Letters to the Editor: Hours of Service (Continued)

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he revised hours-of-service rules, which are not much different than the January 2004 rules, somehow baffle me.

The federal government decided to change the rules that existed before then because they were made so long ago in the 1930s and needed to be changed to make the roads safer, supposedly.

So now we’re going to let vehicle operators drive an hour longer and let them restart their clocks after being off for 34 hours, which in essence will allow them to drive longer the next time they figure their hours for the week. We’ll make them take 10 hours off between trips and not allow them to be on duty for more than 14 hours.

They probably won’t sleep any more than they did when they were required to take eight hours off between trips, but 14 and 10 equals 24 — the number of hours in a day.

After all the time and money spent on this subject, how does allowing drivers to drive longer per day and week make the roads safer? I’d like someone to explain this to me.

It seems to me the hours of service were changed more to benefit trucking companies than drivers and to help alleviate the driver shortage.

Albert Minnich

ess-Than-Truckload Driver

ine Grove, Pa.

Dear Annette Sandberg:

As administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, I don’t know how you think this new law will help the safety of the drivers — or the other people on the road. I feel the larger trucking companies paid all of you off to benefit them with these new hours-of-service rules.

You are not thinking of the safety of the drivers at all.

Who will take responsibility for these drivers if they are in an accident because of working so many hours in a day’s time? You, perhaps? Do you work that many hours in a day’s time? This only benefits the trucking companies.

Diane

A Driver’s Concerned Wife)

ynn, Ind.