Court rules that orientation is part of the application process and not necessarily compensable. Further, drivers in a sleeper berth are using adequate facilities for rest.
Former drivers for a motor carrier sued the company claiming they had not been paid for the time they spent in orientation and the time they spent in the sleeper berth of a moving truck. The trial court found in favor of the motor carrier on both claims, the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
The court concluded that the orientation was an application process because not all participants were hired upon completion. The court also agreed with the motor carrier that sleeper berth time was not compensable based on a federal regulation clarifying that truck drivers or assistants are not working when riding in a truck if they are “permitted to sleep in adequate facilities furnished by the employer.”
The 2005 Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS)i was the first-ever national study to attempt to determine the critical reasons and associated factors that contribute to serious large truck crashes.
The LTCCS defines “critical reason” as the reason for the event that immediately led to the crash.
Utilizing data from the LTCCS, this analysis examines the association between a driver’s years of professional truck driving experience and the critical reason assigned to the large truck driver (driver causation) in a crash.
Read the Analysis of Driver Critical Reason and Years of Driving Experience in Large Truck Crashes
Driver pay has become more contentious recently, led by the US DOL’s focus on federal contractors (such as USPS highway contract route providers) and actions in California.
Most companies want to pay drivers correctly. The current market dictates that good drivers are paid well and paid right, or they will go somewhere else.
However, we have conflicts between DOL and DOT regulations, differing interpretations of regulations, and a workforce that operates largely independently.
- Have well-defined routes and tasks for drivers. This creates documented expectations. Build fuel, break, and rest stops into the route. Include clear instructions for break stops. Let us know your situation and we can help suggest instructional language.
- Have an onboard telematics device that you use for a timeclock.
- Use your quality telematics device as an electronic logging device. Beat the mandate rush, there are many reasons to start your program now.
- Monitor drivers’ Hours of Service. Don’t coerce drivers – even if they have hours. You can help them manage their limited time more effectively.
- Match pay to activities; defined by your dispatch system and measured by your telematics device.
- This is a lot easier when your TMS is both a dispatch and ELD system in one – give LoadTrek a look.
In times like these when the economy and budgets are tight, one of the first steps often taken toward cutting costs us reducing or eliminating equipment-wash programs. There are important factors to contemplate before taking these measures.
Read more here……
1. You cannot cause or create a violation to fix another. So you can’t remove a front turn signal bulb ( not OOS) to fix a rear turn signal bulb ( OOS).
2. You do not have to be a certified mechanic to fix anything except making brake adjustments. And then, you can get trained by a mechanic to do that part.
3. You do not have to show or prove that you fixed something unless the officer is going to wait and watch. If the officer leaves and you have fixed the violation…just go.
4. If the violation is not an OOS , than it doesn’t have to be fixed immediately. You could get it fixed but you don’t have to.
5. Combination brake OOS. Based on the 20% rule, if you have a truck and a trailer brake out of adjustment / not working etc. You cant fix just ONE brake ( which takes you below the 20% thresh hold) and than drive off with one illegal brake. Any condition/ violation that causes or contributes to an OOS violation much be fixed before you leave.
6. Daytime or lack of rain is not a repair. If you have non-working lights or wipers , the rising of the sun or the skies drying up doesn’t change a thing. OOS means OOS until the violations are fixed.
7. OOS means you are shut down where you are placed OOS. You can ask the officer if he/she can actually put you OOS down the road a couple of miles at a shopping center etc. Think ahead of the repair truck that comes out and how safe is it to try to perform a fix along the road. You aren’t OOS until the officer marks and declares you to be OOS. I have allowed trucks to move to a better location for this exact reason.
8. If possible always take several digital pics of the violation in case you disagree and want to file a DataQ challenge or go to court over a citation.
9. Thanking for the officer for finding something you didn’t ( or did) know about can go a LONG way to getting through an inspection. I didn’t always write a citation for an OOS , especially if it was a really easy fix ( loose pigtail).
