Truck driver

For other uses, see Truck Driver and Trucker (disambiguation).
A truck driver at work

A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand;[1] a lorry driver, or driver in Ireland, the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck (usually a semi truck, box truck or dump truck).

Duties and functions

Truck drivers provide an essential service to industrialized societies by transporting finished goods and raw materials over land, typically to and from manufacturing plants, retail and distribution centers. Truck drivers are also responsible for inspecting all their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales and customer service.

Types

A Nissan Diesel trucker in Hong Kong

There are three major types of truck driver employment:

Job categories

An Isuzu Records Management truck

Both owner operators/owner driver and company drivers can be in these categories.

A container truck (cab-over design)

Hours regulations

Australia

A trucker and his vehicle.

In Australia, drivers of trucks and truck and trailer combinations with gross vehicle mass greater than 12 tonnes[3] must rest for 15 minutes every 5.5 hours, 30 minutes every 8 hours and 60 minutes every 11 hours (includes driving and non-driving duties). In any 7 day period, a driver must spend 24 hours away from his/her vehicle. Truck drivers must complete a logbook documenting hours and kilometres spent driving.[4]

Canada

In Canada, driver hours of service regulations are enforced for any driver who operates a "truck, tractor, trailer or any combination of them that has a gross vehicle weight in excess of 4,500 kg or a bus that is designed and constructed to have a designated seating capacity of more than 24 persons, including the driver."[5] However, there are two sets of hours of service rules, one for above 60th parallel north, and one for below. Below latitude 60 degrees drivers are limited to 14 hours on duty in any 24-hour period. This 14 hours includes a maximum of 13 hours driving time. Rest periods are 8 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period, as well as an additional 2-hour period of rest that must be taken in blocks of no less than 30 minutes.

Additionally, there is the concept of "Cycles." Cycles in effect put a limit on the total amount of time a driver can be on duty in a given period before he must take time off. Cycle 1 is 70 hours in a 7-day period, and cycle 2 is 120 hours in a 14-day period. A driver who uses cycle 1 must take off 36 hours at the end of the cycle before being allowed to restart the cycle again. Cycle 2 is 72 hours off duty before being allowed to start again.

Receipts for fuel, tolls, etc., must be retained as a MTO officer can ask to see them in order to further verify the veracity of information contained in a driver's logbook during an inspection.

European Union

In the European Union, drivers' working hours are regulated by EU regulation (EC) No 561/2006[6] which entered into force on April 11, 2007. The non-stop driving time may not exceed 4.5 hours. After 4.5 hours of driving the driver must take a break period of at least 45 minutes. However, this can be split into 2 breaks, the first being at least 15 minutes, and the second being at least 30 minutes in length.

The daily driving time shall not exceed 9 hours. The daily driving time may be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice during the week. The weekly driving time may not exceed 56 hours. In addition to this, a driver cannot exceed 90 hours driving in a fortnight. Within each period of 24 hours after the end of the previous daily rest period or weekly rest period a driver must take a new daily rest period. An 11-hour (or more) daily rest is called a regular daily rest period. Alternatively, a driver can split a regular daily rest period into two periods. The first period must be at least 3 hours of uninterrupted rest and can be taken at any time during the day. The second must be at least 9 hours of uninterrupted rest, giving a total minimum rest of 12 hours. A driver may reduce his daily rest period to no less than 9 continuous hours, but this can be done no more than three times between any two weekly rest periods; no compensation for the reduction is required. A daily rest that is less than 11 hours but at least 9 hours long is called a reduced daily rest period. When a daily rest is taken, this may be taken in a vehicle, as long as it has suitable sleeping facilities and is stationary.

‘Multi-manning’ The situation where, during each period of driving between any two consecutive daily rest periods, or between a daily rest period and a weekly rest period, there are at least two drivers in the vehicle to do the driving. For the first hour of multi-manning the presence of another driver or drivers is optional, but for the remainder of the period it is compulsory. This allows for a vehicle to depart from its operating centre and collect a second driver along the way, providing that this is done within 1 hour of the first driver starting work. Vehicles manned by two or more drivers are governed by the same rules that apply to single-manned vehicles, apart from the daily rest requirements. Where a vehicle is manned by two or more drivers, each driver must have a daily rest period of at least 9 consecutive hours within the 30-hour period that starts at the end of the last daily or weekly rest period. Organising drivers’ duties in such a fashion enables a crew’s duties to be spread over 21 hours. The maximum driving time for a two-man crew taking advantage of this concession is 20 hours before a daily rest is required (although only if both drivers are entitled to drive 10 hours). Under multi-manning, the ‘second’ driver in a crew may not necessarily be the same driver from the duration of the first driver’s shift but could in principle be any number of drivers as long as the conditions are met. Whether these second drivers could claim the multi-manning concession in these circumstances would depend on their other duties. On a multi-manning operation the first 45 minutes of a period of availability will be considered to be a break, so long as the co-driver does no work.

Journeys involving ferry or train transport Where a driver accompanies a vehicle that is being transported by ferry or train, the daily rest requirements are more flexible. A regular daily rest period may be interrupted no more than twice, but the total interruption must not exceed 1 hour in total. This allows for a vehicle to be driven on to a ferry and off again at the end of the crossing. Where the rest period is interrupted in this way, the total accumulated rest period must still be 11 hours. A bunk or couchette must be available during the rest period.

