4 ms·

It’s not the regulations causing problems - it’s the price pressure seeking lower and lower standards. The rest of the drivers on the road don’t want to share i

by dv_dt 5y ago

It’s not the regulations causing problems - it’s the price pressure seeking lower and lower standards. The rest of the drivers on the road don’t want to share it with a truck driver on two hours of sleep, steering 15 tons of truck and cargo. Nor do they want to be around vehicles that have skipped their brake maintenance because they pushing operational hours to the edge.

dntrkv 5y ago
Agreed 100%. The problem is the regulations have increased the difficulty and stress of the job while the pay has steadily decreased. That’s why my solution is to pay more, not remove the regulations. Though there is plenty of room for improvement in the regulations. They need to provide some leeway for drivers that have been stuck in traffic for hours and can’t complete a load that’s just a couple miles away. Also, you have no idea how many truckers work around these regulations and go through insane hoops just so they can fudge the numbers. When you see that happening en masse, your regulations probably need some tuning.
- petre 5y ago
  In the EU the transport regulations are doubled by workplace security, capped maximum work hours and minimum wage regulations. So far socialism has somehow worked fine in this sector. Still, 70% of the trucking market is served by East Europeans and Westen companies have registered fleets in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and are using staff from these markets specifically. It's not only because of staffing pressure, but also heavy regulation in the West.
- dv_dt 5y ago
  I agree the solution is to pay more - that would also reduce the level effort being expended to bypass regulations by independent drivers. The problem is the independent drivers are squeezed between the logistics companies and the regulations. They need to form a union to get both better pay and better implemented regulations - but that’s difficult the way the market for their services has been evolved to break them down into individual contractors.

by dv_dt 5y ago

dntrkv 5y ago

Agreed 100%. The problem is the regulations have increased the difficulty and stress of the job while the pay has steadily decreased. That’s why my solution is to pay more, not remove the regulations. Though there is plenty of room for improvement in the regulations. They need to provide some leeway for drivers that have been stuck in traffic for hours and can’t complete a load that’s just a couple miles away. Also, you have no idea how many truckers work around these regulations and go through insane hoops just so they can fudge the numbers. When you see that happening en masse, your regulations probably need some tuning.

petre 5y ago
In the EU the transport regulations are doubled by workplace security, capped maximum work hours and minimum wage regulations. So far socialism has somehow worked fine in this sector. Still, 70% of the trucking market is served by East Europeans and Westen companies have registered fleets in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and are using staff from these markets specifically. It's not only because of staffing pressure, but also heavy regulation in the West.
dv_dt 5y ago
I agree the solution is to pay more - that would also reduce the level effort being expended to bypass regulations by independent drivers. The problem is the independent drivers are squeezed between the logistics companies and the regulations. They need to form a union to get both better pay and better implemented regulations - but that’s difficult the way the market for their services has been evolved to break them down into individual contractors.