Hours of Service / Fatigue
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Truck Driver in Slattery Crash Sentenced to Five Years |
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Truck Drivers Being Pushed Beyond Their Limits to Drive Excessively Long Hours
Truck Driver Who Pled Guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide and Aggravated
Vehicle Assault Sentenced to Five Years Sending a Strong Message to Truck Drivers
Arlington, VA (January 12, 2012): The truck driver behind the wheel of a triple trailer truck who had fallen asleep and crashed into the back of the Slattery family car resulting in the death of Susan Slattery and serious injuries to her and her husband Ed Slattery’s two sons was sentenced today in the Portage County Court House of Portage County, Ohio. He was charged by a grand jury with one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicle assault to which he pled guilty. The judge sentenced him to five years sending a strong message to truck drivers that they will be held responsible for their actions and decisions on the road.
Ed Slattery responded to the news, “While nothing can bring back my wife or restore my sons’ complete health, I want people – the motoring public and truck drivers alike – to know that our roadways are not as safe as we believe them to be. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) just issued a rule allowing truck drivers to drive 11 hours a day and up to 70 hours per week, and truck driver fatigue is an industry-wide health crisis. In a recent survey almost half of truck drivers (48%) admit that they have actually fallen asleep while driving during the previous year, and 65% of truckers report that they are often or sometimes drowsy.” Slattery continued, “I want truck drivers to know that when they are pushed to surpass these already excessive driving hours, they – and not the companies - may personally wind up paying the price of jail time, or even worse. Truck drivers deserve the same protections provided to airline pilots. It makes absolutely no sense that our government has created a safety hierarchy of sorts where truck drivers fall to the bottom. This system is driving truckers and surrounding motorists to our graves.”
The Slattery family crash occurred on August 16, 2010 around 11:45 a.m. near the 190-mile marker on the Ohio Turnpike in Streetsboro. Susan Slattery was one of the 3,675 people killed in truck crashes in 2010. This number of deaths was an increase of 8.7% from 2009 and was contrary to the decrease in overall motor vehicle crash fatalities which went down to its lowest level since 1949.
“Truck drivers are paid by the mile which results in a financial incentive to drive as fast and as far as they can,” stated John Lannen, Truck Safety Coalition Executive Director. “The DOT issued this inadequate hours of service (HOS) rule and still has not required electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) in all trucks and buses. They are perpetuating an unsafe work environment for truck drivers and endangering all those on the roads.”
Studies show that truck crash risk increases exponentially after 8 consecutive hours of driving and the highest level of crash risk occurs during both the 10th and 11th hours of consecutive driving. Decreasing truck driver’s HOS by one hour would limit the time they are on the road during this period of highest crash risk.
Slattery concluded, “This is not a happy day for my family and we feel badly for the truck driver and his family but responsibility must be taken for the crash. What happened to my family is clear and compelling proof of why the HOS rule must be changed and what the real costs of fatigue in the trucking industry are. The truck driver HOS rule must be based on scientific studies, not the financial desires of the trucking industry. While the trucking industry may claim that reducing the HOS to 10 consecutive hours would negatively impact their bottom line, I want to point out that it would produce more than $2 billion a year in crash, injury and health cost savings. My family’s crash alone cost millions and health care costs for the rest of my son Matthew’s life are estimated at beyond $18 million. Our lives will never be the same but I will continue to work to reduce truck driver fatigue so that another family will not have to suffer the tremendous loss that my family lives with every single day.”
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USA Today: Editorial HEADLINE: New transportation rules fall short |
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USA Today (Arlington, Virginia); Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Editorial HEADLINE: New transportation rules fall short
Byline: Dave Sherman, AP
In the air and on the roads, fatigue can kill. In a 2009 Colgan Air crash near Buffalo that claimed 50 lives, the pilots made critical mistakes in part because of exhaustion. Before the flight, both had made grueling commutes from their homes — the captain from Florida and the co-pilot from Seattle — to the airline's Newark base.
The same danger holds true on the roads, where fatigue contributes to about 500 deaths a year in trucking accidents. Take, for example, a 2009 crash in Oklahoma that left 10 dead after the driver of a semi-trailer truck plowed into a line of stopped vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited the truck driver's fatigue as the probable cause.
