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One of the (several) reasons I left OTR was the absurd and erratic wait times at shipping and receiving locations. Federal regulation of a driver's hours compou

by eth0up 7y ago

One of the (several) reasons I left OTR was the absurd and erratic wait times at shipping and receiving locations. Federal regulation of a driver's hours compound the problem greatly, but little can be done about that directly. I once waited six hours at a dock to then be told I'd be unloaded the next day. I had two hours left and still awaited my daily grub and a reasonable place to park for the night. I told them I'd had enough - they could have someone else deliver it, I was going on my way. I was quite serious and prepared to do so, and I really had hit a threshold. They unloaded me, quickly. I left relieved, but thinking 'I need to get away from this shit'. I did, for other reasons too. I'll also mention a personal observation of the federal regulations of hours. It caused me more grief than any other aspect of driving. I know when I can drive safely or not, and can contend with a single nag. Having two, eg my company <i>and</i> the regulations, forced me to drive in some pretty difficult circumstances. The hours of service issue is a powerful potential marketing point for your endeavor - one seriously neglected by shippers and receivers, and carriers. Regulations are necessary, but they do introduce complexities that are not insignificant. I hope your efforts succeed in improving an industry that begs it. Unfortunately my coding is shit and I can be of no service there, hence me going OTR in the first place. And if you do succeed, you'll be doing good not only for drivers, but the industry and public safety too.

adenta 7y ago
Thanks for the kind words! If you want, we would love to have you test our kiosk product sometime!
lhuser123 7y ago
> forced me to drive in some pretty difficult circumstances It’s unfortunate that this happens so much. Many dispatchers simply do not care about public safety. After all, they are not going to be responsible in case of an accident. What many people don’t understand is how sometimes dispatchers are able to manipulate unsuspecting drivers, especially new drivers without much experience.
- eth0up 7y ago
  At a good company, a dispatcher will immediately back off when a driver expresses fatigue or illness. Of course, such can have consequences. What bothers me more than a tyrannical dispatcher, is the bad side of regulations. For example, if I start my day at, say 03:00 (with a 30min pre-trip inspection) and arrive at loc at 06:00, but it takes 8 hours to load/unload, during which I sleep, my 14 hours is still penalized, despite adequate rest. I now have 3 hours to find food, or parking and progress to my next destination, and I'll probably not sleep for a while after I stop. But dispatch wants me to optimize off-duty time by resuming immediately after my available hours refresh. So I sleep 4 hours and the federal government and dispatch are happy, because the numbers look good and my schedule is tidy. I always said bureaucracy and biology was a tough mix. A minor quibble, but it bothered me.

by eth0up 7y ago

adenta 7y ago

Thanks for the kind words! If you want, we would love to have you test our kiosk product sometime!

lhuser123 7y ago

> forced me to drive in some pretty difficult circumstances It’s unfortunate that this happens so much. Many dispatchers simply do not care about public safety. After all, they are not going to be responsible in case of an accident. What many people don’t understand is how sometimes dispatchers are able to manipulate unsuspecting drivers, especially new drivers without much experience.

eth0up 7y ago
At a good company, a dispatcher will immediately back off when a driver expresses fatigue or illness. Of course, such can have consequences. What bothers me more than a tyrannical dispatcher, is the bad side of regulations. For example, if I start my day at, say 03:00 (with a 30min pre-trip inspection) and arrive at loc at 06:00, but it takes 8 hours to load/unload, during which I sleep, my 14 hours is still penalized, despite adequate rest. I now have 3 hours to find food, or parking and progress to my next destination, and I'll probably not sleep for a while after I stop. But dispatch wants me to optimize off-duty time by resuming immediately after my available hours refresh. So I sleep 4 hours and the federal government and dispatch are happy, because the numbers look good and my schedule is tidy. I always said bureaucracy and biology was a tough mix. A minor quibble, but it bothered me.