New Legislation to Prevent Truck Driver Fatigue

Recently the Obama administration has approved of legislation to further regulate the amount of rest truck drivers are required to get while working. This law comes as a result of the high volume of trucking accidents that are caused every year because of truck driver fatigue.
Truck drivers are working on a deadline, and feel the pressure to get their shipments in on time. Due to this high pressure, they often drive for hours longer than the maximum allowed without taking mandated resting breaks. Truck drivers are required to keep their driving and resting hours in a log book, but in some cases that’s not enough. A recent accident involving a Pennsylvania food-hauler company revealed that their drivers were being forced to forge log books, a practice that is easy to do. So what can prevent truck driver fatigue-related accidents on the road? The new legislation is hoping to do just that. With the new regulations in place, the truck driver’s hours of operation would

be changed. Before, truck drivers were allowed to drive an 82 hour maximum per week. Under the new legislation, the hours will go down to 70.

Another provision in the legislation is asking that drivers take a minimum 30 hour rest every 8 hours of driving. While it would seem that truck drivers would be on board with the new laws, the American Trucking Association is actually filing a petition aimed at the court asking them to reevaluate the legislation. The way they see it, there are other, more cost effective ways to eliminate fatigue risk factors for truck drivers. This isn’t the first time legislation has been imposed on trucking companies to improve safety. Some of the regulations already in place include speed limit management equipment and automated traffic enforcement technology. As a driver of a passenger vehicle, you are aware of the damage a commercial truck can cause you should you be involved in an accident.