Weekly rest A regular weekly rest period is a period of at least 45 consecutive hours. An actual working week starts at the end of a weekly rest period, and finishes when another weekly rest period is commenced, which may mean that weekly rest is taken in the middle of a fixed (Monday–Sunday) week. This is perfectly acceptable – the working week is not required to be aligned with the ‘fixed’ week defined in the rules, provided all the relevant limits are complied with. Alternatively, a driver can take a reduced weekly rest period of a minimum of 24 consecutive hours. If a reduction is taken, it must be compensated for by an equivalent period of rest taken in one block before the end of the third week following the week in question. The compensating rest must be attached to a period of rest of at least 9 hours – in effect either a weekly or a daily rest period. For example, where a driver reduces a weekly rest period to 33 hours in week 1, he must compensate for this by attaching a 12-hour period of rest to another rest period of at least 9 hours before the end of week 4. This compensation cannot be taken in several smaller periods. A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week but not in both. However, a rest period of at least 69 hours in total may be counted as two back-to-back weekly rests (e.g. a 45-hour weekly rest followed by 24 hours), provided that the driver does not exceed 144 hours’ work either before or after the rest period in question. Where reduced weekly rest periods are taken away from base, these may be taken in a vehicle, provided that it has suitable sleeping facilities and is stationary.

Unforeseen events Provided that road safety is not jeopardised, and to enable a driver to reach a suitable stopping place, a departure from the EU rules may be permitted to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, the vehicle or its load. Drivers must note all the reasons for doing so on the back of their tachograph record sheets (if using an analogue tachograph) or on a printout or temporary sheet (if using a digital tachograph) at the latest on reaching the suitable stopping place (see relevant sections covering manual entries). Repeated and regular occurrences, however, might indicate to enforcement officers that employers were not in fact scheduling work to enable compliance with the applicable rules. [7]

New Zealand

Heavy vehicle work time requirements[8] in New Zealand are:

Emergency services drivers can exceed work hours when attending priority calls.

United States

In the United States, the hours of service (HOS) of commercial drivers are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are limited to 11 cumulative hours driving in a 14-hour period, following a rest period of no less than 10 consecutive hours. Drivers employed by carriers in "daily operation" may not work more than 70 hours within any period of 8 consecutive days.[9]

Drivers must maintain a daily 24-hour logbook record of duty status documenting all work and rest periods. The record of duty status must be kept current to the last change of duty status and records of the previous seven days retained by the driver in the truck and presented to law enforcement officials on demand.

Electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) can automatically record, among other things, the time the vehicle is in motion or stopped. The FMCSA is considering making EOBRs mandatory for all motor carriers.[10][11]

New HOS (hours of service) regulations came into effect on 1 July 2013. These require a break of 30 minutes to be taken before eight hours of duty is reached. There are additional HOS regulations for California.[12]

A shortage of truck drivers has been reported in the United States. Retention rates are low.[13]

Compensation

Truck drivers are paid according to many different methods. These include salary, hourly, and a number of methods which can be broadly defined as piece work. Piece work methods may include both a base rate and additional pay. Base rates either compensate drivers by the mile or by the load.

A company driver who makes a number of "less than truckload" (LTL) deliveries via box truck or conventional tractor-trailer may be paid an hourly wage and/or a certain amount per mile, and/or per stop (aka "drop" or "dock bump"), and/or per piece delivered, unloaded, or "tailgated" (moved to the rear of the trailer).

The main advantage of being paid by the mile may be that a driver is rewarded according to measurable accomplishment. The main disadvantage is that what a driver may accomplish is not so directly related to the effort and, perhaps especially, the time required for completion.

A sign for truckers reminding them to stay off the parkway.

Mileage calculations vary from carrier to carrier. Hub miles, or odometer miles ("hub" refers to hubometer, a mechanical odometer mounted to an axle), pay the driver for every mile. Calculations are generally limited to no more than 3-5% above the estimates of mileage by the carrier before red flags appear, depending on the generosity of the carrier or how it rates the mileage estimation capabilities of the software used. One version of hub miles includes only those per carrier designated route, i.e., a set number of miles. "Out of route" miles of any incentive are provided by the driver to the carrier for free.

Many of the largest long haul trucking companies in the United States pay their drivers according to short miles. Short miles are the absolute shortest distance between two or more zip codes, literally a straight line drawn across the map. These short miles rarely reflect the actual miles that must be driven in order to pickup and deliver freight, but they will be used to calculate what the driver will earn.

Short miles are on average about ten percent less than actual miles but in some cases the difference can be as large as 50 percent. An extreme (but not unheard of) example would be a load that picked up in Brownsville, Texas, and delivered in Miami, Florida. This journey would require the driver to travel over 1600 miles. The short routing however would believe the distance to be only 750, as though the truck could drive across the Gulf of Mexico. Another extreme example would be a load that picked up in Buffalo New York and delivered in Green Bay Wisconsin, not giving any consideration that three of America's Great Lakes lie between that load's origin and destination.

Other obvious obstacles would be mountains and canyons. Truck prohibited routes sometimes create this same phenomenon, requiring a driver to drive several truck legal routes and approaching a destination from behind (essentially driving a fish hook shaped route), because the most direct route cannot accommodate heavy truck traffic.

Some trucking companies have tried to alleviate some of these discrepancies by paying their drivers according to "practical miles." This is where dispatch gives them a certain route to follow and will pay them for those. This is done in effort of compensating drivers for the actual work done. These routes will largely follow the Interstate Highway system but will sometimes require the driver to use state and U.S. highways and toll roads. Trucking companies practice this method in order to attract and retain veteran drivers. Household goods (HHG) miles, from the Household Goods Mileage Guide (aka "short miles") was the first attempt at standardizing motor carrier freight rates for movers of household goods, some say at the behest of the Department of Defense for moving soldiers around the country, long a major source of steady and reliable revenue. Rand McNally, in conjunction with the precursor of the National Moving & Storage Association developed the first Guide published in 1936, at which point it contained only about 300 point-to-point mileages.[14]

Today, the 19th version of the Guide has grown to contain distances between more than 140,000 cities, zip codes, or highway junctions.[15]

Therein, if you ask many drivers, lies the inherent unfairness of HHG-based mileage pay; miles are driven point-to-point, not from "city" to "zip code" or "highway junction".

