In December 2010, the Department of Transportation released new proposed changes to the existing hours-of-service rules governing the trucking industry.
Since 2004, the DOT has governed the rules by which truckers and trucking companies operate within their workday.
However, in an attempt to decrease the number of accidents involving commercial vehicles and to increase punishment for those who break those rules, the DOT has proposed several new changes and updates the existing rules.
Firstly, the new rules state that drivers must be able to complete all of their driving during a 14 hour period, with all work-related duties being completed within 13 hours in order to allow for a 1 hour break.
The second part of the new rules is an adjustment to the already existing 34 hour restart rule.
The 34 hour restart rule requires that drivers take 34 hours off before beginning their 60 or 70 hour work weeks again.
The new provisions to that rule requires that within that in addition to being 34 hours off between weeks, drivers must have two consecutive nights off between the hours of midnight and 6 a.
m.
The Department of Transportation has made several statements that support their belief that these provisions are necessary to improve the safety on everyone on the road.
The Transportation Secretary went even further and stated "a fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a large commercial truck".
The DOT has made it clear that the one and only reason they are making these changes is to make the roads safer.
However, truckers and the American Trucking Association in particular have criticized the new rules as being more than just about safety.
Bill Graves, the ATA President stated that the new rules, when viewed against the most recent driving statistics, show that the proposed changes are about "the Obama Administration's willingness to fix something that isn't broke likely has everything to do with politics and little or nothing to do with driver safety or driver health".
The ATA goes on to say that the proposed changes would be economically costly to an industry that's already struggling to recover from the recession.
In addition, Graves has said that the new hours-of-service provisions are overly complex and would only hinder the industry's productivity.
To back up his statements, Graves notes that since the implementation of the initial hours-of-service laws in 2004, fatal accidents involving commercial vehicles are down 33%, which Graves believes proves that the new changes are not related to safety.
Overall the changes do seem to support improved road safety, however, the trucking industry does makes some valid criticisms to the proposed rules.
The proposed changes should be reviewed to ensure that they are the best possible way to improve road safety while showing the trucking industry that the changes are not meant to be a detriment to their livelihood.
Since 2004, the DOT has governed the rules by which truckers and trucking companies operate within their workday.
However, in an attempt to decrease the number of accidents involving commercial vehicles and to increase punishment for those who break those rules, the DOT has proposed several new changes and updates the existing rules.
Firstly, the new rules state that drivers must be able to complete all of their driving during a 14 hour period, with all work-related duties being completed within 13 hours in order to allow for a 1 hour break.
The second part of the new rules is an adjustment to the already existing 34 hour restart rule.
The 34 hour restart rule requires that drivers take 34 hours off before beginning their 60 or 70 hour work weeks again.
The new provisions to that rule requires that within that in addition to being 34 hours off between weeks, drivers must have two consecutive nights off between the hours of midnight and 6 a.
m.
The Department of Transportation has made several statements that support their belief that these provisions are necessary to improve the safety on everyone on the road.
The Transportation Secretary went even further and stated "a fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a large commercial truck".
The DOT has made it clear that the one and only reason they are making these changes is to make the roads safer.
However, truckers and the American Trucking Association in particular have criticized the new rules as being more than just about safety.
Bill Graves, the ATA President stated that the new rules, when viewed against the most recent driving statistics, show that the proposed changes are about "the Obama Administration's willingness to fix something that isn't broke likely has everything to do with politics and little or nothing to do with driver safety or driver health".
The ATA goes on to say that the proposed changes would be economically costly to an industry that's already struggling to recover from the recession.
In addition, Graves has said that the new hours-of-service provisions are overly complex and would only hinder the industry's productivity.
To back up his statements, Graves notes that since the implementation of the initial hours-of-service laws in 2004, fatal accidents involving commercial vehicles are down 33%, which Graves believes proves that the new changes are not related to safety.
Overall the changes do seem to support improved road safety, however, the trucking industry does makes some valid criticisms to the proposed rules.
The proposed changes should be reviewed to ensure that they are the best possible way to improve road safety while showing the trucking industry that the changes are not meant to be a detriment to their livelihood.