December 28, 2010: Teamster drivers who would like to comment on proposed regs from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can do so with these links.

You can comment on the proposed Hours of Service changes here.

This chart summarizes those proposed HOS changes.

You can comment on the proposed ban on driving while using hand-held cell phones here.

December 27, 2010: See a detailed chart with the proposed hours of service changes.

Click here to read the chart from the FMCSA.

In the worst economy since the Great Depression, Bill Zollars can’t be blamed for all the problems at YRC. But he sure hasn’t done much to help.

Teamster members have paid the price for his epic mis-leadership. Now he’s finally getting the boot. Good riddance, Bill.

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When ABF asked IBT Freight Director Tyson Johnson for concessions, he said Yes. But ABF Teamsters had a different idea.

They listened closely to the company’s argument, debated the issues, rejected the scare tactics, and voted down the concessions in a close vote.

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December 21, 2010: Industry speculation suggests the new Hours of Service proposal will cut back driving time from 11 hours a day to 10 hours. A change in the 34-hour restart rule is also anticipated.

The latest try at an Hours of Service rule has cleared a White House review, meaning details of a new proposal could be announced as early as the this week.

The Office of Management and Budget gave the HOS rule back to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Friday.

The agency has said it would present the new regs for public comment by the end of the year, and turnaround time for publication in the Federal Register is usually about a week once a proposed rule has been returned from OMB.

Industry speculation suggests the proposal will cut back driving time from 11 hours a day to 10 hours. A change in the 34-hour restart rule is also anticipated.

Another look at HOS was driven by labor and highway safety groups who have fought the rule since the 11th hour was added in 2003. In an October 2009 court settlement, FMCSA — which had defended the current rule twice — agreed to publish a new final rule by July 2011.

The agency also has committed to the publication by year’s end of rules regarding on-board data recorders and cell phone use. The latter came out last Friday.

December 21, 2010: The Department of Transportation Friday proposed banning interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating a commercial motor vehicle, and sets stiff fines for violators.

Drivers could face fines of up to $2,750 per violation — and loss of their commercial driver’s license for multiple offenses — while carriers’ fines could be as high as $11,000, DOT said.

Click here to read more at Transport Topics.

December 20, 2010: WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Friday proposed prohibiting commercial truck and bus drivers from using cellphones while behind the wheel.

The Transportation Department rule would affect approximately 4 million drivers, who are already banned by the government from texting while working.

Click here to read more at CNBC.

December 20, 2010: Freight Teamsters have gotten little but bad news from their employers and from the Hoffa administration.

Now freight retirees in the West—and those soon to retire—are facing health cost increases of over 400 percent!

The Western Teamsters Welfare Trust (WTWT) is raising the cost of retiree health care for many retirees from approximately $125 to a whopping $725 per month per individual ($1,450 to include spouse coverage). Even those eligible to join an HMO will have to pony up to $511 per month (or $1,022 for spouse coverage).

A Dec. 6 letter spells it out: due to fewer active freight Teamsters in the fund, there is not enough money coming in to continue the retiree Pre-Funding Program. Teamsters will be hit with impossibly high costs. This situation of isolating freight retirees should never have been allowed to happen. In the Central States Health and Welfare Fund, retirees pay $200 ($400 for a couple) because the fund has a broader base of funding along with funding from active freight Teamsters.

IBT Sits Back

YRC Teamsters who retire early have lost two years of pension credits and many have lost their eligibility for 80-and-out (age plus service years), but at least they could look forward to affordable health care coverage. Now that is being ripped off.

Once again the union leadership sat back, allowed the situation get to the edge of a financial cliff, then told Teamsters there’s no choice but to slash benefits.

If James Hoffa, Tyson Johnson, Ken Hall and Randy Cammack were covered by this fund, you can bet your rent money that action would have been taken to address the situation. They all have free health care for life, paid by Teamster dues.

YRC Teamsters have given up tens of thousands of dollars of wages and more than that in pension credits to save their company and jobs. Now many are facing the impossibility of retiring, due to this escalation of health care costs.

December 20, 2010: YRC thinks our union will take pretty much anything management wants.

But members are pushing back.

Since YRCW got the concessions approved in the vote, they decided that YRC Teamsters and the Teamsters Union will take pretty much anything management wants. But Teamster members are pushing back.

“Most Teamsters were willing to vote yes to try to save the company and the job but we didn’t vote to work for free,” reports Glenn Nicodemus, a Holland line haul driver out of Ft. Wayne, Ind. “The company is using the MOU to do whatever they want and we can’t get any clarifying language out of the IBT.”

Breaking the Agreement

At the Copley, Ohio terminal, YRC decided to expand the concession agreement in terms of straight eight-hour bids. After members and Local 24 pushed back, the issue was put on hold—at least for now. The steward they fired over a nonexistent work stoppage is back to work.

In Chicago, Kansas City and elsewhere, YRC eliminated rail shuttle jobs, taking trailers to and from the rail yards, saying all that work would be done by road drivers under the one pick-up and delivery concession clause. Again, a push back from Teamster members has that situation held off, at least for now.

Then Holland management decided that they could have road drivers do drop-and-hook work at breakbulk terminals, although the concession agreement specifically prohibits this practice. They claim there is some difference between “distribution centers” and “breakbulks.” Even worse, they decided road drivers should perform this work for free, without going on the clock to be paid. This affects several Holland terminals in the Midwest.

Teamsters Demand Action

Once again, Teamsters and some locals demanded action from the International, and at least for now, the problem has been stopped.

As one YRC steward told us, “They signed this concession agreement, and it doesn’t seem like the International Union has much of an idea what it means, or how to enforce it. We gave the company a hell of a lot. It’s time for the Hoffa administration to demand that YRC live up to its obligations.”

We Won’t Work for Free

“Most Teamsters were willing to vote yes to try to save the company and the job but we didn’t vote to work for free.

“The company is using the MOU to do whatever they want and we can’t get any clarifying language out of the IBT.”

Glenn Nicodemus, Holland
Local 414, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

December 20, 2010: YRC Teamsters were asked to vote for massive concessions for nearly five years, and were offered one benefit: resumption of pension credits, at a smaller contribution rate.

The question now is: what pension credits will they get?

No Answers

Members are entitled to know the answers, but so far, they’re not getting any. The Central States Pension Fund trustees met on Dec. 7-9, but didn’t bother to take up the issue.

As we go to press we have no information on what the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund will do. There are reports that the Western fund may refuse to give credits, and put the $1.75 per hour YRC pension contribution into a 401(k) type plan called the Pacific Coast Benefits Fund. That would be a tragic situation for YRC Teamsters in the West who are working to qualify for their 80-and-out (age plus service years) early retirement.

Why didn’t the Hoffa administration work out these pension issues before finalizing the deal?