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Charles Ryser, an owner-operator truck driver with RYPH Transportation of Forsyth, Ga., poses for a portrait after completing a haul and parking at a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. Ryser laments new hours of service regulations that went into effect July 1 and were upheld in a federal appeals court last week. Ryser counters that the trucking industry is the safest it's ever been, and the new regulations are an unnecessary and costly burden to owner-operator team drivers like himself.
Charles Ryser, right, opens the door for his father David Ryser, of Forsyth, Ga., as they carry change bags toward the showers at a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. Trucking runs deep in the Ryser family, although Charles, 35, didn't get his CDL until he was 31. He previously held a civil engineering job in Kansas.
Charles Ryser, left, and father David Ryser, of Forsyth, Ga., carry change bags toward the showers at a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. Before new hours of service regulations, Charles and David split driving time equally between day and night shifts. New rules that demand longer and more frequent rest hamper their routine and make it difficult to conform to a schedule, said Charles. "You can't manage your time, time manages you," said David.
After showering and cleaning up, David Ryser, left, and son Charles Ryser, owner-operators of RYPH Transportation in Forsyth, Ga., sit for a meal at an Iron Skillet restaurant in a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. The two men split time behind the wheel, averaging a combined 6,000 miles a week for three-to-four weeks straight. Charles Ryser has a wife, daughter and twin boys back home in Georgia.
Charles Ryser, owner-operator of RYPH Transportation in Forsyth, Ga., laughs while talking to his father David during a meal at an Iron Skillet restaurant in a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. The Ryser's average a combined 6,000 miles a week for three-to-four weeks straight. Charles has a wife, daughter and twin boys back home in Georgia.
A parking lot of bobtail trucks, many idling with drivers resting inside, is seen at a Petro Stopping Center on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 in Bordentown, N.J. A new set of regulations on the hours of service a truck driver can be on the road survived a challenge last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
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