Are Tired Truckers A Danger !

It is well known that the effects of sleep loss can be hazardous for those who drive or operate heavy machinery while sleep deprived. In fact, the body of a person who remains awake for 24 hours suffers the effects of having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10, which is well over the legal limit of 0.08.

Studies have confirmed that lack of adequate rest increases the likelihood of memory problems and motor vehicle accidents. Yet, the American Trucking Association is resisting efforts by the Obama administration to restructure hours of service requirements aimed at ensuring that truckers are well rested when they venture out on the road. While the administration’s goal of safety seems simple enough, the arguments for and against the new regulations are complex.

The Need for Sleep

A recent study in Science Translational Medicine confirmed that people who sleep less than necessary for periods of time and then try to make up for the loss by sleeping longer on occasion perform work and motor functions more poorly than those who adequately rest on a regular basis. The study also confirmed that the participants’ performance continued to suffer following longer periods of rest, which made them more vulnerable to errors and accidents. The authors of the study singled out truck drivers as employees who may benefit from a greater understanding of this reality.

Studies have long suggested that lack of sleep affects the brain both in the short term following lack of sleep, such as when a student stays up all night cramming for a test, and over longer periods of chronic sleep deprivation, which affects the body’s ability to maintain normal performance in general. The importance of adequate rest cannot be emphasized enough when the effects of sleep translate to fatigued drivers posing a danger on the nation’s roadways. The debate exists in what constitutes enough sleep in a given time period for safe driving performance.

Hours of Service Requirements and the Call for Change

Under the current hours of service requirements, truckers are allowed to drive pursuant to the following general rules. Truckers:
-May drive for a maximum of eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off-duty
-May not drive “on-duty” beyond fourteen consecutive hours following ten consecutive hours off-duty, unless the driver takes advantage of the “sleeper berth provision”
-May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in seven/eight consecutive days. This period restarts after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off-duty

Basically, unless truckers take advantage of a certain amount of time in the sleeper berth sections of their vehicles, they may be on-duty no more than fourteen hours, with a total maximum drive time of eleven hours, following ten consecutive hours off-duty.

Last year, the Teamsters, Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition challenged the hours of service requirements due to safety concerns, but have agreed to suspend their lawsuit until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has a chance to revise the rules. Specifically, the groups are concerned with the allowance of eleven hours behind the wheel during each shift, the 34 hour restart period and the sleeper berth provision, which allows driving time to be extended under certain circumstances. These groups argue that the regulations do not allow truckers sufficient rest and thus make them a danger on the roads.

Resistance to Restructuring

Though the FMCSA has held several listening sessions in order to gain truckers’ input on what the revised regulations should consist of, many trucking executives have insisted that no changes be implemented at all. Executives argue that the current regulations are based on sound science, have improved roadway safety since they were implemented and that new regulations would cost the industry a great deal of money.

Interestingly, the 158,000 member Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) does not share the sentiments of the American Trucking Association (ATA). OOIDA has called for “meaningful changes” to the current regulations. This split within the trucking industry seems to indicate that cost to the larger industry is a more significant factor for the ATA than it is to the OOIDA and that not all truckers believe that the current regulations ensure properly safe and rested drivers.

The new regulations yet to be proposed are required to become law by 2010.