Roadtoad
31st December 2003, 12:30 PM
First of all, don't think this doesn't apply to you. Keep in mind, you're going to share the road with us, and if we're not running safe, you're in real trouble.
Second, after reading countless articles, and reading through the Federal Highway regs on this, the only thing I can say is there's more loopholes in this than a wheel of Swiss cheese. (Actually, the new rules are more like Swiss sh**.)
Your take?
Truckers to Be Allowed to Drive More
By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Truck drivers will be able to stay on the road for up to 11 straight hours but will have to take at least 10 hours off before they can again get behind the wheel of their rigs, according to new federal regulations taking effect Sunday.
The government said Tuesday that the new rules will make the roads safer because truckers will have to rest for two more hours between driving shifts. The Transportation Department estimates the change will reduce deaths associated with truck driver fatigue from 440 to 335 a year.
"The new safety rule gives us the means to save hundreds of lives, protect billions in commerce and safeguard our roads and highways for years to come," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a prepared statement.
Some safety groups and the truckers' union disagreed, saying that allowing a trucker an extra, 11th, hour behind the wheel — compared with the 10 hours maximum now permitted — will result in more, not fewer, dangerously fatigued truckers on the road.
"When these drivers are already behind the wheel of a heavy piece of machinery for 10 hours, it's only going to increase their fatigue if you increase the hours — even if they have an extra hour of rest," said Rob Black, spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Public Citizen, a consumer group, sued earlier this year to overturn the new regulations before they were put in effect. The case is pending in federal court.
"It does nothing positive, it does a lot of negative, and it's a big waste of four years of effort," said Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen's president.
Claybrook said the government succumbed to lobbying by the trucking industry. The American Trucking Associations supports the new rules.
(*RT's note: ATA is run by the trucking companies, such as Schneider, Swift, CRST and others.)
"We think these rules are good," said John Willard, a spokesman for the trucking associations. "The new rules will help us improve our highway safety record, and help our bottom line because insurance rates will go down."
A highway safety group funded by auto insurers said the new rules won't have much effect on highway safety. Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said the rules could make the situation worse.
"Research shows crashes increase markedly after 8 to 10 hours of driving, yet these rules raise the limit for driving at a stretch, from 10 to 11 hours," Rader said.
Critics said the biggest problem with the regulations is that they don't require electronic on-board recorders — black boxes for trucks — that would automatically monitor the truck's movement.
"Truckers refer to their log books as comic books," Rader said. "Enforcement was a joke before and that hasn't changed under these new rules."
(*RT's note: Hey! You mean someone's actually listening to us drivers!?!? Actually, a $2,000 fine is no joke, but there has to be a traffic fatality before they audit log books to find the cheaters.)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Annette Sandberg conceded that the hours-of-service regulations are difficult to enforce because truckers falsify their logbooks.
(*RT's note: Maybe if more of those working at FMCSA had actually spent time behind the wheel, they'd understand how and why logbooks get falsified in the first place! IMBECILES!)
The agency said 3 million inspections revealed 18 percent of drivers violated the rules at least once between Oct. 1, 2002 to Sept. 30.
AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association, hailed the new rules as the first improvement in decades. Hours-of-service regulations hadn't been changed since 1939.
(*RT's note: More chimpanzees chime in. Pass the frigging bananas.)
"The value of those two extra hours of sleep greatly offsets the extra hour driving," said Justin McNaull, an AAA spokesman. He said the regulation reflects new research into sleep and fatigue.
(*RT's note: Tell me that when YOU'VE spent eight hours on the road, McNaull. Otherwise, shut the hell up.)
AAA also supports the government's decision to ask states, which enforce the rule, to write warnings instead of citations for all but flagrant violations during the first 60 days after it takes effect.
(*RT's note: Great. We get a 60 day pass on a bad set of regs! Any chance we can get the bad regs eliminated, and work on getting rules that actually work?)
Let's try and take another look at this: If you want compliance, you need to make it easy to detect a violation, and you need to encourage those to obey the rules. It's got to be ENFORCEABLE. Sorry, but this new batch of rules only makes things more complicated. Cops looking to fill their ticket quota will have a whole host of new targets, and drivers looking to cheat will have a whole new set of tools to use. Read it through: the regs can be found at any truck stop, for about $4.
