“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking truck drivers and industry stakeholders for information about driver detention times at shipping and receiving facilities and the potential impacts those delays have on highway safety.”- According to the article in overdriveonline.com and its author Matt Cole

“Specifically, the agency is looking for information on whether data is currently available on accurately recording loading, unloading and delay times; if technology is available to compare prompt loading and unloading times to extended delays; what the agency should use as an estimate of reasonable loading/unloading time; what the agency can do to help reduce loading and unloading times; and more. A full list of questions can be found in the notice here. “- Cole also wrote in his article

FMCSA will accept public comments for 90 days — until  Sept. 10 — when the notice is published in the Federal Register. Comments can be made at www.regulations.gov by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0054.

In 2018 Office of Inspector General at U.S. Department of Transportation released a report, in which they wrote” 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. In addition, we estimated that detention is associated with reductions in annual earnings of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion for for-hire commercial motor vehicle drivers in the truckload sector. For motor carriers in that sector, we
estimated that detention reduces net income by $250.6 million to $302.9 million annually.”

But according to FMCSA , while the OIG and other studies were able to estimate overall wait times, “they were not able to separate normal loading and unloading times (e.g., the time it would usually take to load and unload a commercial motor vehicle under typical schedules) from detention time (delays in the start of the loading and unloading process that disrupt the driver’s available driving and/or on-duty time). This is a critical data gap in our understanding of the detention issue.”-John Gallagher wrote in his article.

You can read the whole OIG report HERE.

Read the full Overdriveoline.com story HERE

Read the full FreightWaves.com story HERE

Source and credits: overdriveonline.com / Matt Cole / freightwaves.com /John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent and itrucker.com / Mario Pawlowski