Safety Groups Sue FMCSA on Driver Work Hours

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he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new rules governing truck driver work hours will increase driver fatigue and lead to more avoidable deaths on the nation’s highways, groups suing FMCSA have told a federal appeals court.

In a Dec. 1 filing, a coalition of groups that sued to overturn the hours-of-service rules — Public Citizen, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and Parents Against Tired Truckers — told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit:

“This court need not check common sense at the door when confronting an agency’s model. If drivers are fatigued after driving eight consecutive hours and even more fatigued after nine or 10, then they will be more tired still when permitted to drive for 11 consecutive hours.”

The rules are scheduled to become effective Jan. 4. They cut the overall driver on-duty work period between mandated breaks by one hour, to 14, and extend actual driving time by an hour, to 11.

This article appears in the Dec. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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