Western Railroad Discussion > Hours-of-service Regs dropped. For the flood areas.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/hours-of-service-regulations-lifted-for-historic-midwest-flooding-relief-efforts/ar-BBV4deD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/19 20:00 by czuleget.

Your subject title is a bit misleading.   For diseaster relief in midwest only.

Nothing to do with railroads. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has exempted truck drivers involved in flood relief efforts in 16 states from certain regulations, including hours-of-service (HOS) compliance.

I wonder if railroads up north are using the 16 hour exemption in the HOS for emergencies?

Posted from iPhone

President Trump waived the Jones Act's requirement of US ships for service to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.  There are precedents for temporary waivers

The railroads truck drivers are in this loop as the railroads are under the same rules as other truck drivers.  

The Jones act should be PERMANENTLY repealed unconditionally.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/19 18:13 by HogheadMike.

HogheadMike Wrote:
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> The Jones act should be PERMANENTLY repealed
> unconditionally.  

Probably.  But there are a lot of connected folks who are happy to see the situation remain EXACTLY as it is now.

The situation hasn't changed in a century, through veto-proof congresses and friendly presidents.  Money talks.

jointauthority Wrote:
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> I wonder if railroads up north are using the 16
> hour exemption in the HOS for emergencies?

FRA position: Were the condition causing the HOS violation known or could have been predicted before the violation occured, there is no relief from penalty.

(Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part.)

TAW

And all American flag ships will disappear.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> President Trump waived the Jones Act's requirement
> of US ships for service to Puerto Rico after
> Hurricane Maria.  There are precedents for
> temporary waivers

And none were used. They were not needed.

Posted from Android

Wurli1938 Wrote:
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> And all American flag ships will disappear.
>
> Posted from Android

There are very few American flagged ships anyway.  The jones act has created far more hardship and burden and inefficiency than any alleged positive benefits.  It effectively outlaws shipping routes across the Pacific with stops in Hawaii.   This is why Hawaii is outrageously expensive.  It is often cheaper to fly heavy cargo such as livestock to/from Hawaii instead of using the much cheaper cargo ships because there simply are not enough ships that are legally allowed to serve Hawaii due to the Jones Act.  It's protectionism. It's cronyism and it's some of the worst kind of anti-competitive government central planning that we can muster anywhere in the developed world.

While the original post does only refer to truck drivers, the railroads and the FRA are trying to work out a waiver for temporary relief for the 12 hour hours of service law. Both the BLET and UTU have put out word to their members that they believe this has already been approved. 

HogheadMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wurli1938 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And all American flag ships will disappear.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> There are very few American flagged ships anyway.
>  The jones act has created far more hardship and
> burden and inefficiency than any alleged positive
> benefits.  It effectively outlaws shipping routes
> across the Pacific with stops in Hawaii.   This
> is why Hawaii is outrageously expensive.  It is
> often cheaper to fly heavy cargo such as livestock
> to/from Hawaii instead of using the much cheaper
> cargo ships because there simply are not enough
> ships that are legally allowed to serve Hawaii due
> to the Jones Act.  It's protectionism. It's
> cronyism and it's some of the worst kind of
> anti-competitive government central planning that
> we can muster anywhere in the developed world.


It also requires ships to be US built . Without the Jones act no commercial vessels would ever be built in US yards period . Leave the Jones act alone. Lets go one further and make railroads open Access maybe competition would bring cheaper rates and get rid of this nonsense PSR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/19 22:45 by Socalobserver.

HogheadMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wurli1938 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And all American flag ships will disappear.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> There are very few American flagged ships anyway.
>  The jones act has created far more hardship and
> burden and inefficiency than any alleged positive
> benefits.  It effectively outlaws shipping routes
> across the Pacific with stops in Hawaii.   This
> is why Hawaii is outrageously expensive.  It is
> often cheaper to fly heavy cargo such as livestock
> to/from Hawaii instead of using the much cheaper
> cargo ships because there simply are not enough
> ships that are legally allowed to serve Hawaii due
> to the Jones Act.  It's protectionism. It's
> cronyism and it's some of the worst kind of
> anti-competitive government central planning that
> we can muster anywhere in the developed world.


 New larger ships are currently being built .....In US yards

HogheadMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Jones act should be PERMANENTLY repealed
> unconditionally.  

After the Jones Act is repealed I suppose you would support staffing all trains in the U.S. with foreign
nationals and transferring dispatching to India. It is sooooo inefficient to pay railroaders and mariners a
living wage.  You might get your Chinese big screen TV for $20 less without those overpaid train crews 
involved in moving that container. 

There are a number of US companies which specialize in building barges and small coastal transport carriers.  Large amounts of crude oil are delivered to ports in New England, the Philly area, and inland waterways via barges.  Kirby is a huge player in the market, Vessel Repair is another large player out of Texas, etc.

It's a specialized business, with a lot of good jobs.  When JeffBoat in Louisville KY / Jeffersonville IN closed two years ago, something like 3,000 direct and supplier jobs were lost.