Re: Proposed new HOS rule

I thought the point of your 12/12 idea was that it would be less likely to
be forged, or it would be more relevant to real-life work and less need to
forge them. The problem with current HOS, 12/12 HOS, and team driving is
the strict and inflated requirement for rest before being able to drive
again. Your proposal increases the current problem from 10 hours of bumping
around to 12 hours of bumping around before driving again.

A rolling truck is almost the worst possible place to get quality sleep.
There is virtually nobody who won't be awoken if you shake them hard enough.
That is what trying to sleep in a rolling truck is like, a few minutes of
sleep, wake up, a few more minutes of sleep, wake up, a few more minutes of
sleep, wake up. It's like motion-induced sleep apnea, on top of any regular
sleep apnea. I can prove you don't really believe sitting in the passenger
seat is just as effective rest as sleeper time by asking you to guess how
many days could you spend driving and then sitting in the passenger seat,
not sleeper time, before you felt exhausted? That is exactly what your plan
would authorize, "As far as I'm concerned, if the truck is moving and you
aren't driving, you can log yourself on line 1 or 2 or 4 ... your choice. "

A team driver under your plan would have to lie and claim his 4 or 5 hours
of actual sleep was 12 hours long on paper, or he would be authorized to
sleep his actual 5 hours and sit in the pax seat for several hours before
getting behind the wheel.

How would he explain in court that his fatigue-related accident had nothing
to do with the fact his last sleep was several hours before the wreck and
the hour just before the wereck were spent not sleeping but killing time in
the pax seat?

If you still anticipate widespread forging of log pages under your 12/12 why
bother switching to the 12/12 in the first place? How would it be worth all
the trouble when we can just forge the 11 hour HOS?

All the details you find bizarre about the current HOS will be found about
any new HOS, including 12/12. It's just that the new plan wouldn't have
been in force and the unintended consequences wouldn't be obvious until they
were imposed on every driver in a million different circumstances.

The HOS, despite truck driver claims, are not just a way to hassle truck
drivers for no reason or to generate fines. How is extending the driving
hours in an industry most people agree has too many fatigue-related crashes
going to make things better? Why would the bad drivers in cars want to
increase the hours a truck driver beside them can drive? There's more to
the HOS than you just want less hassle lying on the log page isn't there?

--

Scott

The North American Union and SPP are just convenient retreats for the same
crooks and kooks that were telling you to panic about Y2K.

"Dave" <noway@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"tscottme" <blahblah@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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It's good you are thinking about ways to improve the HOS. 12/12 has some
very good points. There isn't one simple rule that will work for
everyone, leave the HOS alone, I think. The current HOS are bad for
teams, but not as bad as the 12/12 proposal.

Explain that. In my mind, 12/12 would be better for teams... or at least
no worse. Under my 12/12, any particular driver (team or not) would be no
more or less likely to run out of hours. But under the current system,
any driver that does run out of hours might be SOL for at least 34 hours.
Under 12/12, if one driver maxes out hours, he/she has to log 12 straight
hours off duty. Oh, and we should do away with that crap about how a team
driver -must- be in the sleeper, or driving, or on line 4. As far as I'm
concerned, if the truck is moving and you aren't driving, you can log
yourself on line 1 or 2 or 4 ... your choice. The current regs are
bizzaro, stating that if you aren't in the sleeper then you must be on
duty. (?!?)

In training, I spent hundreds of hours in a moving truck but OFF-duty, not
in the sleeper, but logged on line 2, as that's the only way I could look
legal. Annoying as ***. If I'm tired, I'll sleep. If I'm not tired,
I'm not going to lie down in the sleeper!!!

The HOS issue with the feds has just finally been settled and I don't see
enough problems with the current HOS to warrant another major change.

I see major problems with the current HOS. They are not safe. For just
one good example... Right now, if you need to take a nap in the "middle"
of your driving shift, you can't. Under 12/12, this would not be
regulated. If you drive 8 hours and get really tired, stop and take a nap.
When you wake up refreshed and ready to go, you've either got ~4 hours
available to drive, or 12 hours available to drive. (depends on how long
you were asleep, ha ha...if you slept 12 hours, then your hours available
went back to 12). -Dave




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