Truck Injury Lawyer Blog : Truck Accident Lawyer & Attorney: Morgan Adams : Contingency Fee Truck Accident Lawyer

The FMCSA, in compliance with the settlement agreement in the lawsuit brought by Public Citizen and other public interest groups, sent its new proposed hours of service (HOS) regulations to the White House. The FMCSA now has until July 2011 to publish the new rule.

The HOS regulations govern how long a truck driver can work before having to take time off to rest. The are in place because it is well known that a tired fatigued driver is a dangerous driver, far more likely to be in a wreck. I have multiple posts on the dangers of fatigue as this is a huge issue in the trucking industry. I have posted on the harsh conditions driver endure when forced to work long hours before, conditions that have caused many to call trucks rolling sweatshops and increased the danger to everyone that uses the roads and highways of America.

The last time the HOS rules were amended was on Jan 4, 2004, when the time a driver was able to spend driving was increased from 10 hours to 11 hours. HOS regulations were first adopted in 1939. There was a modification in 1962 and then again in 1995. The 2004 modifications, extending a driver's hours, brought about the current lawsuit and settlement, requiring the FMCSA to publish a new HOS rule.

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It is well know in the trucking industry that paying drivers by the mile gives them an economic incentive to speed and violate hours of service regulations (resulting in fatigued drivers) in order to pack on the miles and earn more money. In fact many drivers have told me "if the wheels aren't turning I ain't earning." Trucking companies turn a blind eye to the violations created by a rate per mile system creating a huge safety issue for the motoring public who has to share the roadway with these dangerous drivers and companies.

Dupre Logistics appears to be an exception and is to be commended for shifting all of its drivers over to an hourly rate for driving its trucks instead of  paying drivers a set amount per mile. The company has also moved to EOBR's which more accurately track drivers work habits and time spent on the road. The President of Dupre Logistics, Tom Voelkel stated moving to hourly pay has reduced the company's accident related expenses by 70%! The company also has an active safety culture which has resulted in numerous safety awards.

Congratulations to Dupre Logistics for getting it right and making the roadways safer. I almost wish I could tell you that they were unique in their ability to provide safe drivers because then the tragic deaths involving drivers from other companies would be less painful. In looking at Dupre's website it becomes clear that the steps they took could easily be taken by other companies if they choose to do so. Other trucking companies simply choose not to follow Dupre's lead, by continuing to run unsafe driver's, putting us all at risk.

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Requiring Electric On Board Recorders (EOBR's) on every truck would be a significant step forward for safety in the trucking industry. EOBR's keep better track of a drivers hours than the paper log books (frequently referred to as "comic books") that are currently used within the trucking industry. EOBR's are not perfect, but they are much safer and harder to fake than paper logs.

Keeping drivers within the legal hours helps prevent fatigued driving, a dangerous condition which is acknowledged to be a contributing factor in over 1/3 of all crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. Recently the Chairwoman of the NTSB, Debbie Hersman, called for EOBR's on all trucks since NTSB  "investigate accidents on a regular basis where we find two sets of log books [with one being false]."

Chairwoman Hersman's comments came after her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on November 16, 2009.

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