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4 • February 15-28, 2018 Nation thetrucker.com Excessive detention time is both expensive and unsafe, says new DOT Office of the Inspector General report Lyndon Finney editor@thetrucker.com WASHINGTON — Excessive detention time is expensive and unsafe. That’s according to a recent report by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of the Inspector General. OIG said it estimated that detention is associated with reductions in annual earnings of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion — between $1,281 and $1,534 per driver per year for for-hire commercial motor vehicle drivers in the truckload sector. For motor carriers in that sector, the report estimated that detention reduces net income by $250.6 million to $302.9 million annually. OIG’s report also estimated that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time — the total time spent by a truck at a facility — increases the average expected crash rate by 6.2 percent. Here’s the backstory: The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act) directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue regulations that cover the collection of data on delays experienced by CMV operators before the loading and unloading of their vehicles. It also directed the OIG to report on the effects of driver detention. Accordingly, the OIG conducted an audit to (1) assess available data on delays in motor carrier loading and unloading, and (2) provide information on measuring the potential effects of loading and unloading delays. In addressing its objectives, the OIG also reviewed FMCSA’s plan to collect data on driver detention. Guess what? It said accurate industrywide data on driver detention do not currently exist because most industry stakeholders measure only time spent at a shipper or receiver’s facility beyond the limit established in shipping contracts. It also said that available electronic data cannot readily discern detention time from legitimate loading and unloading tasks, and are unavailable for a large segment of the industry. Although many in trucking see ELDs as the perfect vehicle for collecting this kind of data, DOT initiative to modernize data analysis, use crowd-sourced app THE TRUCKER STAFF WASHINGTON — The U. S. Department of Transportation is launching a multi-modal initiative, including two pilot programs, to modernize its data analysis and integrate its traditional data sets with new “big data” sources to gain insights into transportation safety. “Advances in data science have the potential to transform the department’s approach to safety research and provide insights that can help improve highway safety,” said U.S. Department of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy Derek Kan announced the initiative at the Transportation Research Board Conference January 8. One pilot project will integrate established ©2018 FOTOSEARCH In its report on detention time, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation said it estimated that detention is associated with reductions in annual earnings of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion — between $1,281 and $1,534 per driver per year for forhire commercial motor vehicle drivers in the truckload sector. FMCSA has repeatedly said it would not use ELDs to collect data on anything except what is directly related to commercial vehicle law enforcement. “Not using an ELD to measure detention time is like a carpenter blaming the tools for mistakes he made,” said David Heller, vice president of government affairs at the Truckload Carriers Association. “FMCSA’s plan to collect data on driver detention does not call for collection or detailed analysis of reliable or representative data, and the agency has no plans to verify the data that motor carriers and drivers would provide,” the OIG report said. “As a result, the data may not accurately describe how the diverse trucking industry experiences driver detention, which would limit any further analysis of impacts.” The OIG did note that FMCSA plans to collect data on driver detention through use of a reporting form on its public website that drivers and carriers can use to voluntarily submit data on detention in response to a FAST Act directive. “According to an FMCSA official, the costs data on known crashes and highway design with anonymous data from GPS-enabled devices that provide prevailing speeds at 5-minute intervals across the entire National Highway System. For the first time, DOT will be able to look directly at prevailing operating speeds on a large scale to see how speed and speed differentials interact with roadway characteristics to influence the likelihood of crashes. Every year, speeding is a contributing factor in traffic fatalities and in 2016, 10,111 roadway deaths involved speed, a DOT spokesman said. The pilot will also look at the role of speed in rural incidents. The second pilot project will integrate traffic crash data with data from the crowd-sourced