By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Henry Browning of Maineville, who drives his own rig for Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co., believes new federal rules could cut into truckers' driving hours. (Gary Landers photo)

A new federal rule aimed at getting truck drivers more rest could mean more rigs on the road to meet the demand for shipping goods in big rigs - and higher prices on store shelves, too.

The rule, which went into effect Sunday, limits the number of hours a day a trucker can be on duty to 14.

But because that 14-hour limit is inflexible, it puts more pressure on truckers and their employers to better use their time - with an expected $1.3 billion hit to the trucking industry from lost productivity and other hassles.

Trucking experts and analysts say the impacts could go well beyond that, with the nation's economy facing the potential burden of higher truck shipping rates, a big consideration because trucks hauled nearly 70 percent of all U.S. freight in 2002.

It also may mean that it will take more drivers and trucks - crowding an already stressed highway system in Greater Cincinnati and nationwide - to meet a continued explosion in demand for shipping by trucks.

"There's no doubt about it, if drivers are driving less miles, then the carriers are going to need more drivers and more trucks," says Fred Stephenson, director of the Terry College of Business' annual trucking profitability strategy conference at the University of Georgia. "But if a rule comes in like this that is theoretically supposed to make us safer, then shippers, customers and even society as a whole will probably pay for it."

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration says the regulations will allow drivers to get more rest - and thus make the roads safer. The agency predicts it will save 75 lives, prevent 1,326 injuries and stop 6,900 other accidents, saving the economy $628 million a year.

CHANGING RULES

Here is a look at the old and new rules regarding "hours of service" for truck drivers. Old rule • Drivers were allowed to drive 10 hours a day, but could have a 15-hour duty day. That duty day could be broken up, with lunch breaks, pickup and delivery delays and other factors not counting toward the total. A driver would then have to take an eight-hour break. New rule • Drivers are allowed 11 hours of driving time, but only a 14-hour duty day. And once the clock starts, the 14 hours must run consecutively, with lunch breaks and delay times counting against that total. Once that 14-hour limit is reached, a driver must take a 10-hour break. In addition, a trucker may not drive after being on duty for 60 hours in a seven-day period or 70 hours within an eight-day period. This cycle can be restarted after a driver takes 34 consecutive hours off duty. Source: Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration

"Fatigue in the motor carrier industry is a $2.3 billion (annual) problem in what it costs the American economy," agency spokesman Andy Beck says. "So this was done to update a very old rule so that commercial drivers' work and rest schedule is better in line with their body's circadian rhythm. This will reduce fatigue and save lives."

But the agency also acknowledges that at least initially, trucking companies and their customers will suffer a financial impact of $1.3 billion.

The new rule says that once drivers start work, they have to stop 14 hours later, no matter what they are doing during that time. Previously, drivers were able to break up a 15-hour "duty day."

Drivers are now allowed 11 hours actual driving time, versus 10 under the previous rule.

After either 14 hours on duty or 11 hours of driving time, truckers must take a 10-hour break, compared with just eight hours previously. The new rule also tightens up when someone must take a "weekend" break.

The rules are enforced by local and state police, who check logs kept by truckers. Federal officials have asked for law enforcement to be lenient in the first couple of months for all but egregious violations, while truckers adapt to the new limits.

14-hour cap

The new rules could allow long-haul drivers who may be taking freight cross-country to drive longer, but only if they don't need to make pickups or deliveries. And the 14-hour cap puts inflexible limits on short-haul and regional drivers, industry officials say.

Many of those drivers are paid by the mile and not the hour. Any delays waiting for a delivery or to pick up a load will eat into their day, and potentially, their paychecks.

"Anytime the government does something like this, they take something away, and this definitely has the potential to allow for less driving time," says Henry Browning, 67, of Maineville, a 40-year-veteran who owns his own rig but drives for Northside's Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co. "I can see a lot of guys giving up their lunch breaks, because it counts against their 14-hour day, and getting something to go."

The possibility of more trucks on the highway also could put pressure on already congested urban areas such as Greater Cincinnati, home to two major truck routes - Interstates 71 and 75.

I-75 is one of the busiest truck routes in the country, with trucks accounting for as much as 30 percent of all traffic along some parts of the expressway.

"Obviously more trucks will further degrade the level of service on the highway, which means increases in congestion," says Judi Craig, corridor studies manager for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, which recently completed a study of I-75. "Trucks are already an issue for this area and OKI hopes to undertake a freight study to see the impacts on our region as a whole. This (new rule) and its implications would certainly be part of that."

But Mike Russell, a spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, the industry's main trade group, disagrees that the new rule could mean higher prices for consumers, saying that any higher costs will be absorbed.

"If anything, this puts pressure on the customers of trucking companies to become more efficient in their pickup and deliveries, because that is where the delays will occur," Russell says.

Rail alternative

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration's Beck says that the adverse economic impact should lessen as shippers become more efficient, while others say that shippers could turn increasingly to railroads, which are cheaper.

"That ... could mean a negligible impact on shipping prices, or shippers could be slow to get their act together and the trucking industry could raise rates and increase capacity," says Dan Moore, a transportation analyst with the Little Rock, Ark., office of investment firm Stephens Inc. "How it plays out remains to be seen."

Ace Doran's director of safety, Gordon Hacker, and officials with other local carriers say it's too soon to determine any impact on their businesses, pointing out that profit margins within the industry are normally very thin.

"Working things out on paper, I can see a drop of 10-20 percent in productivity," Ron Noel, director of safety for Besl Transfer Co. of Winton Terrace, says. "That very well could mean raising rates and we are looking at that, although no concrete decisions have been made."

Stephenson says there is no proof yet that the new rule will result in more-rested truckers.

"Just because you get 10 hours off doesn't mean you're going to get that much sleep," he says. "A lot of these guys are out on the road for two weeks at a time, and 10 hours at a rest stop or truck stop may not be the most conducive to sleep."

Says trucker Ned Hirsch of Norwood: "Honestly, I don't think this is going to make any difference whatsoever for a lot of cost. The same pressures for delivering and picking up on time will still be there."

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com