Last week, agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation separately issued long-overdue overhauls of rules that are supposed to ensure that pilots and commercial truck drivers are well-rested. Both sets of standards make some improvements, but both fall short of what's needed.
Under the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) old rules, pilots were allowed to work 16-hour days, sometimes longer. They were expected to get to a hotel, sleep, eat, dress and get back to work — all within an absurdly short eight hours.
USATODAY OPINION
The new rules are far more realistic. They require at least 10 hours off between shifts, including eight uninterrupted hours for sleep. Pilots can be on duty no more than 14 hours a day; those who work overnight or fly many short hops may be limited to nine. These are key improvements.
But the new rules don't take effect until January 2014. Revamping schedules and, in some cases, union contracts shouldn't take two years. Even more significantly, the new rules fail to deal effectively with a problem revealed by the Colgan crash — long pilot commutes to their home bases. For some pilots, who fly free, the long commutes are an economic necessity because their low salaries make it tough to live near big cities where airlines have hubs.
The FAA skirted a common-sense starting point — long sought by the NTSB — for getting a handle on the problem by requiring airlines to keep records of which pilots commute and from where. That's a missed opportunity, one that won't come again soon. Because of so many contentious issues, it took decades for the agency to overhaul the rules.
As for trucking, the rules put out by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration offer some improvements, including a shorter work week and a required 30-minute rest break after eight hours on duty. But the agency failed to reverse a dangerous change made in 2003, when the Bush administration increased to 11 hours the time drivers could be behind the wheel each day. For nearly 70 years, the limit had been 10 hours.
It's no secret that truckers often drive when they're tired. In a 2005 survey the agency commissioned, 65% of truckers reported they sometimes or often felt drowsy while driving. And nearly 48% said they had actually fallen asleep while driving during the previous year. Putting weary drivers behind the wheels of 40-ton rigs hurtling down interstates is a formula for tragedy.
After safety advocates sued to reverse the 2003 change, two federal courts questioned the government's reasons for hiking the daily limit, citing the agency's own concession that "performance begins to degrade after the 8th hour on duty and increases geometrically during the 10th and 11th hours."
What's hard to fathom is how one arm of the Transportation Department can determine that certain pilots should be limited to nine hours on duty, while another arm says it's safe for truckers, who must concentrate constantly, to be behind the wheel 11 hours a day. Go figure. |
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New Truck Driver Hours of Service Rule Issued – Dangerous 11 Hour Limit Retained |
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PRESS RELEASE: Large Truck Crash Deaths Increased by Nearly 9% |
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Large Truck Crash Deaths Increased by Nearly 9%
Demonstrating Urgent Need for Improvements to Truck Safety Rules
Arlington, VA (December 9, 2011): While the number of overall motor vehicle crash fatalities decreased to its lowest level since 1949, truck crash fatalities increased by 8.7%, with 3,675 people being killed in 2010. In 2009, 3,380 people were killed in truck crashes and 74,000 others were injured.* The Truck Safety Coalition (TSC) commends the leadership of Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in working together with safety advocates to make our roads safer, and calls upon President Obama and Secretary LaHood to issue a safer truck driver Hours of Service (HOS) rule. Fatigued driving is a major cause of truck crash fatalities.
“The trucking industry has been basing its support for retention of the current HOS rule on the past decline in truck crash fatalities. With this significant increase of 295 more people being killed in truck crashes, we urge them to reconsider their ill-advised and dangerous position and join us to make our roads safer for innocent motorists and truck drivers,” stated John Lannen, TSC Executive Director.
Under the current rule truck drivers can drive 77 hours a week and work up to 84 hours a week. Agency actions to revise the current HOS rule are the result of a legal agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and safety and labor groups while a lawsuit is held in abeyance. The groups have challenged the current HOS rule three times in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In 2004, the Court unanimously vacated the Bush Administration HOS rule on the grounds that the government did not adequately consider the effects of longer driving hours on individual truck driver health and safety. In 2007, the court once more unanimously overturned the rule because the agency did not subject its analysis to public comment. After issuing the same rule again, as a “midnight” rule in late 2008, FMCSA was sued for a third time which led to the legal settlement. The revised proposed rule is currently under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget and is expected to be released at the end of the month.
