The Fleet Business Authority
Issue link: http://heavydutytrucking.epubxp.com/i/236631
Oliver B. Patton • Washington Editor WASHINGTON report PHOTO BY ED ALFARO 34-hour restart throws smoke but gets little traction on Hill "And there is considerable evidence that by pushing people into morning rush hour that it may actually do the opposite." At the hearing, Duane Long, chairman of Longistics Inc., a trucking and logistics provider specializing in pharmaceuticals transport based in Raleigh, N.C., said the provision makes it more difficult for some of his driver teams to meet Monday morning delivery requirements. His teams are experienced and know how to manage their routines to get the work done and get enough rest, he said. "They resent the intrusion of the government on their daily work routine, they The controversial restart provision recently found a forum for debate at a resent the new restart restrictions, and the House hearing. effect they are having on their ability to make a living," he said. Another trucking witness, Tilden Curl of Critics of the 34-hour restart provision of the hours-of- the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said service rule vented frustration at a House hearing, as a bill the restart rule actually causes more fatigue than it prevents. to suspend it remained stalled in the Senate. Drivers try to maximize their miles and hours because The provision requires drivers to take off two successive they only get one restart in a seven-day period, he said. periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. during their 34-hour In his own personal experience, he said, the effect of the restart break, and limits the break to rule is to put him on the streets of his once a week. "If the goal is to reduce home city, Seattle, during morning Some trucking operations, typically rush hour, a situation he could avoid all deaths to zero, then in the long-haul truckload sector, say before the rule changed. the provision cuts into their productivAnne Ferro, chief of the Federal we would close all our ity and does not improve safety. Motor Carrier Safety Administration, highways and park all Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., chairdefended the provision. She said it man of the House Subcommittee on will save an estimated 19 lives a year. our trucks." Contracting and Workforce, which held Opponents seized on that number – Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y. the hearing, said the provision represents as evidence that the provision is an ideology rather than a solution. without merit. He explained that, in his view, accidents are inevitable and Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., said that in percentage terms there is no point in trying to drive the truck-related fatality rate the number is so small that there is no way to know if the down to zero. rule has any safety impact at all. "If the goal is to reduce all deaths to zero, then we "We don't know if this will save any lives, but we do would close all our highways and park all our trucks," he know that it will have a tremendous economic effect on said. Zero deaths is "an unrealistic, impractical goal that the industry," Rice said. burdens the industry and is philosophically based, not Ferro said the restart is based on laboratory studies that reality based." show drivers perform better if they get their restorative He added that there is no evidence that the provision sleep at night. helps safety. She also challenged an American Trucking Associations c 10 HDT • JANUARY 2014 www.truckinginfo.com