Making Our Roads Safe This Holiday Season

Even as millions of Americans prepare for holiday travel, politicians in Washington are pushing for policies that will make our roads unsafe.

In an effort to make roads safer, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which regulates truck safety standards, has proposed changing their rules to reduce the number of hours that truck drivers are allowed to drive in a day.

The simple truth is that the old rule is a serious safety concern for American drivers. As it stands, trucking companies have the ability to force their drivers to drive up to 11 hours in a 21 hour period. Additionally, the rule allows drivers to drive up to 88 hours in 8 days -- that's more than two full work weeks in just over a week! Under the existing rules, truck companies can force their truck drivers to drive extremely long hours without time off to sleep.

As a former truck driver, I know that spending 10 plus hours behind the wheel at a time can lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue. So it's no surprise to me that under the current standards, 65 percent of drivers have reported being drowsy while driving and a shocking 48 percent have said they've fallen asleep behind the wheel.

Fatigue and sleep deprivation while driving a truck is clearly dangerous and leads to serious accidents.

It should be clear why the FMCSA wants to tighten these loose standards. But despite the clear risks to the driving public, Republicans in Washington are seeking to block the new, safer rules from taking effect.

I serve on the House Oversight Committee. Just this week, Republicans on this committee held a hearing to attempt to block the FMCSA's new trucker safety rules. You can watch a video of my participation in this hearing below.

As someone with truck driving experience, I have a deep respect for the profession and the hard work that it entails. That is why we must do everything that we can to ensure that trucking companies don't force their drivers to drive long hours with few breaks to sleep and rest.

Please stay safe on the roads this holiday season.

 

Follow Rep. Bruce Braley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BruceBraley

Comments

[truegroundspeed]

11:35 AM on 12/03/2011

Aside from the hidden danger of fatigue, almost all truck drivers WILLFULLY pull to within a couple of car lengths(often closer) while waiting to pass.... that's a 65-70 mph. It's as if they'll find an opportunity to pass sooner if thay risk the lives of family in front of them. The truck driver will survive the mishap, the famliy will die.

[onrecess]

10:42 AM on 12/03/2011

As someone with truck driving experience (2 yrs OTR), I disagree. The "scary" facts on sleepy driving is used because actual accident data shows less than 2% of truck accidents are fatigue related. With the lack of available truck parking and company profitability, this will just lead to drivers being blamed for the hours and, as usual, being put in an impossible possition.

[pammygamherst]

10:41 AM on 12/03/2011

i agree with the congressman...my husband has been a truck driver for 20 years and there have been times when he has refused to take a trip because he needed to sleep. truckers have pressure from two sides; the regulatory side and the business side. it's a given in the trucking industry that most drivers have 2 sets of log books; one to show the state trooper and the real one; trust me it gets creative sometimes.

now, however, more trucking companies have laptops in the trucks that monitor everything; if you over-rev someone at the home office knows; if you shift gears inappropriately it's known (which is absurd); but if a company uses this technology properly, they can tell when a driver needs to shut down and learns the driver's habits. more companies are training their dispatchers to work with the drivers when it comes to the down time needed.

however, there are stil those companies (one my husband just left to become an owner/operator) where truckers are dispatched when they shouldn't be and expected to make an appt in one day that should be made in two.

and not all drivers are paid by the mile; my husband is leased to a company and he is paid on percent load; and i'm sorry to the one poster who was worried about food costs, etc. if the hours are cut back; what's more important, highway safety or saving a few pennies on a loaf of bread?

[Captai]

10:12 AM on 12/03/2011

Of course what the Congressman neglects to mention is that these drivers get paid by the mile. Most drivers get paid by the mile. Most are paid 35cents a mile. Most drive between 2500 and 3000 miles a week. That's between $875 and $1000 a week. Then deduct for taxes and insurance and the have between $525 and $630 for the 88 hours a week the Congressman claims. THEN figure in that it cost the driver $12 to take a shower. That's $84 a week. The consider that the driver likely eats at least twice a day at a fast food outlet for $6 per meal for another $84 a week. NOW the driver is down to $357 to $462 to send home to the family that never gets to see him.

What this is is a coordinated move against working men and women. When one considers that they just allowed Mexican trucks access to US highways that will 2 have drivers that together make a fraction of 35cents a mile this proposed rule change is not at all about safe highways its about cheap labor for the owners and shippers.

[parlimentMike]

08:57 AM on 12/03/2011

Will the uninspected Mexican trucks be on the roads this holiday season? It seems safety laws should be determined by where the road is, rather than where the truck is from.

[caveman06]

06:51 AM on 12/03/2011

SO what is your solution? Please put the number of hours that truck drivers should work. Why don't you tell everyone before you make it a law. In addition to that can you show a gov't study that will let everyone know how much trucking costs are going to increase/decrease and what this means to my food bill at home in addition to everything else I have to buy from a store where goods are shipped to?

If you do this does it make shows like Ice Road Truckers illegal?