How bad is the issue of driver detention? Let’s put it this way: Many drivers have far more colorful words to describe the system that forces them to be on the job without pay for hours on end and unable to move on to their next destination. When a driver arrives at a shipper or consignee at a scheduled time, but is forced to wait hours on end for dock personnel to load or unload the truck, those hours are counted as “On Duty.” However, since the driver is paid per-mile, he or she is not on the road earning money during that long wait. What’s worse, all On Duty hours, including those waiting to be loaded or unloaded, are included in the federal Hours Of Service calculation that limits the driver’s total time on the road. Once that total is reached, whether it was spent actually driving or parked at a loading dock somewhere, the driver has to get off the road until the reset elapses. When this happens, the driver is frequently unable to meet the next appointment on-schedule and loses that load—and the income that goes with it.
