In July of 2013, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, amended the Hours of Service (HOS) allowed for trucking employees. The new HOS requirement prohibits a driver from being on the road for over eleven hours in a fourteen hour workday, making the maximum time a trucker can work in a workweek 70 hours.
Compared to 2012, when the HOS limit was 82 hours per workweek, the possible Hours of Service have decreased by 12 hours. The trucking industry has long since suffered from a labor shortage, so when the new stringent work limit was announced, many people in the trucking industry projected that productivity would suffer.
The FMCSA stands by the newly imposed rules, claiming that the changes will help reduce the likelihood of fatigue-related trucking accidents. Ray Lahood, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, mentioned that they made these rules with safety in mind, not profits.
Unfortunately, HOS regulations are only one component that contributes to the overall financial standing of truckers and trucking companies. If you are having trouble making ends meet because you have clients who have failed to pay their invoices on time, freight factoring can offer you the relief you need. Contact TBS Factoring Service today at 800-207-7661 to learn more about how we can help.