HOS Rule Reduced Productivity for Most Truckers, ATRI Says

More than 80% of the carriers surveyed by the American Transportation Research Institute said they’ve suffered a loss in productivity since the new hours-of-service rule went into effect, changing the requirements for the 34-hour restart.

At the same time, drivers reported a loss in pay, higher fatigue levels and more hours spent driving during peak travel time on congested highways since the rule took effect July 1.

The report, released Nov. 18, was based on what ATRI said was “survey data of over 2,300 commercial drivers and 400 motor carriers as well as a detailed analysis of logbook data representing 40,000 [plus] commercial drivers.”

Under the new HOS rule, a 34-hour off-duty restart period must include two periods from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on two consecutive days. And the use of a restart is limited to one per week, which effectively limits the hours per week.

Also under the rule, a driver may drive only if eight hours or less has passed since the end of the driver’s last off-duty or sleeper-berth period of at least 30 minutes.

Half the carriers surveyed said the regulations have forced them to hire more drivers to haul the same amount of freight, the ATRI report said.

Eighty-two percent of the drivers surveyed said the rules have had “negative impact on their quality of life, with more than 66% indicating increased levels of fatigue,” ATRI said. Sixty-seven percent of the drivers surveyed said their pay has decreased.

“The impacts on driver wages for all over-the-road drivers total $1.6 billion to $3.9 billion in annualized loss,” the ATRI survey said.