My First Run-in With The HOS Brick Wall

Well, I'm finally starting to understand why people hate the HOS regulations so much. I'm finding them to be both unfair and unsafe, despite the intentions of those who created them. And today was the worst I've experienced so far.

After an up-and-down week as far as hours go, I found myself with 5.75 hours left on my 70 this morning, and about 500 miles to go to my destination. My delivery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

So I started the day in Missoula and headed west (delivery is in Sumner, WA). After spending some time with my family along the way, I ended up in Moses Lake, WA, 185 miles away from my drop, with 15 minutes left on my 70. I get back 11 hours tonight at midnight.

The thing about this that sucks is that I feel energized and rested and ready to go right now, but because of the stupid bureaucratic rules, I'm not allowed to drive. They know nothing about me, my stamina, my sleep cycles, my routines, but they have already determined, before any of this ever happened mind you, that I must be worn out right now and therefore I must sleep... in the middle of the afternoon. There is no way I could possibly get a solid sleep at that time. I mean it's 9pm now and I'm still awake.

They've also determined that somehow, at midnight, I will instantly not be worn out anymore. 11pm? Nope, sorry, go to sleep. 12am? Hey, here's 11 hours, go for it buddy!

So in order to make my delivery, I must now get up at 3am and drive in the middle of the night when I am normally the sleepiest.

See, instead of letting me just drive when I know I am the safest, I am now forced to drive when I am the unsafest. I could have easily made it to my destination this afternoon and taken a long, relaxing evening, but now I'll hardly get any rest at all. Welcome to the wonderful world of DOT regulations.