Changes in Hours-of-Operation Rules Improve Trucking Safety

February 10, 2014

For years, drivers and companies operating commercial tractor-trailers have been required to abide by a set of rules focused on ensuring safety in the transportation industry. Recently though, changes were made to these Truck Driving Rules and Regulations after federal officials deemed the current standards were not enough to prevent accidents, as well as to keep hazardous trucks and drivers off of the road. Now, a new study is showing the changes are a success.

The 34-hour restart rule is a new provision requiring truck drivers to have at least two nighttime periods of rest before they can restart their hours of operation for a week of business. Previous rules only required one period of nighttime rest before hours could be reset.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration measured the effects the rule changes had on safety for 106 truck drivers over 1,260 days and 415,000 miles of driving. They found the alterations increased safety. In particular, drivers operating under the new rules were found to have shown less drowsiness, land deviations, and lapses of attention as compared to others who only had a single nighttime rest period. Learn more about the safety improvements and rule changes here.

William Mattar and his team of Personal Injury Attorneys are happy to see improvements being made to the safety standards of the trucking industry and hope the changes being implemented will save lives!