CTA & OTA alert Shippers to US Hours of Service, Security Costs

The Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association delivered a special session to shippers today on the implications of the new US hours of service regulations, which kick-in January 4, 2004, and new US border security measures. In total about 100 shippers, members of the Canadian Industrial Transportation, Association attended the half-day session in Toronto.

"Both the new US hours of service rules and new security measures will increase the costs of transportation in their own right; together they compound the situation," said David Bradley, CEO of Canadian Trucking Alliance and president, Ontario Trucking Association.

"There is a change in the way time will be accounted for during a driver’s work shift. From now on drivers will have to clock all driving and non-driving time as part of a 14 hour work shift. This means a loss of productivity (on average by 10%) by the driver and the truck," said Barrie Montague, OTA Vice President.

For shippers, this means transit times will increase. Drivers will no longer be able to tolerate delays at shipping/receiving docks. Freight that requires drivers to wait, to help in the counting, loading/unloading process, or is subject to unplanned delays will be affected. JIT shipments, multi-stop loads, and appointments will be most vulnerable, the OTA told shippers.

The new hours of service rules will also add to the serious consequences of delays at the border. Ron Lennox, VP, Regulatory Affairs at CTA and Stephen Laskowski, OTA’s manager of policy & research and CTA associate VP, provided background on the myriad of new US security measures including electronic pre-notification, hazardous materials credentialing, etc. The shippers were also encouraged to get on-board with programs like FAST.

"The co-operation of shippers and receivers is critical in terms of the mitigating the productivity and efficiency impacts of the various new rules and in moderating the inevitable freight rate increases that must result," said Bradley. "Carriers need you to work with them to reduce the amount of time drivers spend performing non-driving tasks – they must get in and out of facilities quickly. We also need you to ensure that all border crossing procedures are followed and that shippers take advantage of programs like FAST. The costs of delays cannot be borne exclusively by carriers, nor can they be absorbed on the backs of the drivers."

OTA has produced a special overview of the new US hours of service rules for shippers. This document can be downloaded from the OTA web site at www.ontruck.org. For further information on the US rules consult the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association web site at www.fmcsa.dot.gov. Further information on the new US security measures can be obtained from the CTA Web Site, www.cantruck.com and from OTA.