Form MCSA-5877 Qualitative Discussion Guide One-on-one In Depth Intervi

Qualitative: Carriers
10/23/12

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX
Expiration Date:

MCSA-5877
A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure
to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information
displays a current valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2126-XXXX. Public reporting for this
collection of information is estimated to be approximately 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering the
data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. All responses to this collection of information are voluntary and
confidentiality will be provided to the extent allowed by law. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this
collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Information Collection Clearance Officer, Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration, MC-RRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590-0001.

Survey Research to Support Revisions to the Agency’s
Electronic Onboard Recorder (EOBR) Rule
Qualitative Discussion Guide
One-on-one In Depth Interview with Carriers

I want to thank you again for your time, and remind you that this discussion is for research purposes only.
I’ll be recording this discussion so that I don’t have to slow it down by taking notes.
1.

Before we begin, can you give me some background information about your job? (Probe for
information such as type of freight, whether drivers are employees/independent owner
operators/lease truck, paid by hour or by mileage, typical route [distance, other states, etc.],
truck information [size of truck BUT DO NOT ASK ABOUT HOW HOURS ARE RECORDED
OR EOBR], how many trucks in company fleet, how many trucks/drivers this individual is
responsible for.)

2.

What, if anything, do you like about your job? (Probe for additional aspects and specifics.)

3.

And what, if anything, do you dislike about your job? (Probe for additional aspects and
specifics.)

4.

What are the greatest challenges for you and your company with respect to managing the fleet and
the shipping? (Probe for additional aspects and specifics.)

5.

Are the drivers under your management generally able to meet schedules and expectations without
additional prodding?

6.

What kinds of prodding, if any, do you have to do? What kinds of requests do you have to make?

7.

How would you describe your relationship with your drivers? (Probe for additional aspects and
specifics.)

8.

Have you ever asked your drivers to do anything which they might have seen as putting their health
or well-being at risk? (Probe for additional aspects and specifics.)

9.

Have you ever asked your drivers to do anything which they might have felt required them to put in
more hours than the law allows? (Probe for specifics.)

10.

If one of your drivers has been on duty for more hours than the law allows, how does that show up
in the records? (Probe for specifics.)

11

Looking back at your dealings with your drivers, have there been any occasions when you think
they might have felt harassed by you over their work? (If respondent asks what meant by
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Qualitative: Carriers
10/23/12
harassment, tell him it is as he interprets it.) (Probe for specifics.) What were you asking
them to do? What did you say to them? How did the driver react?
12.

If drivers felt harassed: Do you have a sense what about it constituted harassment in their
opinions? (Probe: Was it what you were asking? The frequency? Tone? Potential consequences?)

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Qualitative: Carriers
10/23/12
13.

We’re speaking to a number of carriers, and have heard a variety of opinions. I’m going to read you
a list of driver experiences, and I’d like you to tell me which of them, if any, you think your drivers
might consider harassment if you asked it of them.

Schedules:
Asking a driver to meet a customer load schedule they viewed as unrealistic

1

Asking a customer to adjust a load schedule so it was realistic for the driver

2

Fatigue:
Asking a driver to operate when the driver felt they were fatigued

3

Asking a driver to shut down if they felt fatigued

4

Logging and breaks:
Asking a driver to log inaccurately to get more work time or delay a break

5

Asking a driver to log accurately when they wanted more work time or to delay a break

6

Changing a driver’s log record after it was made to give them more work time or delay a break

7

Asking a driver to take sufficient time off duty to recover from fatigue

8

Communications:
Interrupting a driver’s off-duty time with a message that woke them up

9

Contacting a driver promptly about a new job task so they didn’t have to wait without pay

10

Paid and Unpaid Time:
Paying a driver for customer delays in picking up or delivering freight

11

Requiring a driver to wait for customer delays for more than two hours without pay

12

Arranging a driver’s loads so they had little delay time between loads

13

Requiring a driver to wait between loads for more than two hours without pay.

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Qualitative: Carriers
10/23/12
14.

In a typical month, do you, yourself, have these interactions with your drivers?

Schedules:
Asking a driver to meet a customer load schedule they viewed as unrealistic

1

Asking a customer to adjust a load schedule so it was realistic for the driver

2

Fatigue:
Asking a driver to operate when the driver felt they were fatigued

3

Asking a driver to shut down if they felt fatigued

4

Logging and breaks:
Asking a driver to log inaccurately to get more work time or delay a break

5

Asking a driver to log accurately when they wanted more work time or to delay a break

6

Changing a driver’s log record after it was made to give them more work time or delay a break

7

Asking a driver to take sufficient time off duty to recover from fatigue

8

Communications:
Interrupting a driver’s off-duty time with a message that woke them up

9

Contacting a driver promptly about a new job task so they didn’t have to wait without pay

10

Paid and Unpaid Time:
Paying a driver for customer delays in picking up or delivering freight

11

Requiring a driver to wait for customer delays for more than two hours without pay

12

Arranging a driver’s loads so they had little delay time between loads

13

Requiring a driver to wait between loads for more than two hours without pay.

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15.

How do you handle situations when your drivers don’t comply with your requests or push back?
Probe: Do you talk about potential consequences? (Probe for specifics: do the consequences
vary according to the request, driver, etc.?)

16.

Have you ever used paper service logs or records to persuade your drivers that they work longer
hours or take on additional work? (Probe for specifics.) Have you ever done so with electronic
logs?

IF “USER” ASK Q17a. IF NON-USER, ASK Q17b
17a. If your company used paper logs instead of an electronic system to record drivers’ service hours,,
do you think you’d be more likely, less likely, or no more or less likely to ask them to put in more
hours? (How would it be different?)
17b. If your company used an electronic system to record drivers service hours instead of paper, do you
think you’d be more likely, less likely, or no more or less likely to ask them to put in more hours?
(How would it be different?)
IF USER, ASK Q.18a/b
18a. Does your company have any techniques, policies, or systems in place to assure drivers that you
won’t use data from EOBRs to harass them? (Probe for specifics.)
18b. Can you think of any (other) improvements in technologies or systems which could be used to
prevent companies from using its EOBRs to harass its drivers?
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Qualitative: Carriers
10/23/12
IF NON-USER, ASK Q19:
19
Other companies might use service records – paper logs, EOBRs, and such to harass its drivers in
order to gain a competitive edge. Thinking of EOBRs in particular, can you think of any
improvement in the technology or the typical processes which could be used to prevent companies
from harassing its drivers? (Probe for specifics.)

THANK RESPONDENT AND END INTERVIEW.

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