Second, after reading countless articles, and reading through the Federal Highway regs on this, the only thing I can say is there's more loopholes in this than a wheel of Swiss cheese. (Actually, the new rules are more like Swiss sh**.)
Your take?
Truckers to Be Allowed to Drive More
By LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Truck drivers will be able to stay on the road for up to 11 straight hours but will have to take at least 10 hours off before they can again get behind the wheel of their rigs, according to new federal regulations taking effect Sunday.
The government said Tuesday that the new rules will make the roads safer because truckers will have to rest for two more hours between driving shifts. The Transportation Department estimates the change will reduce deaths associated with truck driver fatigue from 440 to 335 a year.
"The new safety rule gives us the means to save hundreds of lives, protect billions in commerce and safeguard our roads and highways for years to come," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a prepared statement.
Some safety groups and the truckers' union disagreed, saying that allowing a trucker an extra, 11th, hour behind the wheel — compared with the 10 hours maximum now permitted — will result in more, not fewer, dangerously fatigued truckers on the road.
"When these drivers are already behind the wheel of a heavy piece of machinery for 10 hours, it's only going to increase their fatigue if you increase the hours — even if they have an extra hour of rest," said Rob Black, spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Public Citizen, a consumer group, sued earlier this year to overturn the new regulations before they were put in effect. The case is pending in federal court.
"It does nothing positive, it does a lot of negative, and it's a big waste of four years of effort," said Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen's president.
Claybrook said the government succumbed to lobbying by the trucking industry. The American Trucking Associations supports the new rules.
(*RT's note: ATA is run by the trucking companies, such as Schneider, Swift, CRST and others.)
"We think these rules are good," said John Willard, a spokesman for the trucking associations. "The new rules will help us improve our highway safety record, and help our bottom line because insurance rates will go down."
A highway safety group funded by auto insurers said the new rules won't have much effect on highway safety. Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said the rules could make the situation worse.
"Research shows crashes increase markedly after 8 to 10 hours of driving, yet these rules raise the limit for driving at a stretch, from 10 to 11 hours," Rader said.
Critics said the biggest problem with the regulations is that they don't require electronic on-board recorders — black boxes for trucks — that would automatically monitor the truck's movement.
"Truckers refer to their log books as comic books," Rader said. "Enforcement was a joke before and that hasn't changed under these new rules."
(*RT's note: Hey! You mean someone's actually listening to us drivers!?!? Actually, a $2,000 fine is no joke, but there has to be a traffic fatality before they audit log books to find the cheaters.)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Annette Sandberg conceded that the hours-of-service regulations are difficult to enforce because truckers falsify their logbooks.
(*RT's note: Maybe if more of those working at FMCSA had actually spent time behind the wheel, they'd understand how and why logbooks get falsified in the first place! IMBECILES!)
The agency said 3 million inspections revealed 18 percent of drivers violated the rules at least once between Oct. 1, 2002 to Sept. 30.
AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association, hailed the new rules as the first improvement in decades. Hours-of-service regulations hadn't been changed since 1939.
(*RT's note: More chimpanzees chime in. Pass the frigging bananas.)
"The value of those two extra hours of sleep greatly offsets the extra hour driving," said Justin McNaull, an AAA spokesman. He said the regulation reflects new research into sleep and fatigue.
(*RT's note: Tell me that when YOU'VE spent eight hours on the road, McNaull. Otherwise, shut the hell up.)
AAA also supports the government's decision to ask states, which enforce the rule, to write warnings instead of citations for all but flagrant violations during the first 60 days after it takes effect.
(*RT's note: Great. We get a 60 day pass on a bad set of regs! Any chance we can get the bad regs eliminated, and work on getting rules that actually work?)
Let's try and take another look at this: If you want compliance, you need to make it easy to detect a violation, and you need to encourage those to obey the rules. It's got to be ENFORCEABLE. Sorry, but this new batch of rules only makes things more complicated. Cops looking to fill their ticket quota will have a whole host of new targets, and drivers looking to cheat will have a whole new set of tools to use. Read it through: the regs can be found at any truck stop, for about $4.