In related news, yesterday Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chair of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee, Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR), Chair of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, introduced the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2011, S.1950. The TSC commends these truck safety champions for this legislation which includes numerous provisions to improve commercial motor vehicle safety.
“While I am incredibly saddened to learn that more families lost loved ones in truck crashes last year, I am grateful that the Senate is taking action to address the myriad of problems plaguing the trucking industry,” stated Jane Mathis, Parents Against Tired Truckers Board member. “It is past time to have Electronic On-Board Recorders, EOBRS, in all trucks to ensure more consistent enforcement, which will lead to reducing truck driver fatigue. It is unfathomable to imagine even one company operating with just paper books, let alone a whole industry,” continued Mathis.
TSC Vermont Volunteer Coordinator Julie Branon Magnan remarked, “I was shocked when Senator Collins and my Senator, Senator Leahy, pushed for a permanent truck weight increase after the one-year pilot project resulted in more deaths on our roads, both Interstate and non-Interstate. I applaud Senators Lautenberg, Rockefeller and Pryor for including a study on the safety and infrastructure effects of increasing truck size and weight limits. Hopefully this will stop other states and special trucking industries from requesting similar dangerous exemptions.”
*2010 injury data has not yet been released by DOT.
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PRESS RELEASE: FMCSA Administrator Ferro Contradicts Claims by Trucking Industry |
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-Truck Crash Fatalities Up to Nearly 4,000 in 2010 Demonstrating Need for Safer Truck Safety Rules
-TSC has joined with Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and other safety groups in sending a letter today to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein disputing phony claims by the ATA and urging a new, safer HOS rule |
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PRESS RELEASE: Lifesaving Truck Safety Rule Under Assault in Congress |
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Lifesaving Truck Safety Rule Under Assault in Congress
Safety Groups, Victims and Survivors, and Labor Urge Congress Not to Bow
to Special Interests on Life and Death Safety Issue
WASHINGTON, DC (November 30, 2011) Safety groups, families of truck crash victims, and labor today joined U.S. Representatives Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) at a press conference to support revising the truck driver hours of service (HOS) rule to reduce driver fatigue, a major safety issue. A House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee hearing scheduled for today entitled “The Price of Uncertainty: How Much Could DOT’s Proposed Billion Dollar Service Rule Cost Consumers?” is stacked with industry witnesses that ignore the true economic, medical and social costs of widespread trucker fatigue.
“This Committee is attempting to drive a Mack truck through the rulemaking process which is moving forward as a result of a legal agreement,” said Representative Speier. “Unfortunately, the Majority has decided to hold a lop-sided hearing that pays little attention to the benefits to jobs and the increased safety of our constituents this rule will create.”
Every year on average 4,000 people are killed in truck crashes and 100,000 more are injured at a cost of more than $40 billion, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Under the current rule truck drivers can drive 77 hours a week and work up to 84 hours a week. Some long-haul drivers can drive even longer hours, up to 88 hours per week, more than twice the 40 hour work week of most Americans.
Agency actions to revise the current HOS rule are the result of a legal agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and safety and labor groups while a lawsuit is held in abeyance. The groups have challenged the current HOS rule three times in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In 2004, the Court unanimously vacated the Bush Administration HOS rule on the grounds that the government did not adequately consider the effects of longer driving hours on individual truck driver health and safety. In 2007, the court once more unanimously overturned the rule because the agency did not subject its analysis to public comment. After issuing the same rule again, as a “midnight” rule in late 2008, FMCSA was sued for a third time which led to the legal settlement. The revised proposed rule is currently under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
“This Subcommittee hearing is another example of industry’s pervasive and well-funded lobbying strategy in Congress to try to block a Court-ordered revision of the HOS rule,” said Joan Claybrook, Chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways. “Moreover, the hearing is completely biased with special interest industry views. It is a hearing on cost to consumers, but there are no consumers on the witness panel. This so-called billion dollar rule is going to save American taxpayers up to $2.4 billion in lives saved, injuries prevented and reduced health and medical costs. It also has the potential to create nearly 40,000 new jobs in the trucking industry.”
