Truck Hours of Service Regulations Struck Down By Appeals Court
A federal appeals court recently struck down a Bush administration regulation that increased the number of hours that truck drivers are permitted to drive without rest. This is the second time the regulation has been struck down
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) hours-of-service rule for truckers, issued in Aug. 2005, could put motorists at risk. The rule dramatically increased both the consecutive number of hours that truckers may drive before taking a rest; and, the total number of hours truckers may drive per week.
A lawsuit brought by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, challenged two aspects of the rule: a provision that allowed truck drivers to drive for 11 consecutive hours before taking rest time, increased from the old rule of 10 hours; and, a provision which allowed drivers to “restart” their weekly tally of hours after they had taken a break as short as 34 hours.
The 34-hour restart allowed truckers to drive 77 hours in seven days or 88 hours in eight days – a more than 25 percent increase over pre-2003 rules. On-duty hours during which truckers may drive also climbed, so that a driver working 14-hour shifts under the new rules can now work as many as 84 hours in seven days or 98 hours in eight days – the latter a 40 percent increase over the old limits.
“The trucking profession has become ‘sweatshops on wheels’ because of the excessive and unsafe hours of work and driving time required of truck drivers,” said Daphne Izer, founder of Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT). “I have paid the ultimate price for government policies that legally allow truck drivers to work and drive exhausted. My 17-year old son Jeff and his three close friends were killed in a preventable crash caused by truck driver fatigue. I welcome the court’s decision that puts people before profits.”
Each year, more than 5,000 people in the United States are killed and more than 110,000 injured in crashes involving large trucks. Truck driver fatigue is a major contributor in many of these crashes.
