It is a sad state of affairs when the well-being of an animal is taken more seriously than the well-being of a human. Alas, this is what is happening in the trucking industry throughout the country as more and more anti idling regulations are being passed and as companies limit idling in their attempts to increase their bottom lines. Citing fuel costs, almost all companies are requiring their drivers not to idle the trucks except in extreme temperatures if at all while most are not providing APUs to make sure their drivers can sleep safely and comfortably. States are passing anti idling laws saying that trucks are polluting the air by idling while a driver is taking their mandated breaks. A person can get a ticket for leaving a dog in a not running car even with the windows down, where does concern for the health and safety of the driver come in.
There is a big push on about driver’s health and their driving safely with sleep apnea being determined to cause driver fatigue. No one has addressed not idling as contributing to driver fatigue. Almost all anti idling laws have some sort of rule that allows a driver to idle their truck for 5-10 minutes an hour during their required breaks to cool or heat the sleeper. Think about it. A driver cools their truck down enough to go to sleep initially. Then when they get too cold or hot to sleep, they have to get up, turn on the truck and sit there hoping that in the time allowed, the truck either warms up enough to produce heat or cools the cab down enough to be able to return to sleep. They then have to turn off the truck again only to repeat this routine repeatedly throughout the break time.
FMCSA HOS regulations require, “CMV drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus 2 consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.” Consecutive means all at once, not interrupted every hour or so for 10 minutes to get up to heat or cool the truck down.
The body regulates temperature through a process known as thermoregulation, which is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when temperature surrounding it is very different. Too low of a body temperature results in hypothermia which is dangerously low body temperature, below 95F; too high of a body temperature results in hyperthermia which is dangerously high body temperature 102F+.
There are no studies done about truckers and the extremes in temperature they will have to endure when not being able to idle their trucks. I did however find studies on extreme temperatures from the military, fire departments and OSHA among others. From Firehouse.com: “From a medical perspective…even when outside temperatures are fairly tolerable (a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, for example), the interior temperature of a closed vehicle can rapidly become lethal (over 135F) in a very few minutes.”
OSHA has identified the effects of extreme temperatures on workers. “The effects of hypothermia and hyperthermia are, loss of concentration and difficulty focusing on a task for hyperthermia, for hypothermia: loss of ability to do complex motor functions, lethargy and mild confusion. (Moreover, those are just the first signs of it!) Hypothermia can occur not only in freezing temperatures but also is common among the elderly who live in cold houses,” says OSHA. What about a driver in a cold truck, Can the effects on the human body be safe for truckers to chance?
To put a face on those who are suffering from the in justice of the laws and policies about idling, Laurie, a rookie woman driver who has been driving for just 3 months, was told by her company that she could not idle her truck for any reason no matter what the temperature or she would be fired. She runs the West Coast and the Rocky Mountains where temperatures can range from below zero in the mountains to well above 100 degrees in the California deserts. When Laurie requested to be assigned a truck with an APU unit installed, which the company has some of, she was told that she had not earned it yet. Laurie has few options due to her lack of experience other than comply.
Another rookie driver died last year in a truck stop because of his employer putting a gas run generator in the cab of the truck where the jump seat had been removed where it could not be stolen, so the driver could run a fan while trying to sleep instead of idling. Though the generator was vented out the side window, it was not adequate to keep carbon monoxide out of the cab and sleeper berth.
Not only rookie drivers are being affected. I was employed for 21 months by a trucking company where I was one of the top three rated drivers in the company for 2007. By the end of the first quarter of 2008, I stood in great jeopardy of being fired due to my idle times not meeting company guidelines even though I was still in the top tier of drivers. I have to idle the truck while sleeping due to health reasons, but the company did not care. I chose to quit before being fired. Even with my career record, it was difficult to find a company with reasonable idling policies.
Fatigue and driving safety are not the only factors not being taken into consideration by the ‘powers that be’ that set anti idling laws and policies. A driver’s personal safety is also grossly affected. Trucks and truckers have always had a bull’s eye on them marking them as targets for robbery, hijackings and other crimes against a person. A driver who has to leave windows and vents open for ventilation is setting themselves and their equipment up as easy marks for criminals. Not only does it allow devices to be used easier to unlock doors, but for over the 30+ years I have been driving, I have heard of many instances where criminal shoots ether into cabs of trucks to sedate the driver so they can be raped, robbed or the truck and load stolen.
The public does not understand the damage the anti idling laws can do to a trucker, they do not think about us as people affected adversely. A woman at a plant where I was loading overheard me talking about Laurie’s plight and asked what I was talking about. She said, “Trucks cause pollution so shouldn‘t idle.” When I explained it, she was appalled that people would be forced to try to sleep in those conditions. She understood better, when I asked her if she would try to sleep in her car in 70+/- degree weather with just her windows down. She said, “No, she would not be able to sleep due to the temperatures!” When I asked her if she would consider sleeping in the parking lot of the plant or in her driveway at home in her car with her windows cracked or down to stay cool at night, she exclaimed, “heck no...It would not be safe!” Thank you ma‘am...my points exactly.