Ed Slattery of Cockeysville, MD, attended the hearing with his 14-year-old son, Matthew. Ed’s wife Susan was killed last year in a horrific crash on the Ohio Turnpike when a driver behind the wheel of a triple-trailer truck fell asleep. Matthew and his brother, Peter, were critically injured, and Matthew sustained lifelong injuries that require round-the-clock care. “This Subcommittee wants to get information about the cost of DOT’s proposed rule to consumers. My family’s crash alone cost millions of dollars and Matthew’s lifelong medical care is estimated to be more than $18 million,” said Slattery. “Unfortunately, while there are five industry witnesses there is no one representing the victim’s point of view about how just one crash involving a tired trucker has imposed a severe and substantial economic cost and traumatic disruption to the lives of our family, not to mention the suffering we experience every day.”
“As a mother who lost her daughter in a preventable truck crash I urge Congress not to put the economic interests of the trucking industry before the safety interests my family,” said Marchelle Wood of Falls Church, VA. “The profession of driving a truck has been turned into a modern day ‘sweatshop-on-wheels’ where drivers are pushed to drive and work beyond human limits. Changes to the hours of service rule that put safety first are overdue and urgently needed.” Wood’s daughter Dana was killed when an overly fatigued truck driver who had HOS violations crashed into her car when she was driving on I-95 in Virginia, returning to school at East Carolina University after fall break.
According to DOT surveys 65 percent of truck drivers report that they often or sometimes feel drowsy while driving, and nearly half of truck drivers admit that they had actually fallen asleep while driving the previous year. Additionally, 79 percent of the public supports returning to the 10 hours of maximum consecutive driving time
Jackie Gillan, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said, “Congress should be focusing on the numbers that show how pervasive fatigue is throughout the trucking industry. If half of the commercial airline pilots admitted to falling asleep while in the cockpit every plane would be immediately grounded, and Congress would take swift action to correct the problem rather than adding more flying and working hours for pilots.”
Fred McLuckie, Legislative Director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters noted, “Our drivers are more stressed than ever because of increased traffic volume, tighter delivery times and deteriorating road conditions.”
The proposed rule would create nearly 40,000 additional jobs in the trucking industry and result in direct health benefits to truck drivers of as much as $1.48 billion.
Media Links:
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Update: VICTORY ON STOPPING AYOTTE HOS AMENDMENT! |
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Greetings!
VICTORY ON STOPPING AYOTTE HOS AMENDMENT!
ACTION NEEDED TO STOP ME/VT PERMANENT EXEMPTION
October 28, 2011
UPDATE:
Thank you for all of your calls and emails to Sen. Ayotte's office -- because of your efforts she did not offer the amendment which would have stopped the DOT from moving forward with the proposed changes to the Hours of Service rulemaking. We expect the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to send the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Business (OMB) for their review soon.
Meanwhile we continue to work toward stopping a permanent weight exemption for Maine and Vermont. The Senate is scheduled to vote on Monday at 4pm EST to pass the "Minibus" (small Omnibus) Appropriations FY12 bill which will includes Transportation allocations and also includes a permanent exemption for Maine and Vermont. The bill will then be sent back to the House, and the House and Senate will have a "Conference Committee" to work out the differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed bills. We need to make sure this exemption does not get included in the final Minibus bill. If Maine and Vermont are given exemptions, their neighboring states will be next in line to claim they are at an unfair competitive business disadvantage, and this exemption will spread from state to state until the whole country has an 100,000 lb. limit.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
Please call these Members of Congress and ask them to oppose any attempts to give Maine and Vermont special exemptions to federal truck weight limits. Urge them to pass a "clean" transportation appropriations bill without any anti-safety policy issues slipped in through the backdoor.
Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, 202-225-4601. If you live in KY, you can email to https://halrogersforms.house.gov/Contact/ContactForm.htm
Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, 202-225-5916. If you are a constituent, you can email to http://www.house.gov/dicks/newemail.shtml?legislation
Congressman Tom Lathan (R-IA), Chairman of the House Transportation, HUD, & Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, 202-225-5476. If you are a constituent, you can email to http://latham.house.gov/Contact/
Congressman John Olver (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Transportation, HUD, & Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, 202-225-5335. If you live in MA, you can email to
https://olverforms.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/default.aspx Please also thank Congressman Olver for his past and ongoing support for keeping current weight limits.
