Editorial: Hours-of-Service Reform is Long Overdue

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When the current hours-of-service rules that govern trucking in the United States were adopted, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House, Britain still ruled the waves, New York City had three baseball teams and the closest thing to a superhighway was U.S. 1.

Now, 60 years later, everything’s changed, except the hours of service.

Modern, high-speed roads crisscross the nation, trucks are loaded with systems to make driving easier and safer and communication is instantaneous. Yet the industry remains saddled by a list of rules designed for an earlier age.

As Congress pursues what is shaping up to be an overhaul of the federal government’s oversight of trucking safety, it’s time that the federal regulations governing the industry catch up with today’s realities.

Limiting drivers to 10 hours on the road, followed by a mandatory eight-hour rest period, made sense in the old days of wrestling with sluggish steering wheels, rock-hard suspensions and “highways” that ran through the centers of towns filled with stoplights.

But there is no scientific basis for the rules. In fact, research indicates that the 10-on, eight-off system isn’t in synch with the human body.

We live on a 24-hour daily clock. Most of us aren’t ready to go to sleep when we get off of work, and most of us have periods of the daily cycle when we function better.

Canada permits truck drivers to work 13 straight hours during daylight. Research shows no meaningful difference in alertness levels between U.S. drivers operating under the 10-hour rule and their Canadian counterparts.

Researchers also tell us that U.S. drivers average only 5.2 hours of sleep during the eight-hour rest period, which is not enough for some of them.

Studies show that the major factors in fatigue are the quality of the driver’s previous rest, overall health and the time of day. Also important are the driver’s awareness of the signs of fatigue and his or her knowledge of countermeasures.

We can also look to the aviation and railroad industries for guidance in hours-of-service reform.

t’s been four years since Congress instructed the Department of Transportation to revise trucking’s hours of service. It’s definitely time for action.