Truck safety rules geared for a rollback
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The trucking industry scored a victory this week when Republican lawmakers effectively blocked Obama administration safety rules aimed at keeping tired truckers off the highway. But there’s more coming down the road.
The American Trucking Associations is pledging to come back next month, when Republicans will control the White House and Congress, and try to block state laws that require additional rest breaks for truckers beyond what federal rules require. The group says there should be one uniform national rule on work hours for interstate truckers and that the extra breaks aren’t necessary for safety.
The trucking industry’s latest triumph has caused concern among safety advocates that it may signal the start of a broad rollback of transportation safety regulations once there’s no longer a Democratic president to check the tendency of Republican lawmakers to side with industry.
Shippers and some segments of the trucking industry probably will also push for long-sought goals of increasing the weight limit on trucks to more than 90,000 pounds and increasing the length of individual trailers in double trailer combinations from 28 feet to 33 feet, safety advocates said. The trailers in single-trailer trucks can be up to 53 feet, but trailers in trucks with two trailers currently can’t be more than 28 feet.
The provision Republicans added to a spending bill this week suspends regulations issued by the Obama administration requiring truckers to take two nights off to rest if they take only the minimum break before starting a new work week. Drivers for companies that operate on a seven-day schedule can work as many as 80 hours in a work week through a combination of driving and other work, like loading.
Truckers are required to take at least a minimum 34hour break before starting a new workweek.
But the trucking industry objected to requirements that the 34 hours include two periods from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sleep scientists say rest during the early morning hours is critical for people to feel refreshed.
The suspension means truckers can head out on the road again during those hours if the 34-hour break has elapsed.
Truck driver Bill Varnado, 66, of Dallas, Ga., said he likes the sleep requirement because it ensures that drivers are well-rested.
But self-employed trucker George Lafferty, 61, of Henry, Ill., said Congress should repeal the rule.
“I don’t see how the government can tell you when to sleep and when not to,” Lafferty said at a truckstop along Interstate 81.
“A driver should know when he’s fatigued or not. If you’re fatigued, take a half-hour, hour nap.”