Getting paid by percentage is the preferred way of business among veteran drivers and owner-operators. Typical percentage among owner-operators pulling flatbed trailers is between 85-90 percent of line haul being paid to the driver. Additionally the driver may receive 100 percent of fuel surcharges and fees for extra pickups or drops or for tarping loads. It creates strong incentives for drivers for agreeing to pull especially difficult loads; i.e. pieces that are especially heavy or large, that require tarping, pieces that are being shipped or received along treacherous routes far from the interstates. It also discourages drivers and owner-operators from agreeing to move "cheap freight." Percentage of load is the simplest way of calculating what a driver and his/her truck will earn.

Companies such as Dupré Logistics, that traditionally paid by the mile have switched to hourly wages.[16] Regional and local drivers are usually paid by the hour.[17] In 2011 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the average heavy and over-the-road truck driver hourly wage to be $21.74 per hour.[18] The BLS reported in 2012 that the median hourly wage was $18.37 per hour.[19] In May 2013 the BLS reported a mean average hourly pay of from $12.21 (bottom 10%) to $28.66 per hour (top 10%).[20] In March 2014, Payscale.com published that the entry-level truck driver ranged from $11.82 to $20.22 an hour and the average hourly rate was reported as $15.53 an hour.[21] Certain special industry driving jobs such as oilfield services like vacuum, dry bulk, and winch truck drivers, can receive a $22.00 or higher hourly wage.[22]

Special licences

Australia

In Australia heavy vehicle licences are issued by the states but are a national standard; there are 5 classes of licence required by drivers of heavy vehicles:

A person must have a C class (car) licence for 1 year before they can apply for an LR or MR class licence and 2 years before they can apply for an HR, to upgrade to an HC class licence a person must have an MR or HR class licence for 1 year and to upgrade to an MC class licence a person must have an HR or HC class licence for 1 year.[23]

Canada

A driver's licence in Canada, including commercial vehicle licences, are issued and regulated provincially. Regarding CDL (commercial drivers licences), there is no standardization between provinces and territories.[24]

European Union

In the EU, one or more of the categories of Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) licenses is required.

Medium Sized Vehicles:

C1 Lorries between 3500 kg and 7500 kg with a trailer up to 750 kg.

Medium Sized vehicles with trailers:

C1+E Lorries between 3500 kg and 7500 kg with a trailer over 750 kg - total weight not more than 12000 kg (if you passed your category B test prior to 1.1.1997 you will be restricted to a total weight not more than 8250 kg).

Large Vehicles:

C Vehicles over 3500 kg with a trailer up to 750 kg.

Large Vehicles with trailers:

C+E Vehicles over 3500 kg with a trailer over 750 kg.

In Australia for example a HC licence covers buses as well as goods vehicles in the UK and most of the EU however a separate licence is needed.

Minibuses:

D1 Vehicles with between 9 and 16 passenger seats with a trailer up to 750 kg.

Minibuses with trailers:

D1+E Combinations of vehicles where the towing vehicle is in subcategory D1 and its trailer has a MAM of over 750 kg, provided that the MAM of the combination thus formed does not exceed 12000 kg, and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle.

Buses:

D Any bus with more than 8 passenger seats with a trailer up to 750 kg.

Buses with trailers:

D+E Any bus with more than 8 passenger seats with a trailer over 750 kg.

United States

The United States employs a truck classification system, and truck drivers are required to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate a CMV with a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of 26,000 pounds.

Acquiring a CDL requires a skills test (pre-trip inspection and driving test), and knowledge test (written) covering the unique handling qualities of driving a large, heavily loaded commercial vehicle, and the mechanical systems required to operate such a vehicle (air brakes, suspension, cargo securement, et al.), plus be declared fit by medical examination no less than every two years. For passenger bus drivers, a current passenger endorsement is also required.

A person must be at least 18 years of age to obtain a CDL. Drivers under age 21 are limited to operating within their state of licensing (intrastate operation). Many major trucking companies require driver applicants to be at least 23 years of age, with a year of experience, while others will hire and train new drivers as long as they have a clean driving history.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) stipulates the various classes of CDLs and associated licensing and operational requirements and limitations.[25]

A tanker truck.

A CDL can also contain separate endorsements required to operate certain trailers or to haul certain cargo.[25] These endorsements are noted on the CDL and often appear in advertisements outlining the requirements for employment.

Other endorsements are possible, e.g., M endorsement to transport metal coils weighing more than 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg), but are tested and issued by individual states and are not consistent throughout all states (as of this writing, the M endorsement is peculiar to the state of New York). The laws of the state from whence a driver's CDL is issued are considered the applicable laws governing that driver.

If a driver either fails the air brake component of the general knowledge test or performs the skills test in a vehicle not equipped with air brakes, the driver is issued an air brake restriction, restricting the driver from operating a CMV equipped with air brakes.

Specifically, the five-axle tractor-semitrailer combination that is most commonly associated with the word "truck" requires a Class A CDL to drive. Beyond that, the driver's employer (or shipping customers, in the case of an independent owner-operator) generally specifies what endorsements their operations require a driver to possess.

Truck regulations on size, weight, and route designations

U.S.

Truck drivers are responsible for checking the axle and gross weights of their vehicles, usually by being weighed at a truck stop scale. Truck weights are monitored for limits compliance by state authorities at a weigh station and by DOT officers with portable scales.

