William Pugh - Comments

I have been an over-the-road truckdriver for over 40 yrs. My father drove for over 50 yrs and retired (finally) at the age of 72. My son is also an OTR driver and I have a brother driving OTR and another driving local. I started as a company driver and then went as an owner-operator leased to carriers for approximately 20 yrs., then went back to driving a company truck for the company I had been leased to for the last 15 yrs. I believe the above qualifies me to speak on the subject of H O S. I am satisfied with the 11 hrs. of driving with 10 hrs. off duty/sleeper and the 14 hrs. on duty total however, I do not like the clock starting and stopping 14 hrs. later. We should be allowed at least a 2 hr. break off duty in the 14 hr. period that stops the clock. That time would be used for eating, showering, or resting which would be "off-duty" activities. At my age I like to take a "power nap" in the afternoon, which I used to do a lot under the "old 10 driving-15 on duty" H O S. I know that would extend us into a 16 hr. work day but, with an hour or so nap that would increase our alertness, instead of working 14 straight hrs. without a break. How many people working an 8-5 job work without a break and how many of those that do get a break in the morning, lunch period, and break in the afternoon get paid for their breaks? We do not get paid by the hour as those people do, we are paid by the mile so when we are sitting for meal periods why should we lose money because we lost an hour or so eating or showering. In an hour I can average approximtely 60 mph in most of the states that I operate in and that means that I am losing approximately $21.30/hr. because my time clock is still running, but I am not. I am a regional driver now and take advantage of the 34 hr. restart every week. In the spring, summer and fall that is about the amount of time that I get at home per weekend. I can live with that but, would like to see the 34 hr restart extended 42 or 44 hrs. Thank you.