hours in the sleeper berth, taa daa! =0)

I can now drive 8 more hours and I do, stopping at 1715 hours (5:15 PM). The other driver must stop at 1600 (4:00 PM) for his 8 hour break. I only have to sleep 4.25 hours because I've already done 5.75 hours instead of goofing off at the shipper.

At 2130 (9:30 PM) on day one I'm up and making my final 3 hour run to my first stop. I arrive at 0030 (12:30 AM), log one hour off duty for unloading, and drive the last 5 hours to my final stop.

I arrive, hit the sleeper for two hours while they unload me, log 15 minutes picking up bills and I'm empty at 0845 -- 2.5 hours before the other driver logging Swift's way. At this point, the other driver has 2 hours available to drive and I have 3. Hmmm.

Where did I go wrong in logging this trip guys?

I know this example is oversimplified and neither driver logs a fuel stop or driver daily vehicle inspection, but I think the results would be the same if they did. If the appointments were etched in stone, I would still arrive early and be able to log even more time in the sleeper.

What I don't understand is where Swift gets off logging so much time for unloading and why the drivers don't utilize the split break to their advantage. I wonder if that is company policy.

Swift seems to realize that they need to minimize "non-driving tasks" but I wonder what they're going to do about it. I don't think I agree with there opinion that the new rules are going to increase costs. New rules or old rules, an OTR driver still has an average of 8.75 productive hours in each day (70 hour rule/8 days) so where do the increased costs come in? I'm still puzzled.

I think Swift needs to point drivers toward the sleeper berth and make sure they understand that they can't extend driving time by logging off duty. According to the new rules, only sleeper berth time extends driving time and they must log a minimum of two hours every time they get in the sleeper. That is the only big change I see in the new rules.