Commercial motor vehicles are subject to various state and federal laws regarding limitations on truck length (measured from bumper to bumper), width, and truck axle length (measured from axle to axle or fifth wheel to axle for trailers).

The relationship between axle weight and spacing, known as the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula, is designed to protect bridges.[27]

A standard 18-wheeler consists of three axle groups: a single front (steering) axle, the tandem (dual) drive axles, and the tandem trailer axles. Federal weight limits for NN traffic are:[28]

  1. 20,000 pounds for a single axle
  2. 34,000 pounds for a tandem axle
  3. 80,000 pounds for total weight

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division of the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) regulates the length, width, and weight limits of CMVs used in interstate commerce.

Interstate commercial truck traffic is generally limited to a network of interstate freeways and state highways known as the National Network (NN). The National Network consists of (1) the Interstate Highway System and (2) highways, formerly classified as Primary System routes, capable of safely handling larger commercial motor vehicles, as certified by states to FHWA.[29]

State weight and length limits (which may be lesser or greater than federal limits) affect only operation off the NN. There is no federal height limit, and states may set their own limits which range from 13 feet 6 inches to 14 feet.[30] As a result, the height of most trucks range between 13' and 14'.

Truck driver problems (U.S.)

Unpaid work time

In the United States there is a lot of unpaid time, usually at a Shipper or Receiver where the truck is idle awaiting loading or unloading. Prior to the 2010 HOS changes it was common for 4–8 hours to elapse during this evolution. CSA addressed this and incorporated legal methods for drivers and trucking companies to charge for this excessive time. For the most part loading/unloading times have fallen into a window of 2–4 hours although longer times are still endured.

Turnover and driver shortage

In 2006, the U.S. trucking industry as a whole employed 3.4 million drivers.[31] A major problem for the long-haul trucking industry is that a large percentage of these drivers are aging, and are expected to retire. Very few new hires are expected in the near future, resulting in a driver shortage. Currently, within the long-haul sector, there is an estimated shortage of 20,000 drivers. That shortage is expected to increase to 111,000 by 2014.[32] Trucking (especially the long-haul sector) is also facing an image crisis due to the long working hours, long periods of time away from home, the dangerous nature of the work, the relatively low pay (compared to hours worked), and a "driver last" mentality that is common throughout the industry.

To help combat the shortage, trucking companies have lobbied Congress to reduce driver age limits, which they say will reduce a recruiting shortfall. Under current law, drivers need to be 21 to haul freight across state lines, which the industry wants to lower to 18 years old.[33]

Employee turnover within the long-haul trucking industry is notorious for being extremely high. In the 4th quarter of 2005, turnover within the largest carriers in the industry reached a record 136%,[34] meaning a carrier that employed 100 drivers would lose an average of 136 drivers each year.

Time off

Due to the nature of the job, most drivers stay out longer than 4 weeks at a time. A few for months on end and even longer. For the average large company driver in the United States 6 weeks is the average, with each week out garnering the driver one day off. This accrues to a set maximum usually 6 or 7 days. This is the average for OTR (Over The Road) Line Haul and Regional drivers. Vocational and Local drivers are usually home every night or every other night. Most tractors are equipped with sleeper berths that range from 36" to as large as 86" in length. While there are larger sleepers that get up to 144" in length, these are not seen in the mainline segment of trucking. Those are usually seen in the specialized and household moving segments, where the load is either permitted for overweight or oversize, or is very light yet bulky. [35]

Safety

From 1992–1995, truck drivers had a higher total number of fatalities than any other occupation, accounting for 12% of all work-related deaths.[36] By 2009, truck drivers accounted for 16.8% of transportation-related deaths.[37] Truck drivers are five times more likely to die in a work-related accident than the average worker.[38] Highway accidents accounted for a majority of truck driver deaths, most of them caused by confused drivers in passenger vehicles who are unfamiliar with large trucks.

The unsafe actions of automobile drivers are a contributing factor in about 70 percent of the fatal crashes involving trucks. More public awareness of how to share the road safely with large trucks is needed.[39]
— Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The safety of truck drivers and their trucks is monitored and statistics compiled by the FMCSA or Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration who provides online information on safety violations. If a truck is stopped by a law enforcement agent or at an inspection station, information on the truck is complied and OOS violations are logged. A violation out of service is defined by federal code as an imminent hazard under 49 U.S.C. § 521(b)(5)(B), "any condition likely to result in serious injury or death". National statistics on accidents published in the FMCSA Analysis and Information online website provides the key driver OOS categories for year 2009 nationally: 17.6% are log entry violations, 12.6% are speeding violations, 12.5% drivers record of duty not current, and 6.5% requiring driver to drive more than 14 hours on duty. This has led to some insurance companies wanting to monitor driver behavior and requiring electronic log and satellite monitoring.[40]

In 2009[41] there were 3380 fatalities involving large trucks, of which 2470 were attributed to combination unit trucks (defined as any number of trailers behind a tractor). In a November 2005 FMCSA report to Congress,[42] the data for 33 months of large truck crashes was analyzed. 87 percent of crashes were driver error. In cases where two vehicles, a car and a truck, were involved, 46 percent of the cases involved the truck's driver and 56 percent involved the car's driver. While the truck and car in two vehicle accidents share essentially half the burden of the accidents (not 70 percent as stated above), the top six driver factors are essentially also the same and in approximately equivalent percentages: Prescription drug use, over the counter drug use, unfamiliarity with the road, speeding, making illegal maneuvers, inadequate surveillance. This suggests that the truck driver makes the same errors as the car driver and vice versa. This is not true of the vehicle caused crashes (about 30 percent of crashes) where the top failure for trucks is caused by the brakes (29 percent of the time compared to 2% of the time for the car).

