John Conley, president of the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), is supporting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for retaining its hours-of-service rule. The final rule allows truck drivers to continue to drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the workday, following at least 10 consecutive hours off duty.
The rule also allows motor carriers and drivers to continue to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.
"I congratulate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for sticking to its guns and publishing a rule that not only is based on sound science, but that has proven itself in the real world," Conley told Bulk Transporter November 19. "I do fully expect the anti-truck activists to attack any rule the DOT puts out, and to gain support from some on Capitol Hill. This rule will allow the trucking industry to continue to provide safe and efficient service to the public."
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) also is welcoming the HOS reaffirmation. ATA pointed out that while operating under the rules for the last five years, the trucking industry’s safety performance has dramatically improved. Large truck crash, injury, and fatality rates have reached their lowest point since the Department of Transportation began recording the statistics.
The HOS rules were designed in 2003 to apply the latest scientific research on human fatigue and alertness. The rules increase the minimum number of hours available for driver rest, reduce the number of hours in a driver’s work day, increase the driving time within the reduced work day, and better promote a 24-hour work-rest schedule in harmony with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, ATA said, adding that the substantive provisions of the hours of service have never been overturned by any court. "Dire predictions of fatigue and accidents made by labor union advocates have never come to pass," ATA said.
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