Say What?
Question: What do you think of the new hours-of-service rule?
Robert Meacham, 64, Culleoka, TN
Professional driving experience: 25 years
“Well, it doesn’t really impact me. I’ve been on a dedicated
run for 20 some years now. I’ve got my own thing going. I have plenty
of time to get where I need to go. I’m on the road 45 or 50 hours a week,
and I’m home on the weekends. You can’t beat that.”
Larry Funk, 54, Lovington, IL
Professional driving experience: 13 years
“I’ll tell you what. The perfect solution would be if you go home
and you’re off at least 24 hours, you ought to be able to start over with
a fresh batch of hours whether it’s 70 hours or whatever they change it
to. After 24 hours of
rest, you’re refreshed.”
Stanley Flory, 49, Decatur, IL
Professional driving experience: 30 years
“If a guy drives regional like I do, and he drives five days a week
and he’s home two full days every weekend, he should never be out of hours.
You don’t need to be driving more than 15 hours a day. I think the 10-hour
rule is good.”
David Showalter, 32, Fallon, IL
Professional driving experience: 16 years
“I don’t think that it makes much difference. I know a lot of
drivers run over their hours now, and they’ll probably keep running over
their hours under the new rules.”
Bert Westergaard, 55, Columbus, WI
Professional driving experience: 32 years
“This industry has too many regulations as it is. When these new hours-of-service
rules go into effect, they’re going to lose a lot of good drivers because
they’re tired of the DOT rules already. You have to put common sense back
into the equation. You cannot idiot-proof the system. Until you take the idiots
out of the equation, you aren’t going to fix it.”
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