Truck drivers often spend their nights parked at a truck stop, rest area, or on the shoulder of a freeway ramp. Sometimes these are in secluded areas or dangerous neighborhoods, which account for a number of deaths due to drivers being targeted by thieves for their valuable cargo, money and property, or for the truck and trailer themselves. Drivers of trucks towing flatbed trailers are responsible for securing and strapping down their cargo (which often involves climbing onto the cargo itself), and if the load requires tarping necessitates climbing on the load to spread out tarps. Tarps can weigh up to 200 lbs each and the cargo can require up to 3 tarps per load which accounts for a number of deaths and injuries from falling. Drivers spend long hours behind the wheel, which can cause strain on the back muscles. Some drivers are responsible for unloading their cargo, which can lead to many back strains and sprains due to overexertion and improper lifting techniques. If the cab of the truck is not appropriate for the driver's size, the driver can lose visibility and easy access to the controls and be at higher risk for accidents.[37]

Safety training programs

Several companies develop successful safety training programs for truck drivers.

Sleep disorders and deprivation

Truck drivers are also sensitive to sleep disorders because of the long hours required at the wheel and, in many cases, the lack of adequate rest.[43] Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in 12% of all crashes and 10% of all near crashes. Traffic fatalities are high and many of them are due to driver fatigue. Drivers with obstructive sleep apnea have a sevenfold increased risk of being involved in a motor vehicle crash.[44] It is estimated that 2.4-3.9 million licensed commercial drivers in the US have obstructive sleep apnea[44] out of the estimated 18 million total Americans.[45] The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says that as many 28 percent of commercial driver's license holders have sleep apnea.[46]

Research sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and American Trucking Associations found:

Truck drivers on the road between 0400 and 0600, 0000 and 0200, and 1400-1600 hours are at the highest risk of a sleep-related accident.[43]

Parking

A study published in 2002 by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) shows that "parking areas for trucks and buses along major roads and highways are more than adequate across the nation when both public (rest areas) and commercial parking facilities are factored in."[47]

A 2000 highway special investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) contains the following statistics:

  1. Parking spaces at private truck stops- 185,000 (estimate)
  2. Number of trucks parked at private truck stops at night- 167,453 (estimate)
  3. Private truck stops that are full on any given night nationwide- 53 percent
  4. Shortfall of truck parking spaces- 28,400 (estimate)
  5. Public rest areas with full or overflowing parking at night 80 percent[48]

One challenge of finding truck parking is made difficult perhaps not because there are insufficient parking spaces "nationwide", but where the majority of those spaces are not located, and most needed; near the most densely populated areas where demand for trucked goods is greatest.

As urban areas continue to sprawl, land for development of private truck stops nearby becomes prohibitively expensive and there seems to be an understandable reluctance on the part of the citizenry to live near a facility where a large number of trucks may be idling their engines all night, every night, or to experience the associated increase of truck traffic on local streets.

Exacerbating the problem are parking restrictions or prohibitions in commercial areas where plenty of space exists and the fact that shippers and receivers of freight tend to prefer to ship and receive truckloads in the early and late portions of the business day.

The end result is an increase in truck traffic during the morning and evening rush hours when traffic is most dense, commuters exhibit least patience, and safety is compromised.

Adding to the challenge of finding parking are:

  1. A driver can only become familiar with locations of public and commercial parking spaces and their capacity and traffic by visiting them.
  2. The parking shortage, real or perceived, nearest the most dense urban areas incites drivers to arrive early and many of those truck stops are full by 7pm leaving even drivers who carefully plan their trips in detail few, if any, options.

Idling restrictions

Idling restrictions further complicate the ability of drivers to obtain adequate rest, as this example from California may illustrate:

Commercial diesel-fueled vehicles with a GVWR greater than 10,000 pounds are subject to the following idling restrictions effective February 1, 2005. You may not:

Drivers are subject to both civil and criminal penalties for violations of this regulation."[50]

DAC Reporting

A truck driver's “DAC Report” refers to the employment history information submitted by former employers to HireRight & USIS Commercial Services Inc. (formerly called DAC Services, or “Drive-A-Check”). Among other things, a truck driver’s DAC Report contains the driver’s identification (Name, DOB, SSN), the name and address of the contributing trucking company, the driver’s dates of employment with that company, the driver’s reason for leaving that company, whether the driver is eligible for rehire, and comments about the driver’s work record (e.g. good, satisfactory, too many late deliveries, etc.). It will also indicate whether the company stored drug and alcohol testing information with USIS. A separate section of the DAC report contains incident/accident information as well as CSA 2010 Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) Reports.[51]

False reports

The DAC report is as critical to the livelihood of a professional truck driver as the credit report is to a consumer. When a trucking company reports negative information about a truck driver, it can ruin the driver’s career by preventing him or her from finding a truck driving job for several years or more. It is widely known that trucking companies often abuse this power by willfully and maliciously reporting false information on truckers’ DAC reports, either in retaliation for seeking better paying trucking jobs elsewhere, or for any number of other fraudulent, anti-competitive reasons. As long as truck drivers can be threatened with a false DAC report for standing up to management or leaving their company for a better job elsewhere, working conditions at truck driver jobs will not improve.[52]

Truck driver problems (U.K.)

