In many ways, truck driving is more of a lifestyle than a career. Most truckers have long hours of service and are on the road for weeks on end. What’s more, a lot of truck drivers are paid by the mile they’ve traveled instead of the hours they spent doing their work. This means that any unforeseen delays are not only a nuisance but an extreme disadvantage to them.
Among the main reasons for delays are the long wait times that truck drivers experience at loading docks. And, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the prolonged waiting time at loading docks is one of the main reasons for increased truck driving risks.
The Cost of Waiting
As mentioned earlier, most drivers are paid for the miles they cover delivering cargo instead of for the actual time it takes for them to deliver said cargo. This is why delays cost drivers a lot—increased expenses and reduced rest time, all without extra compensation.
According to the DOT’s report entitled Estimates Show Commercial Detention Increases Crash Risks and Costs, but Current Data Limit Further Analysis, the delays that truckers experience result in a total annual reduction of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion from their total earnings. That is equivalent to between $1,281 and $1,534 per “for-hire” truck driver every year.
With this much estimated income loss, it’s no wonder truck drivers try to make up for the time delays in ways that increase the risk of mishaps on the road. To mitigate these risks, however, the federal government has regulations in place to curb reckless driving behavior that may result in truck mishaps.
Federal Truck Driving Laws and Regulations
Federal laws, implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), govern trucking fleets and motor carriers across the U.S. Under these laws, truck drivers are:
- Required to have only one driver’s license
- Required to undergo special training
- Required to undergo and pass a physical exam every two years
- Not allowed to report for duty if their blood alcohol level is 0.02 or more
- Not allowed to carry any alcohol while driving, unless it is a part of their cargo
- Not allowed to take alcohol or drugs that can affect their driving capabilities within 8 hours before their driving shift
Apart from these common laws regarding driving, the federal law that governs truckers also regulate the time truck drivers may drive per day and the total number of hours they spend working per week. Recently, the FMCSA changed the rules of truckers’ hours of service. This was brought on by the alarming rise in truck accidents that resulted from driver fatigue.
The FMCSA rules state that truckers can drive a maximum of 11 hours in one 14-hour workday. This means that if a driver starts their shift at 5 a.m., they must stop driving by 7 p.m., regardless of whether they drove for a total of 11 hours that day. The 14-hour workday is a fixed schedule. This means that if a driver stops for lunch, takes a nap, or gets delayed at a loading dock or somewhere else, they cannot extend their 14-hour window to work. They can take on another 14-hour shift only after taking a 10-hour sleeper break.
These rules on hours of service are only the most basic ones. There are separate rules on taking 30-minute breaks and 70-hour work weeks. The bottom line is, though the current hours of service regulations are better than the previous ones, under which drivers were required only 8 hours of rest between shifts. Previously, the limited and inflexible time of a workday did not leave room for proper rest within a shift, nor did it allot for unforeseen delays.
The Causes and Impacts of Long Wait Times
Under the 14-hour workday regulation, truck drivers who don’t finish delivering their cargo within that time frame must wait ten hours before starting a new shift during which to accomplish the delivery. While successful cargo deliveries are possible within that time frame or less, prolonged waiting time in loading docks eats up hours from an already limited time frame.
Among the most common causes of delays at loading docks is when the shipper or receiver changes the appointment time of loading. This results in the driver missing the original schedule, leading to the shipper or receiver having to work them into a new schedule, which then leads to delay.
According to the previously mentioned DOT report, every 15 minutes of delay or dwell time at loading docks leads to a 6.2 percent rise in crash rates. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for truck drivers to be held up for even longer than that.
The DOT said that the wait time not only causes driver fatigue but also frustration, especially because of the potential income loss. These things may contribute to dangerous driving behavior, like speeding and disregard for the traffic rules.
Truck Driver Fatigue and Other Dangers on the Road
The FMCSA recorded approximately 415,000 crashes in 2015 involving large trucks. Of these, about 145,000 involved fatalities, significant injuries, and/or vehicle towing. The FMCSA also released the top 10 coded factors for truck-related crashes, which includes fatigue (18%) and traveling too fast for conditions (23%).
These numbers show that when truck drivers are tired or frustrated, they become more prone to crashes. In their bid to accomplish their deliveries within a workday despite delays in loading docks, they start driving recklessly.
Apart from the obvious endangerment of drivers’ own lives when they drive recklessly, they are also risking other people’s lives on the road. This can result in added expenses for the driver or the fleet operator, expenses that a truck driver who’s already losing over a thousand dollars a year in salary simply does not need.
Exercise Truckers’ Rights in Washington
Truck drivers in Washington who need representation regarding fair wages, compensation, and other labor issues in trucking can turn to attorneys from Truck Driver Rights.
Run by Atty. Joshua Haffner, who has over 20 years of experience representing truck drivers and other employees deprived of their rights by their employers, Truck Driver Rights is here to help you with your legal needs. Our truck driver lawyers in Washington specialize in insurance, personal injury, employment, and class action litigation. In the trucking industry, truck drivers can rest assured that they’re getting the best representation possible with Truck Driver Rights on their side.
Get in touch with one of our lawyers today to get a free consultation.