The Federal Motor Carrier Administration is pushing for a law reducing the hours of service for truck drivers. Currently, drivers are allowed to work 14 hours per day with an 11 hours driving allotment before having to take a mandatory 10 hour break. Under the new legislation, drive time would be reduced to 10 hours, two 30 minute breaks will be added, and the total work hours will be reduce to 13 hours.
The FMCA is requesting the new transportation law as a way to decrease accidents and injuries caused by driver fatigue. However, most accidents caused by driver fatigue are caused by drivers that are breaking the current laws. A change will only hurt the trucking companies and drivers that are currently following the rules and increase costs for consumers. Trucking companies have made great strides in technology to increase safety on the roads. The current laws, put into place in 2003, are working. Last year, vehicle crashes and fatalities were at a record low.
The new laws will have many unintended consequences that will hurt our economy because lawmakers are trying to fix a problem that isn’t broken. The new laws will affect many areas that have nothing to do with safety on the roads. It will increase shipping costs, delay transit times, and cause trucking companies to add trucks to their fleets to add coverage. With highways becoming more crowded, the risk of crashes increases.
Manufacturers will be forced to carry more inventory due to the delay in the transit of needed materials and their costs will increase. A trucking company that already has a slim margin cannot afford to buy or operate additional trucks. The increased costs will be passed on to the consumer.
Because trucking companies and their representatives are putting up a fight, the deadline for the law to be passed has been pushed to November 28th.
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