Driver shortage

In 2014 the Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association have called for the government to help address the shortage of qualified lorry drivers in the UK.[53] The UK logistics industry is currently 45,000 lorry drivers short but there are only 20,000 new drivers coming into the industry each year. With the average age of lorry drivers in the UK being 53 and not enough younger drivers joining the industry it is predicted that if nothing is done by 2020 the industry will be 60,000 lorry drivers short.[54]

In September 2015 The government instructed the Transport Committee to investigate the shortage of skilled drivers.[55] The committee will be looking in to the following:

During February 2016 an independent survey on the driver shortage was carried out by a UK freight exchange. The purpose of the survey was to get the drivers opinions about the HGV driver shortage. The aim was to establish whether the results of the drivers survey could help the industry and government understand the issues that the drivers are currently facing.[56]

The findings of the survey showed that, in the opinion of the drivers, the three main contributing factors to the driver shortage are 1) Poor wages, 2) Poor driver facilities and 3) The way drivers are treated. Over a third of all drivers who participated in the survey felt that they were not being treated well by the companies they drove for.[57]

Satellite tracking

Many companies today utilize some type of satellite vehicle tracking or trailer tracking to assist in fleet management. In this context "tracking" refers to a location tracking and "satellite" refers either to a GPS or GLONASS satellites system providing location information or communications satellites used for location data transmission. A special location tracking device also known as tracker or an AVL unit is installed on a truck and automatically determines its position in real-time and sends it to a remote computer database for visualizing and analysis.

An "in cab" communication device AVL unit often allows a driver to communicate with their dispatcher, who is normally responsible for determining and informing the driver of their pick-up and drop-off locations. If the AVL unit is connected to a Mobile data terminal or a computer it also allows the driver to input the information from a bill of lading (BOL) into a simple dot matrix display screen (commonly called a "Qualcomm" for that company's ubiquitous OmniTRACS system).

The driver inputs the information, using a keyboard, into an automated system of pre-formatted messages known as macros. There are macros for each stage of the loading and unloading process, such as "loaded and leaving shipper" and "arrived at final destination." This system also allows the company to track the driver's fuel usage, speed, gear optimization, engine idle time, location, direction of travel, and amount of time spent driving.

Werner Enterprises, a U.S. company based in Omaha, Nebraska, has utilized this system to implement a "paperless log" system. Instead of keeping track of working hours on a traditional pen and paper based logbook, the driver informs the company of his status using a macro.

Health issues

Working conditions

A sign in the US warning truck drivers to stay off a certain route.

Most truck drivers are employed as over-the-road drivers, meaning they are hired to drive long distances from the place of pickup to the place of delivery. During the short times while they are in heavily polluted urban areas, being inside the cab of the truck contributes much to avoiding the inhalation of toxic emissions, and on the majority of the trip, while they are passing through vast rural areas where there is little air pollution, truck drivers in general enjoy less exposure to toxic emissions in the air than the inhabitants of large cities, where there is an increased exposure to emissions from engines, factories, etc., which may increase the risk of cancer[58] and can aggravate certain lung diseases, such as asthma[59] in the general public who inhabit these cities. However, the few drivers who are hired to drive only within urban areas do not have this advantage of spending more time away from toxic emissions that is enjoyed by over-the-road drivers. Other conditions affecting the health of truck drivers are for example vibration, noise, long periods of sitting, work stress and exhaustion. For drivers in developing countries there are additional risks because roads are on appalling conditions and accidents occur more frequently. Truck drivers are even a high-risk group for HIV-infection in those countries.[60]

In order to address the hazards relative to driver fatigue, many countries have laws limiting the amount of time truck drivers can work. Many underdeveloped countries either lack such laws or do not enforce them.

Drivers who work in mines have extra health hazards due to their working conditions, as the roads they travel are particularly treacherous.[61]

Australia health requirements

A new law was passed in Australia requiring that all "over the road" drivers carry their medical information with them when they "are on the clock". This will help drivers comply with this new law and can also help deliver quick, accurate medical assistance if and when needed.

Truckers bedded down for the night in the UK.

Obesity

According to a 2007 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 86% of the estimated 3.2 million truck drivers in the United States are overweight or obese.[62] A survey conducted in 2010 showed that 69% of American truck drivers met their criteria for obesity, twice the percentage of the adult working population in the US.[63] Some key risk factors for obesity in truckers are poor eating habits, lack of access to healthy food, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, long work hours, and lack of access to care.[64]

Eighty percent of truckers have unhealthful eating patterns as a result of poor food choices and food availability at truck stops is partially to blame.[65] The options at truck stops are generally high calorie and high fat foods available through restaurants, fast-food, diners and vending machines.[66] Fresh produce and whole grain items are few and far between. Though 85% of mini-mart items are categorized as extremely unhealthy, 80% of these meals are considered a truck driver’s main meal of the day.[65][67] Also, most of the foods carried by drivers in their trucks, whether or not stored in a refrigerator, are purchased from truck stops.[65] Research suggests that drivers value quality and taste much more than nutrition when selecting food.[67] Another issue is the pattern of extensive and irregular snacking while on the road and consumption of one large meal at the end of day.[65][66][67] The daily meal is often high in calories and may be the highlight of the trucker’s day.[65] Food intake varies during working hours compared to days off and truckers eat meals at the wrong circadian phase during the day.[64]

A Volvo FH12 truck.

