Hours-of-service (HOS) rules for truckers, which have been in place for decades, have recently been changed by Congress, and these new HOS rule changes have stirred up much concern among federal regulators at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
HOS rules are federal regulations that specify how long commercial drivers, like truckers, can drive and/or be “on duty” during any given shift and/or during any given work week. While the first HOS rules were put in place in the U.S. in 1938, these regulations have been updated numerous times over the years, with far stricter HOS rules being enacted within the last two or so decades.
The goal of HOS rules is to:
While HOS rules are extremely detailed (with a more in-depth look at these regulations being available here), the latest HOS rule changes specifically pertain to the requirement that truckers have at least two “rest” periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. at a home terminal in a given week.
In particular, the new HOS rule changes have suspended this requirement, making federal regulations less strict. Effectively, this has meant that truckers can:
Although these HOS rule changes have been widely lauded by the trucking industry, federal transportation safety regulators have expressed their significant concern over these changes and how they may impact the public’s safety on U.S. roadways.
As U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has noted in regards to these HOS rule changes:
The evidence clearly shows that truck drivers are better rested and more alert after two nights of sleep than one night, and that unending 80-hour work weeks lead to driver fatigue and compromise highway safety.
Supporting this contention are some statistics and facts regarding the dangers of trucker fatigue. We’ll take a closer look at those numbers in an upcoming blog that will be posted soon. Don’t miss it!
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