of rigorous data collection and analysis would likely outweigh the benefit, and the agency primarily views detention as a market efficiency problem best addressed by private industry rather than through government action,” the report noted. The OIG found that in 2015, FMCSA initiated a study to evaluate the safety and operational impact of driver detention on work hours, HOS violations and crashes. The planned study would have measured detention time by recording times that a sample of truck trailers’ rear doors are open and closed to measure the amount of time spent loading and unloading. “This recording would give the agency a better estimate of the amount of detention time and delays by disaggregating legitimate loading and unloading from the total time a driver spends at a facility,” the OIG report said. “However, the agency cancelled the study because the selected technology vendor discontinued its support of the work.” The report said FMCSA agreed with OIG’s recommendation on gathering more data. 8 app Waze on traffic hazards and conditions. This initiative “will examine the feasibility of using this new crowd-sourcing application to provide a reliable, timely indicator of reportable traffic crashes, and estimate crash risk based on Waze-reported hazards.” The DOT said in a news release that together, these pilot projects represent a new approach to data analysis that will seek to augment traditional data sources with new data that can be collected and analyzed much more quickly. This approach will create new multi-dimensional models of the transportation system, DOT said, adding that the initial focus of the effort is on gaining insights that will help drive down highway fatalities. 8 USPS 972 Volume 31, Number 2 February 15-28, 2018 The Trucker is a semi-monthly, national newspaper for the trucking industry, published by Trucker Publications Inc. at 1123 S. University, Suite 320 Little Rock, AR 72204-1610 Vice President / Publisher Ed Leader edl@thetrucker.com Trucking Division General Manager Megan Cullingford-Hicks meganh@targetmediapartners.com Editor Lyndon Finney editor@thetrucker.com Assistant Editor Dorothy Cox dlcox@thetrucker.com Associate Editor Klint Lowry klint.lowry@thetrucker.com Production Manager Rob Nelson robn@thetrucker.com Graphic Artist Christie McCluer christie.mccluer@thetrucker.com Special Correspondents Cliff Abbott cliffa@thetrucker.com Aprille Hanson aprilleh@thetrucker.com National Marketing Consultants Jerry Critser jerryc@targetmediapartners.com Dennis Ball dennisb@targetmediapartners.com Kelly Brooke Drier kellydr@thetrucker.com Erin Garrett erin.garrett@targetmediapartners.com John Hicks johnh@targetmediapartners.com Meg Larcinese megl@targetmediapartners.com Greg McClendon gregmc@targetmediapartners.com Telephone: (501) 666-0500 Fax: (501) 666-0700 E-mail: news@thetrucker.com Web: www.thetrucker.com Single-copy mail subscription available at $59.95 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Little Rock, AR 72202-9651 and additional entry offices. Publishers Rights: All advertising, including artwork and photographs, becomes the property of the publisher once published and may be reproduced in any media only by publisher. Publisher reserves the right to refuse or edit any ad without notice and does not screen or endorse advertisers. Publisher is not liable for any damages resulting from publication or failure to publish all or any part of any ad or any errors in ads. Adjustments are limited to the cost of space for the ad, or at Publisher’s option, republication for one insertion with notice received within three days of first publication. All items subject to prior sale and expire on or before last date of issue. No refunds after photo submitted or taken. Sales prices plus sales tax, license fees, document fees, smog fees, and finance charges if applicable. Copyright 2018 of Wilshire Classifieds, LLC. Subject also to Ad and Privacy Policy at www.recycler.com. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Trucker 1123 S. University, Suite 320 Little Rock, AR 72204
Thetrucker.com Nation February 15-28, 2018 • 5
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 31, No. 4 www.thetrucker.com F
Page 3: THETRUCKER.COM Nation February 15-2
Page 7 and 8: Thetrucker.com Nation February 15-2
Page 15 and 16: thetrucker.com b Letters from page
Page 17 and 18: “Time is Money” - we hear this
Page 19 and 20: thetrucker.com Perspective February
Page 21 and 22: Business February 15-28, 2018 • 2
Page 23 and 24: thetrucker.com Cliff Abbott cliffa@
Page 25 and 26: thetrucker.com b Focus from page 23
Page 27 and 28: RecRuiting at a glance Company Driv
Page 29 and 30: Technology February 15-28, 2018 •
Page 31 and 32: Equipment February 15-28, 2018 •
Page 33 and 34: Features February 15-28, 2018 • 3
Page 35 and 36: thetrucker.com Features February 15
Page 37 and 38: thetrucker.com February 15-28, 2018
Page 39 and 40: thetrucker.com Features February 15

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