Lack of exercise is another contributing factor to the obesity epidemic in the truck driver population. Almost 90% of truck drivers exercise only sometimes or never and only 8% exercise regularly.[68] This is largely determined by long work hours and tight deadlines, the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of a place to exercise.[62][69] Though some fitness resources are available for truckers, most are scarce. Available areas are truck stops, highway rest areas, trucking terminals, warehouses, and the truck cab.[62] However, there are many parking restrictions and safety concerns in trying to incorporate exercise into the daily routine.[65]

Studies have found the risk of obesity increases in high demand, low control jobs, and more so in jobs with long work hours;[70] the truck driving industry falls under these categories. Also, daytime sleepiness and night disturbances are associated with obesity,[70] and are, therefore, common among truck drivers. Long haul drivers have tight schedules, so they tend to drive longer and get less sleep.[62] The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) does have Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. Under the old rule, drivers could work up to 82 hours in 7 days. These regulations were modified in 2011; but the new rule only permits drivers to work up to 70 hours in 7 days.[71] There is now an 11-hour-per-day limit with 10 hours off required after the weekly shift.[72] Fines for companies which allow work beyond 11 hours are up to $11,000 and for drivers up to $2,750. Though these fines exist, there is minimal enforcement of the law.[71]

Obesity prevalence is affected by access to care for truckers. Company drivers often have issues with insurance, such as necessary pre-approval if out of network. Most owner-operator drivers do not have any kind of medical insurance (that is, in the USA where medical treatment isn't free of charge like most countries). Moreover, truckers have difficulties making an appointment on the road and often do not know where to stop for assistance. Many self-diagnose or ignore their health issue all together.[73] Some are able to be seen at doctor’s offices or private clinics while a large percentage depend on emergency rooms and urgent care visits.[73] The Department of Transportation has Convenient Care Clinics across the U.S., but those are hard to find and are few and far between. Health care costs are substantially higher for overweight and obese individuals, so obesity in the truck driver population puts a greater financial demand on the industry.[74]

Other health problems

Truckers in the US smoke at twice the rate of other working adults; 51% of truckers reported that they smoked in a 2010 survey. 61% of truckers in the same survey reported having two or more risk factors, which were defined as high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, or sleep deprivation (6 or fewer hours of sleep per 24 hours).[63] Truck drivers also suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, and stress at higher rates.[61]

Implementation of drug detection

U.S.

I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, find that: Drug use is having serious adverse effects upon a significant proportion of the national work force and results in billions of dollars of lost productivity each year; The Federal government, as an employer, is concerned with the well-being of its employees, the successful accomplishment of agency missions, and the need to maintain employee productivity; The Federal government, as the largest employer in the Nation, can and should show the way towards achieving drug-free workplaces through a program designed to offer drug users a helping hand and, at the same time, demonstrating to drug users and potential drug users that drugs will not be tolerated in the Federal workplace; The profits from illegal drugs provide the single greatest source of income for organized crime, fuel violent street crime, and otherwise contribute to the breakdown of our society; [...] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America [...] deeming such action in the best interests of national security, public health and safety, law enforcement and the efficiency of the Federal service, and in order to establish standards and procedures to ensure fairness in achieving a drug-free Federal workplace and to protect the privacy of Federal employees, it is hereby ordered [....]

Sec. 8. Effective Date. This Order is effective immediately.

Excerpt of Reagan's Executive Order 12564
September 15, 1986[75]

In the 1980s the administration of President Ronald Reagan proposed to put an end to drug abuse in the trucking industry by means of the then-recently developed technique of urinalysis, with his signing of Executive Order 12564, requiring regular random drug testing of all truck drivers nationwide, as well as employees of other DOT-regulated industries specified in the order, though considerations had to be made concerning the effects of an excessively rapid implementation of the measure.

Making sudden great changes in the infrastructures of huge economies and the industries crucial to them always entails risks, the greater the change, the larger the degree. Because of the U.S. economy's strong dependence on the movement of merchandise to and from large metropolitan population centers separated by such great distances, a sudden shortage of truck drivers could have far-reaching and devastating effects on the economy.

After the 1929 stock-market crash, for example, the chain reaction of reduction in sales due to consumers' prioritizing and reducing purchases of luxury items, with companies responding by reducing production and increasing unemployment, exacerbating the cycle of reduction or elimination of production, sales and employment, had the ultimate result of plunging the nation's economy into the Great Depression.

Likewise, it had to be considered that a sudden halting or stunting of the movement of merchandise, as would occur with a large and sudden vacating of the cargo-transportation workforce, would have similar consequences. Even the 1974 nationwide speed-limit reduction to 55 mph, which merely slowed the movement of merchandise, was followed by the recession of the late 1970s.

In the years and decades following Executive Order 12564, efforts to begin random drug testing and pre-employment drug screening of truck drivers were not expedited, leaving the change to occur gradually, out of concern for the dangers of excessively rapid change in economic infrastructure. Since then, a large number of tractor-trailer operators have left the industry in search of other employment, and a new generation of drivers has come in. Subsequent to the measure it became extremely difficult for truck drivers to engage in drug abuse and remain undetected.

On 12/10/2015, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to draft a proposed plan to address the use of synthetic drugs among truckers.[76] The NTSB also issued a call to pro-trucking bodies to educate their members about the dangers associated with truckers’ use of synthetic drugs, and to come up with way to prevent their use while behind the wheel.[76]

Truck driver slang

U.S.

Main article: List of CB slang

Truck drivers once had a highly elaborate and colorful vocabulary of slang for use over their CB radios, but with the high turnover in the industry in recent decades, this has all but vanished. Most of the newer generation of drivers in the U.S. today speak to one another over their CB radios (or other similar communication devices) in more or less standard English (as understood in the various regions of the country), although a few of the slang words and phrases have remained, and many of these have passed into use in the colloquial language of the general public.

"Smokey" and/or "bear" are still used to refer to police officers, especially state patrolmen, and sometimes "diesel bear" for a DOT officer, though many new-school drivers merely say "police," "policeman" and "cop." "Hammer" refers to the accelerator pedal, and "hammer lane" the left lane or passing lane on a freeway, in which traffic generally travels faster. "Handle", meaning a nickname, was once exclusively truck-driver slang, but has now passed into common use by the public, especially for pseudonyms used on Internet forums.

Most of the "ten codes" have fallen nearly or completely into disuse, except "10/4," meaning "message received," "affirmative," "okay," "understood," and occasionally "10/20," referring to the driver's location, (e.g., "What's your 20?")

