Did FMCSA change requirements for the 34 hour restart?

You won the cookie. It was a requirement a few years ago. A lot of guys hated it but the truth be told it was a good regulation. Companies want drivers to get that 34 hr reset in but the problem with that is they expect you to run back to work after 34.01 hours.

This regulation actually made it to where drivers would actually end up needing somewhere around 40-48 hours to get a legit 34 hour reset. The regulation also stated no more multiple 34 hour resets per week.

But drivers largely hated this regulation and whined that they couldn't give away free time all week long getting more than one 34 hr reset in. They also whined that they had to miss so much work and who needs more than 34 hours with family to unwind anyways? Right?? Sound stupid? Yeah that's how a lot of drivers think about it.

It also had the very beneficial effect (if you were an owner operator or company owner anyway) of creating a scenario where the regulation effectively removed a LOT of available truck capacity from the marketplace on Fridays and the weekends. It had this effect even back in the paper log days when it was actually in effect. Most company drivers wanted to be home weekends and get that reset so them insisting on being off for 48 hours, and the company needing them to reset so they could maximize utilization, took all of that capacity out of the market place.

I've had guys on this forum laugh and argue that wasn't true but it absolutely is. Before they did away with that regulation Friday used to always be a great day to score a long or short haul spot market run for over the weekend that paid way better than typical rates. Now that, and the combination of ELD's practicality forcing carriers and o/o into a scenario where they MUST keep that truck rolling thru weekends has had the effect of making Friday loads and weekend covers some if the cheapest and easiest to cover freight there is. These days Mondays and Tuesdays are your hot days when volumes are up. That's what this regulation caused.

People will argue that with me and that's fine but they're wrong lol. It was a good regulation that never should have gone away. OOIDA foolishly supported removing it and that was detrimental to us all.

 

Yeah I had to look it up but it was in effect for about 2 years 34 Hour Reset - Information Truck Driver’s Need to Know). I thought it was longer than that I'll look into google and see if I can find more info. It wasn't a part of the original regulation when they took us from the old 8 hour rest break and made it a 10 hour rest break. Seems like that rule went into effect around 2004 or 2005? Google will know. I remember the old 8 hour break days. Drivers whined and complained about the 10 hour break implementation but the truth is, imo, it was also a good regulation. With 10 hours you have plenty of time to get a real rest break in plus take a shower and eat without being rushed. But split breaks screw that up.

 

It also unduly punished night owls. Once I logged out at 1:15 qm and had to take a 53 hour reset because of that stupid rule. (It was a holiday weekend, so I had the time off, but still...)

 

I was running regional flatbed with weekends off at the time and it sucked. If you couldn’t make it home by 1am Saturday morning it pooched your reset and depending on how your recaps looked it could really short your next week doing what we were doing. I was happy it went away.

 

Anything that makes for better quality hometime I'm all for it. You won't ever hear me complain about 53 hours at home. I'm not going to be that guy laying on my deathbed wishing I could've worked more.

 

We had a pretty good schedule. But because of what we did something simple like not getting a restart in and having to run recaps could screw up our entire next week. Coming in on a Friday night and having to chain up a couple times or having to wait for a tow truck to get a spun out truck out of the way that stupid restart provision would screw everything up.

Leaving sometime on Monday instead of Sunday afternoon would mean you’d be back in the yard sometime on Thursday because you’d be missing out on a full round. I’m all for time off but as a company driver those 2 round weeks instead of 3 would be a pretty short paycheck.

 

While I agree with the sentiment, I got plenty of home time. Local working about 9 hours a night, plus weekends off. All that 53 hour reset did was make it so I couldn't work Monday
. Partly stupid company policy (must start the week with a fresh 70) and partly stupid 1-5am rule.