Well? What does it all mean?
Inside the trucking industry the debate has been raging about the new Hours of Service regulations for drivers even before enforcement began on July 1st.
In my recent discussions both on the phone and via email with carriers I have heard the good, the bad and the ugly with regards to the new Hours of Service changes.
Some owner-operators and carriers see the Hours of Service update as a positive that is yielding more rest time and time at home out of the driver seat or at least off the road. Some other positives include a better quality of life for company drivers.
We have also heard a range of negative feedback from our users and on the web from carriers who are already bogged down with additional regulations and almost constant changes both at the state and local levels as well. Sometimes trying to keep up with compliance on all of the regulations can become a huge burden to the smaller carriers or owner-operators just trying to make it in the market.
The other problems arise from the macro-environment in the supply chain of the United States. Capacity is still the big word. It’s great to see drivers making more money in a market where trucking capacity continues to be tight and in very high demand. The capacity crunch is going to have an effect on prices for everything you buy if the crunch continues and this effects the entire economy in ways that many financial analysts have still not taken into account.
The only sure thing is to stay up to speed as closely as possible in order to insure compliance and the ComFreight team will be sure to update all our of users as developments occur with carrier regulations from FMCSA and the DOT. In the meantime stay safe, negotiate the best rates and keep on trucking!
Click here for a link to the full hours of service regs on FMCSA’s Site!
Steve Kochan, Co-Founder and CEO @ ComFreight.com
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