TALKING POINTS: If sending an email, you can cut and paste these bullet points into an email:
- The one-year Maine and Vermont Pilot Programs resulted in more trucks, more deaths and more infrastructure damage.
- In Vermont the commercial motor vehicle fatal crash rate tripled and the change in permits for 99,000 lb. 6-axle trucks more than doubled from 1,500 to over 3,000.
- Trucking interests claimed that allowing heavier trucks on Interstates would get them off local roads, but this did not happen. According to a Report from Vermont, "Because the decrease in VMT (vehicle miles traveled) on the non-Interstates was relatively small (1.5%), the pilot might have provided only limited relief to some communities that complained of heavy trucks using their local thoroughfares, passing close to schools and town centers."
- In Maine the number of fatalities in 6-axle large truck crashes almost doubled (4 to 7 deaths). During the 5 years before the pilot project (2005-2009), there were 0 fatalities on local roads and 0 fatalities on Non-Turnpike Interstates involving 6-axle large truck crashes. During the 1-year pilot project, there were 3 fatalities on local roads and 2 on Non-Turnpike Interstates involving 6-axle large truck crashes.
- The chances of a large truck crash resulting in death and serious injuries increase with each extra ton of weight over the 80,000 lbs. GVW limit in federal law.
- Heavier trucks take longer to stop and roll over more frequently.
- Overly heavy trucks, particularly 100,000 lbs. trucks, dramatically underpay their fair share of taxes and user fees for the repair of U.S. roads and bridges. States and Congress are already struggling to find funds to address the backlog of road and bridge needs across the country.
- Even before the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reported that 36% of Maine's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and 29% of its major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Similarly, 39% of Vermont's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and 40% of its major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. These are some of the worst in the country.
Heavier Trucks Mean Bigger Safety Problems
For More Information, contact the Truck Safety Coalition, 703-294-6404
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Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Thanks,
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URGENT ACTION NEEDED NOW TO PROTECT HOS PROPOSAL |
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October 18, 2011
UPDATE:
Truck driver fatigue is a serious highway safety problem that threatens all of us. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) (pronounced EYH-ott) is planning to offer an amendment this afternoon that would block implementation of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)'s rulemaking on truck driver Hours of Service (HOS). The DOT's proposed changes to the current HOS rule are commonsense and cost-effective and would improve safety for everyone. We are being told that Senator Ayotte plans to offer the amendment on the Senate Floor during debate on HR 2112, the "Minibus" Appropriations bill which will include Transportation allocations.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
Please call Senator Ayote's Legislative Director Adam Hechavarria at 202-224-3324 or email him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Please also call your Senators' offices and urge them to oppose any amendment to stop the HOS Rulemaking. www.senate.gov. Click in the top right corner to get your Senators' numbers.
This is a sample - if possible please make a couple of quick changes to personalize your message.
You can save this email, then copy and paste the following information into an email, then add your personal edits and send to Adam Hechavarria.
I am writing to urge Senator Ayotte not to offer an amendment stopping the Department of Transportation's current rulemaking on truck driver hours of service.
Truck driver fatigue is a serious safety problem that threatens all of us every day, on every major road, in every state. Each year on average, 4,000 people are needlessly killed and 100,000 more are injured in truck crashes. The National Transportation Safety Board has warned of the dangers of truck driver fatigue because it is a major factor in these crashes.
During the current rule which allows 77 hours a week or more of driving and more working hours beyond that, 65% of drivers reported that they often or sometimes felt drowsy while driving and 48% said they had fallen asleep while driving in the previous year. These overly tired truckers are driving loads up to 80,000 lbs. or more at highway speeds alongside families in small passenger vehicles.
Not only have two unanimous court decisions overturned the rule, but the rule also contradicts the DOT's own research which shows that the crash risk of truck drivers increases dramatically after 8 consecutive driving hours. Trucking interests are falsely claiming the current rule has resulted in a reduction in truck crashes. Yet, no study or data directly links the recent decline in deaths with the rule, and truck crash deaths actually increased during 2004 and 2005, the first 2 years of the current rule.
