BLACK ROCK BEACH — The big rig with Ontario plates had been in the view area overlooking the south end of the Great Salt Lake since 5 a.m. That was according to its sole occupant, "Jim," who was, as always, halfway between here and there.
Jim, who had wisely kept the window rolled up in such close proximity to the salty lake, rolled it down, looked out through half-open eyes and shouted over the truck's engine, "Mornin'."
I told him I was a reporter and wanted his reaction to the Department of Transportation's new proposal to effectively reduce the maximum hours a trucker can drive per day from 15 to 12.
He rolled his eyes.
"They're trying to jack us around again," he said.
"Who's 'they?' "
"The federal government."
I then asked, "In your opinion, is sleepy truck drivers a problem?"
He waited as a fellow big rigger passed by at 75 mph on the adjacent I-80 freeway.
"Yes it is," he finally shouted.
And therein lies the dilemma.
Most long-haul truck drivers get paid by the mile. Jim being one of them. When he pulls into Black Rock Beach for a little snooze time, he's losing money. The longer he sleeps, the more he loses.
It's the reason coffee was invented.
Under rules that have been in effect since 1939, a solo driver like Jim can drive 10 hours and then he has to spend eight hours resting. At that rate, he can legally average around 15 driving hours for every 24-hour period.
The newly proposed rules, scheduled to be discussed at public hearings around the country, shift the focus from an 18-hour clock to a 24-hour clock and simply call for a maximum 12 hours of driving in any given day, followed by 12 hours off, with a maximum of 60 driving hours per week.
Additionally, there is talk of installing black boxes, or on-board recorders, similar to those used in airliners, under the driver's seat in all long-haul trucks. Besides being able to provide information regarding accidents, these black boxes would also be able to tell police if a driver has driven more than 12 hours in a day. In other words, it would crack down on altered log books.
In the world of trucking commerce, these are huge proposals, with ramifications that could seriously affect the face of the highways. The American Trucking Association estimates that if the new rules are implemented and enforced, as many as 180,000 additional drivers would be needed to make up for the lost hours.
More threatening: the trucking association says no way your ice cream or your swordfish will be delivered fresh anymore.
It will be sitting at Black Rock Beach as Jim gets his shut-eye.
The other side of the story is this: Every year, more than 5,000 people are killed in truck-related accidents. As many as half of these crashes, maybe more, involve driver fatigue.
Here's the deadly formula the government's new proposed Hours of Service rules are trying to tweak: miles=dollars=collisions.
On paper, it makes sense.
But in the cab of Jim's truck, it's only another reason to hate "them."
"They keep wanting to stick it to the truckers in this country," he says as his diesel engine roars. "I'll tell you how to solve driver fatigue. When you get tired, pull off the road and get some sleep. That's what I do."
It was just a few minutes before 10 and he was ready to go. Time's wastin' and time's money.
He'd had his five hours, and he was good as new.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.