New Hours of Service Restrictions Already Impacts Truckers, Industry

Phil Cohen

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently passed new hours of service rules limiting the amount of time a driver can spend behind the wheel which is forcing truckers to get more sleep, something they don’t want.  The trucking industry argues that this rule will worsen the current driver shortage and hurt consumers’ wallets, while safety organizations say that the regulations don’t do enough to protect the roads from driver fatigue.

Truck drivers saw the rule go into effect July 1, and it will be enforced by millions of random road inspections done each year. Drivers caught exceeding the maximum limits will be taken off the road and their company could face fines. After July 1, drivers will then be able to drive 12 fewer hours a week and be obligated to take consistent 34-hour rest periods that include pre-dawn hours of two consecutive days. Because drivers are more productive when the roads are empty, the second part of the regulation has agitated the trucking industry. Trucking companies says that the regulations hinder the trade’s flexibility which has been an advantage over other shipping options.

white semi truck backed into a dock at night

The Obama administration thinks the regulations will decrease the number of crashes from sleep-deprived drivers getting behind the wheel as they would reduce the number of hours a driver can work.

According to the Transportation Department, 3,887 people were killed in 2012 in crashes involving big trucks. While there were no exact statistics on fatigue-related crashes, one study cites roughly 13% of large-truck accidents involve a sleep-deprived driver. Though truck-crash fatality numbers have been on the decline over the last 10 years or so, partially due to new technologies, the FMCSA says fatigue-related accidents are still too widespread.

Director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Association David Heller said the trucking firms support safety regulations, but he said the new rules would lead to an approximately four-to-six-percent drop in efficiency. “We’re not clamoring to be able to drive until the wheels fall off,” said Heller.

The government says that only about 15% of the nation’s 1.55 million long-haul truckers would be impacted, as many don’t have routes that demand such long hours and unionized truckers have a shorter workweek.

Regulators expect the rules to cost the industry roughly $500 million a year, which is around 1/3 of 1% of its annual revenue, or less than the cost of a 3-cent rise in the price of diesel fuel. The agency figures that the new rules will save 19 lives, prevent around 1,400 crashes and 560 injuries each year.

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Phil Cohen

Phil is the owner of PRN Funding and sister company Factor Finders. He has been an authority in the factoring industry for over 20 years, serving on the board of directors for several factoring associations.

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