The proposed rule will save lives, improve driver health, reduce costs to society and provide an estimated 40,000 jobs. I ask that Senator Ayotte put the safety of motorists first and foremost.
For More Information, contact the Truck Safety Coalition, 703-294-6404
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Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Thanks,
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John Lannen
Executive Director
Truck Safety Coalition
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
703.294.6404
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IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TO PROTECT HOS PROPOSAL |
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October 7, 2011
UPDATE:
Truck driver fatigue is a serious highway safety problem that threatens all of us. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is trying to improve safety for everyone by proposing changes to the current rule on the number of driving and working hours of truck drivers (Hours of Service, or HOS, rule). However, special interests have gone to Congress and the White House and are trying to stop this commonsense and cost-effective public health and safety rule. The Office of Management and Budget in the White House will soon be reviewing the proposed new rule. We need your help to put safety first and make sure the White House hears from supporters of the proposed safety changes.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
Please send an email to the White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
This is a sample - please make changes to personalize your message. Note there is a 2,500 character limit which is approximately 400 words.
I am writing to request immediate adoption of safety improvements to the current truck driver Hours of Service (HOS) rule proposed by Secretary LaHood. Truck driver fatigue is a serious safety problem that threatens all of us every day, on every major road, in every state. Each year on average, 4,000 people are needlessly killed and 100,000 more are injured in truck crashes. The National Transportation Safety Board has warned of the dangers of truck driver fatigue because it is a major factor in these crashes.
The current Hours of Service (HOS) rule which was proposed by the Bush Administration benefits industry interests at the expense of public safety. During the current rule which allows 77 hours a week or more of driving and more working hours beyond that, 65% of drivers reported that they often or sometimes felt drowsy while driving and 48% said they had fallen asleep while driving in the previous year. These overly tired truckers are driving loads up to 80,000 lbs. or more at highway speeds alongside families in small passenger vehicles. This is a deadly combination, and I urge you to change it and protect innocent motorists as well as truck drivers.
Not only have two unanimous court decisions overturned the rule, but the rule also contradicts the DOT's own research which shows that the crash risk of truck drivers increases dramatically after 8 consecutive driving hours. Trucking interests are falsely claiming the current rule has resulted in a reduction in truck crashes. Yet, no study or data directly links the recent decline in deaths with the rule, and truck crash deaths actually increased during 2004 and 2005, the first 2 years of the current rule.
The proposed rule will save lives, improve driver health, reduce costs to society and provide an estimated 40,000 jobs. I ask that you move forward and adopt the proposed rule, putting the safety of motorists first and foremost.
For More Information, contact the Truck Safety Coalition, 703-294-6404
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Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Thanks,
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John Lannen
Executive Director
Truck Safety Coalition
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
703.294.6404
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Truck Crash Victims urge President Obama to support proposed Hours of Service Rule |
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October 7, 2011
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
VIA FAX: 202-456-2461
Dear President Obama:
As parents, spouses and children who have had loved ones needlessly killed or seriously injured in truck crashes caused by fatigued truck drivers, we are writing to request urgent adoption of necessary and lifesaving reforms to the current Hours of Service (HOS) rule for truck drivers proposed by Secretary Ray LaHood at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The current rule allows truckers to drive and work hours that are excessively long, contribute to fatigue and threaten the lives of truck drivers as well as the lives of families who share the roads with big trucks. Reasonable changes to the current rule will reduce driver fatigue, decrease crashes by tired truckers, save taxpayer money and make our roads and highways safer for everyone.
Each one of us has lived through a personal tragedy resulting from a truck driver who never should have been on the road. We are just a few of the approximately 3,000 families who have been forced to endure a tragic, sudden death and the 100,000 people who have suffered debilitating and costly injuries due to truck crashes every year. We are all painfully aware that driver fatigue has been cited as a major cause of crashes by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The current HOS rule allows many truckers to drive up to 77 hours a week, and long-haul drivers up to 88 hours a week as well as perform non-driving work beyond those limits. This means that some truckers work more than twice the normal 40-hour work week of most Americans, often pushing themselves beyond their limits. Under the current HOS rule 65 percent of drivers report that they often or sometimes felt drowsy while driving and 48 percent said they had fallen asleep while driving in the previous year. Because this is happening while they are in control of loads weighing 80,000 lbs. or more, and while they are operating at highway speeds alongside families in small passenger vehicles, the results can be catastrophic.
