Last Updated: April 26, 2012

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Roemer Report – May 2011

Big Brother?  On January 31, the FMCSA issued a regulatory proposal that would require interstate commercial truck and bus companies to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to monitor their drivers' hours of service (HOS) compliance.  According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, " We cannot protect our roadways when commercial truck and bus companies exceed hours-of-service rules.  This proposal would make our roads safer by ensuring that carriers traveling across state lines are using 

EOBRs to track the hours their drivers spend behind the wheel.

"EOBRs are devices attached to commercial vehicles that automatically record the number of hours drivers spend operating the vehicle. Several carriers, including Schneider National, Maverick USA, J.B. Hunt, Knight Transportation and U.S. Express Enterprise, have already installed EOBR technology on their fleets. Approximately 500,000 carriers would be affected by the proposed rule.

Under the proposal, interstate carriers that currently use Records of Duty (RODS) logbooks to document drivers' HOS would be required to use EOBRs. Short-haul interstate carriers that use timecards to document HOS would not be required to use EOBRs.

Carriers that violate this EOBR requirement would face civil penalties of up to $11,000 for each offense. Noncompliance would also negatively impact a carrier's safety fitness rating and DOT operating authority. In April 2010, FMCSA issued a final rule that mandates EOBRs for interstate carriers with serious patterns of HOS violations.

Fuel Costs Continue to Rise.  According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) the average cost per gallon of diesel was up to 3.596 per gallon as of March 28.  The cost of crude oil continues to rise, in part because of continued fears of worldwide supply interruption due to unrest in the Middle East.  According to EIA forecasts, diesel prices won't be dropping anytime soon as the price per barrel of crude is expected to climb throughout 2011 and into 2012.

Best Truck Stop Food?  Even though it's been there forever, and it is one of the biggest truck stops in the nation, the Iowa 80 Truck Stop continues to be rated highly amongst reviewers on the review website yelp.com. Sure, there is too much fast-food there - but the buffet bar is what most rave about, the "best fried chicken ever," seems to be a recurring comment.  While most everybody who drives cross country on Interstate 80 has been there, if you haven't tried the fried chicken, give it a go next time your passing through.

On-The-Road Health Screening.  Okay, so don't eat too much of that fried-chicken in Iowa, this would likely be the advice of  Jon Osburne an ex-military chief paramedic and former long haul truck driver. Mr. Osburne is currently travelling throughout the U.S. in the MeRV, or Medical Resource Vehicle, providing health education and screenings for over-the-road truckers.  The MeRV is equipped to screen blood pressure, pulse rate, blood sugar testing, and sleep apnea testing.  A major goal of MeRV mobile is to improve the health of truckers through medical education, screenings, diabetes prevention, smoking cessation, and diet and exercise instruction.  For a list of locations for MeRV go to

 http://www.brownbearsw.com/freecal/scfmerv.

Truckers Need a Highway Bill.  On March 29th, Barbara Windsor, president and CEO of Hahn Transportation Inc., and chairman of American Trucking Association told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit that the trucking industry needed Congress to quickly pass a new surface transportation bill with a focus on highways.  Windsor expressed not only the need for a safe and efficient highway system, but also the need for funding streams from sources such as the General Fund instead of fuel taxes.  With fuel prices continually climbing, Windsor maintained that fuel tax funding is untenable in the long term.  Winsor also expressed that tolls were "a very inefficient means of revenue collection," because of the tendency for truckers to use less-safe alternate routes in order to avoid tolls.  Windsor's complete testimony may be viewed online at: http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/.

Quote: Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin