New Trucking Regs Will Impact You

I have been involved in the supply chain and logistics business since the late 1980s, working in manufacturing, mass retail and transportation. The complexity of the industry has changed dramatically.

Today, supply chain professionals face many challenges — with pressure to keep costs low and service high. Some of the new rules that industry professionals along the supply chain need to keep their eye on are tied to the trucking industry: Hours of Service (HOS) and Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA2010; now just CSA). These regulations affect the entire supply chain, including manufacturers, shippers, logistics providers, retailers and, eventually, all consumers.

Trucks haul approximately 70 percent of all freight tons transported in the United States and are a $650 billion industry. Additionally, the industry employs 9 million people, and based on statistics, commercial trucks paid $37.4 billion in federal and state highway user taxes.

In 2006, 29.9 million trucks were registered and used for business purposes excluding government. Of this number, 3 million were class 8 trucks. In addition, 5.6 million commercial trailers were registered in 2006.

Class 8 trucks drove 139.3 billion miles in 2006. The average professional driver drove more than 46,000 miles, with many drivers logging more than 100,000 miles. Over-the-road trucks consumed nearly 47 billion fewer gallons of fuel than passenger vehicles while traveling almost twice as many miles.

No one takes highway safety more seriously than those who make their living behind the wheel. Professional truck drivers have the safest driving record of anyone on the road today.

HOS

About 10 years ago, truck drivers worked a 14-hour day. I know that seems very long, but they were able to be "off duty/not driving" during loading and unloading.

Then the rules changed. Under HOS rules today, truck drivers are limited to working an 11-hour day to reduce the number of crashes caused by fatigued drivers. And in the near future, the limit could be pushed to 10 hours.

Safety is paramount, of course. But are the safety gains sufficient to justify a 22 percent — and perhaps another 10 percent — productivity reduction? In my six sigma opinion, show me the data from both points of view. Is there statistical evidence to show an exponential savings?

CSA

CSA is a more comprehensive and detailed system for identifying and resolving carrier and driver safety issues. While improvement of safety is the focus, the process will have other impacts on the industry, including a potentially adverse effect on capacity.

Many carriers will not be able to comply or will not be able to function with the increased costs. Today's fleet is made up of many owner-operators and small carriers with less than 10 trucks. They do not have a fully staffed HR and safety team or even a legal team. Will this system force 10 percent of the drivers out of today's pool? If so, who will move our goods? How will that impact cost? What is the safety gain we will see?

Also, some of these new rules don't seem very fair. CSA considers all DOT-defined crashes, including those for which the motor carrier and/or driver could not be held accountable. Many truck accidents involve cars; many times the car's driver is at fault, but the accident still could be counted against the truck driver and the organization.

The reality is that today's supply chain professionals need to be aware of all costs that can and will affect their business. If you have not been briefed on this topic, get involved. In the end, it will affect your organization's P&L.

Greg Lutkauskas is president of Intelligent Logistics Brokerage and vice president of Fastway Terminals. He has more than 20 years of progressive supply chain experience. Contact him at [email protected].