There is a big push on about driver’s health and their driving safely with sleep apnea being determined to cause driver fatigue. No one has addressed not idling as contributing to driver fatigue. Almost all anti idling laws have some sort of rule that allows a driver to idle their truck for 5-10 minutes an hour during their required breaks to cool or heat the sleeper. Think about it. A driver cools their truck down enough to go to sleep initially. Then when they get too cold or hot to sleep, they have to get up, turn on the truck and sit there hoping that in the time allowed, the truck either warms up enough to produce heat or cools the cab down enough to be able to return to sleep. They then have to turn off the truck again only to repeat this routine repeatedly throughout the break time.
FMCSA HOS regulations require, “CMV drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus 2 consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.” Consecutive means all at once, not interrupted every hour or so for 10 minutes to get up to heat or cool the truck down.
The body regulates temperature through a process known as thermoregulation, which is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when temperature surrounding it is very different. Too low of a body temperature results in hypothermia which is dangerously low body temperature, below 95F; too high of a body temperature results in hyperthermia which is dangerously high body temperature 102F+.
There are no studies done about truckers and the extremes in temperature they will have to endure when not being able to idle their trucks. I did however find studies on extreme temperatures from the military, fire departments and OSHA among others. From Firehouse.com: “From a medical perspective…even when outside temperatures are fairly tolerable (a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, for example), the interior temperature of a closed vehicle can rapidly become lethal (over 135F) in a very few minutes.”
OSHA has identified the effects of extreme temperatures on workers. “The effects of hypothermia and hyperthermia are, loss of concentration and difficulty focusing on a task for hyperthermia, for hypothermia: loss of ability to do complex motor functions, lethargy and mild confusion. (Moreover, those are just the first signs of it!) Hypothermia can occur not only in freezing temperatures but also is common among the elderly who live in cold houses,” says OSHA. What about a driver in a cold truck, Can the effects on the human body be safe for truckers to chance?
To put a face on those who are suffering from the in justice of the laws and policies about idling, Laurie, a rookie woman driver who has been driving for just 3 months, was told by her company that she could not idle her truck for any reason no matter what the temperature or she would be fired. She runs the West Coast and the Rocky Mountains where temperatures can range from below zero in the mountains to well above 100 degrees in the California deserts. When Laurie requested to be assigned a truck with an APU unit installed, which the company has some of, she was told that she had not earned it yet. Laurie has few options due to her lack of experience other than comply.
Another rookie driver died last year in a truck stop because of his employer putting a gas run generator in the cab of the truck where the jump seat had been removed where it could not be stolen, so the driver could run a fan while trying to sleep instead of idling. Though the generator was vented out the side window, it was not adequate to keep carbon monoxide out of the cab and sleeper berth.
Not only rookie drivers are being affected. I was employed for 21 months by a trucking company where I was one of the top three rated drivers in the company for 2007. By the end of the first quarter of 2008, I stood in great jeopardy of being fired due to my idle times not meeting company guidelines even though I was still in the top tier of drivers. I have to idle the truck while sleeping due to health reasons, but the company did not care. I chose to quit before being fired. Even with my career record, it was difficult to find a company with reasonable idling policies.
Fatigue and driving safety are not the only factors not being taken into consideration by the ‘powers that be’ that set anti idling laws and policies. A driver’s personal safety is also grossly affected. Trucks and truckers have always had a bull’s eye on them marking them as targets for robbery, hijackings and other crimes against a person. A driver who has to leave windows and vents open for ventilation is setting themselves and their equipment up as easy marks for criminals. Not only does it allow devices to be used easier to unlock doors, but for over the 30+ years I have been driving, I have heard of many instances where criminal shoots ether into cabs of trucks to sedate the driver so they can be raped, robbed or the truck and load stolen.
The public does not understand the damage the anti idling laws can do to a trucker, they do not think about us as people affected adversely. A woman at a plant where I was loading overheard me talking about Laurie’s plight and asked what I was talking about. She said, “Trucks cause pollution so shouldn‘t idle.” When I explained it, she was appalled that people would be forced to try to sleep in those conditions. She understood better, when I asked her if she would try to sleep in her car in 70+/- degree weather with just her windows down. She said, “No, she would not be able to sleep due to the temperatures!” When I asked her if she would consider sleeping in the parking lot of the plant or in her driveway at home in her car with her windows cracked or down to stay cool at night, she exclaimed, “heck no...It would not be safe!” Thank you ma‘am...my points exactly.
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