Often older truck drivers speaking over their CB radios are frustrated at new-school truck drivers' lack of understanding of the trucking slang of the '60s, '70s and '80s, and grudgingly resort to standard English when communicating with them. However today the slang is mostly gone, and some companies such as Swift Transportation consider the CB a safety hazard and prohibit the installation of a CB radio in their tractors.

Some truck-driver slang

Australia

Australian police vehicle, nicknamed a "candy car", with one of several checkerboard designs

Visual signaling

Vehicle-light signaling

A Volvo F12 truck.

U.S.

One form of unspoken communication between drivers is to flash headlights on or off once or twice to indicate that a passing truck has cleared the passed vehicle and may safely change lanes in front of the signaling vehicle. Flashing of the high beams is discouraged, since the driver is looking in the mirror to see if it is clear to move over and the bright light of the high beams can temporarily blind the driver. The passing driver may then flash the trailer or marker lights to indicate thanks. This signal is also sometimes used by other motorists to signal truck drivers.

Continual flashing of headlights or high beams after emerging from around a corner beside a high wall or from any roadway out of sight to oncoming traffic will alert a truck driver in the oncoming lanes to an accident or other obstruction ahead, and will warn him to reduce speed or to proceed with caution. Since truck-driver language has no signal for "Do not move in front of me," nor has any understood length of time for turning headlights or high beams on or off, flashing the high-beams to say "Do not move in front of me" may be misinterpreted to mean that the truck is clear to proceed with the lane change in front of the vehicle giving the signal.

Europe

As a rule, "thanks" is signaled to the vehicle behind by switching between the left- and right-turn signal several times, whereas turning on the hazard-warning lights (both turn signals) means "Slow down; danger ahead". As cars would normally use the hazard-warning lights for "thanks", in trucks distinction is necessary. The truck blocks the view of drivers behind it, hence a distinction must be made between "Thanks for letting me pass" and "Danger in front, I may brake hard!" Turning on the left-turn signal (in a right-hand traffic country) when a vehicle behind attempts to overtake means "Back off; lane not clear", and turning on the right-turn signal means "Go ahead; lane clear".

Truck drivers also use flashing headlights to warn drivers in the oncoming lane(s) of a police patrol down the road. Though not official, two consecutive flashes indicate a police patrol, whereas a rapid series of flashing indicates DMV or other law-enforcement agency that only controls truck drivers. During the day time, the latter is sometimes accompanied by the signaling driver making a circle with both hands (as if holding a tachograph ring).

Flashing headlights to the vehicle in front (intended for the other driver to see in their mirror) has two meanings. Long flashes are used to signal a truck driver that they are clear to return to the lane. A series of rapid flashes generally means "You're doing something stupid and/or dangerous" as in "Do not move in front, trailer not clear!" or "I'm overtaking, move aside".

Truckers also use their 4 ways flashing up a steep hills, mountain roads and on ramps on express ways to let others know that they are traveling at a slow speed and to be cautious approaching them.

Greeting

In Europe the general rule for truckers in a right hand driving country is to raise the left hand and to simply open the hand with all fingers extended without waving it at all with the palm facing forward, known as 'the flat hand'. Or a shorter version is to simply extend the fingers while still keeping the palm in contact with the steering wheel. Raising the right hand is also used in the same way but very rare.

"V" greeting

Additionally, there is variation in the meanings of hand gestures within the industry. In the U.S., for example, it is common for truck drivers while passing to greet one another by lifting a hand off the steering wheel, backhand facing the other driver, with the index and middle fingers extended (similar to the "peace sign" or V sign, only reversed). In the UK, however, the same gesture is equivalent to the raising of the middle finger in the U.S. As the British interpretation of the "backwards peace sign" is generally unknown in America, it is intended only as a friendly greeting amongst U.S. truck drivers.

Truck drivers have been widely portrayed in the culture of the United States

Truck drivers have been the subject of many films, such as They Drive by Night (1940), but they became an especially popular topic in popular culture in the mid-1970s, following the release of White Line Fever, and the hit song "Convoy" by C. W. McCall, both in 1975. The main character of "Convoy" was a truck driver known only by his CB handle (C.B. name), "Rubber Duck". Three years later, in 1978, a film was released with the same name. In 1977, another film Smokey and the Bandit, was released, which revolves around the escapades of a truck driver and his friend as they transport a load of bootleg beer across state lines. Smokey and the Bandit spawned two sequels. The 1978 film F.I.S.T. was a fictionalized account of the unionization of the trucking industry in the earlier 20th century, while the future of truck driving was speculated on in the 1996 film Space Truckers in which trucking has gone beyond planetary loads to interplanetary ones. One episode of Cowboy Bebop, "Heavy Metal Queen", also features spacefaring "truck" drivers.

Truck drivers have also been villainously portrayed in such films as Duel, Joy Ride, The Transporter, Breakdown, The Hitcher, Thelma & Louise and Supergirl.

B. J. and the Bear was a television series depicting the exploits of a truck driver and his chimpanzee companion. Another was Movin' On, starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse. On 17 June 2007, the History Channel began to air Ice Road Truckers, a documentary-style reality television series following truck drivers as they drive across the ice roads in the Northwest Territories in Canada, as they transport equipment to the oil and natural gas mines in that area.

See also

References

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  2. ↑ "Trucker Slang and CB Radio Lingo Dictionary - Talk Like a Trucker". TheTruckersReport.com. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  3. ↑ "National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Fatigue Management". Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  4. ↑ "Heavy vehicle log book requirements". Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  5. ↑ "Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313)". Retrieved 2011-07-02.
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  76. 1 2 https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/FMCSA-ELD-Final-Rule_12-10-2015.pdf
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