Project Updates – Safety

  • Friday
    December 23rd,
    2011

    DOT Announces New Regulations on Truckers’ Hours of Service

    The U.S. Department of Transportation announced new restrictions to the amount of time truckers can spend behind the wheel. DOT maintained an 11-hour limit on truck drivers’ hours, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest. The rule does introduce some new limits, including a reduction a driver’s maximum work week by 12 hours to 70 hours.

    The regulations maintain the limit set in late 2008 by the Bush Administration that increased the amount of time truck drivers can spend behind the wheel to 11 hours per day. That’s like driving from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta in one stretch–and research shows it’s simply not healthy or safe.

    Over-tired drivers are more likely to get into dangerous accidents. But too-long driving shifts also put truckers’ health in jeopardy – chronic fatigue, sedentary lifestyles, and exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to serious health issues. Chopping even an hour off their long hauls would have massive health and public safety benefits.

    In March 2011, we called for consideration of a more fundamental revision to the rule, informed by developments in the industry and new information about health risks. Important considerations include increasing compliance, educating truckers on health risks and safety practices, and the use of heuristics to encourage these behaviors.

    Consumer groups who are disappointed by the less-stringent regulation plan to continue the push to reduce the driving limit to 10 hours per day.

    Issue(s): Energy and Environment, Safety  

  • Tuesday
    March 22nd,
    2011

    Tracking Truckers’ Hours

    Today, Policy Integrity submitted comments to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

    At issue is a proposed regulation that would require truck drivers to use electronic devises that will monitor how long they’re spending behind the wheel. These devices, technically called “electronic on-board recorders” will help drivers ensure they’re taking enough breaks and getting enough rest so that they don’t pose a danger to highway safety and their own long-term health. It will also encourage them to comply with upcoming regulations that will set legal limits on how many hours truckers can drive in one sitting, and in a given number of consecutive days.

    Today’s comments reiterate the recommendations we submitted earlier this month on a different regulation that would, if implemented, decrease the hours drivers are permitted to stay on the road. This proposed measure, while better than past rules, may not be stringent enough to keep our highways safe from over-tired truckers.

    We recommend additional analysis that DOT should undertake to ensure the rules that are ultimately passed are strong enough to maximize net benefits.

    Issue(s): Safety   Type: Public Comments

  • Friday
    September 11th,
    2009

    Amicus brief against hazardous trucking regulations

    In November 2008, the Bush Administration finalized a regulation allowing truck drivers to spend more hours behind the wheel. To counter the deregulation, advocacy groups including Public Citizen filed suit against the Federal Motor Carrier and Safety Administration (part of the Department of Transportation) in March 2009.

    Policy Integrity submitted an amicus brief arguing that the agency failed to take account of relevant variables—most importantly the health of truckers—in its cost-benefit analysis.

    Issue(s): Safety   Type: Amicus Briefs

  • Monday
    March 9th,
    2009

    Motion for leave against hazardous truck driver rules

    In November 2008, just weeks before President Obama took office, the Bush Administration finalized a rule increasing the amount of time truck drivers can spend behind the wheel—creating a possible public health and safety hazard. The rule allows truck drivers to drive for 11 hours, one more hour than they were allowed before 2003, and allows them to drive as many as 77 hours in seven days or 88 hours in eight days, over 25 percent more than previously allowed by federal law.

    In March 2009, the Public Citizen and several other groups filed suit in federal appeals court in the District of Columbia challenging the regulation. Two previous versions of the rule were thrown out by the court. In 2004, the appeals court held the rule flawed because it failed to take into consideration the serious health impact of its rule on the regulated drivers.

    Policy Integrity has joined together with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, OMB Watch, the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to participate as amici curiae in the litigation.

    Issue(s): Safety  

  • Monday
    September 29th,
    2008

    Comments re: DOL regulations around toxic chemical risks

    In August 2008, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a sweeping change to the way agencies treat toxic chemical risks in the workplace. The rule, which would change the assumptions about how long workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals, is extremely controversial and prompted an outcry from the public and Congress.

    By classifying the regulation as not “significant,” DOL did an end-run around cost-benefit analysis requirements, attempting to push through a rule with large public health and economic impacts with essentially no analysis of the pros and cons.

    Policy Integrity submitted comments to the DOL requesting that a cost-benefit analysis be conducted.

    Issue(s): Energy and Environment, Safety   Type: Public Comments