The DOT proposed rule will improve safety by reducing the maximum consecutive hours that truck drivers can drive in one sitting. This would reduce the amount of time drivers are exposed to the highest truck crash rate, and especially during the time that drivers are often most fatigued. The 10-hour limit on consecutive hours of driving was in place for more than 70 years and there is no legal or scientific justification for DOT to permit more than 10-consecutive hours of driving in a daily shift.
The pending changes will also improve safety by requiring the most fatigued truck drivers, those who drive continuously and use up their driving hours as quickly as possible, to take more than the minimum 34-hour rest time after driving as much as 88 hours in a week. There is no safety reason to permit tired truckers to take as few as 34-hours off duty -- less than a day and a half -- after operating for long hours week in and week out.
The Bush Administration HOS rule permitting tired truckers to drive and work longer hours not only defies commonsense and well-documented research and scientific data, but it also was overturned in two unanimous back-to-back decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia which remanded the rule to the agency to be revised. In the first case the court ruled that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had ignored the impact of the longer hours on driver health as well as safety. The Court stated that DOT’s decision to allow longer driving hours was at odds with the underlying facts that crash risk increases and safety declines when truckers are permitted to drive for more hours. In fact, six federal appellate judges in two cases have found the Bush Administration HOS rule arbitrary and capricious.
Trucking interests have misleadingly claimed that the current HOS rule is responsible for recent reductions in truck crash deaths when there is no evidence or data supporting that position. Recent decreases in truck crash deaths are primarily the result of improvements in automobile safety and challenging economic times. During the first two years of the current HOS rule, 2004 and 2005, truck crash deaths actually went up but trucking interests have conveniently failed to mention that statistic.
The changes in the proposed HOS rule will add to the economic recovery by increasing trucking industry payrolls by an estimated 40,000 jobs. Also important to note is that a portion of these jobs will likely go to small businesses – the owner operator independent drivers who make up a large percentage of carriers.
Truck crashes not only exact a significant personal toll on families like ours but also an enormous financial burden. In 2009 the cost of fatal large truck crashes was approximately $19.6 billion, and this figure does not include costs associated with injuries, which significantly outnumber fatalities, including physical damage to vehicles, freight cleanup, congestion costs and lost time. We can’t bring back our loved ones but we want to make sure other families are spared the suffering ours have had to endure. The proposed rule will save lives, improve driver health, reduce costs to society and provide jobs. We ask that you move forward and adopt the improved rule. It is a “win-win” for safety, the economy and families.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important public health and safety issue.
Sincerely,
Daphne Izer, Founder, Parents Against Tired Truckers
Steve Izer, Board Member, Parents Against Tired Truckers
Lisbon, Maine
Son Jeffrey and three other teenagers were killed in a crash caused by a tired trucker.
Jane Mathis, Board Member, Parents Against Tired Truckers and Member, FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee
St. Augustine, FL
Son David and his wife Mary Kathryn were killed when a truck driver, who had fallen asleep behind the wheel, rear-ended their car setting it on fire.
Bruce King
Dawn King, Board Member, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways
Davisburg, MI
Dawn’s father, Bill Badger, was killed by a tired trucker who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into his car.
Patricia Liberatore
Lawrence Liberatore, Board Member, Parents Against Tired Truckers
Severn, MD
Son Nick was killed by a fatigued truck driver who veered across 3 lanes of traffic and ran over his car.
Nikki Hensley, Board Member, Parents Against Tired Truckers
Fostoria, OH
Husband Virgil was killed when a fatigued truck driver ran a stop sign and crashed into his car.
Gary Wilburn
Linda Wilburn, Board Member, Parents Against Tired Truckers
Weatherford, OK
Son Orbie was killed instantly when a tired truck driver slammed his semi into the rear of Orbie’s car doing an estimated 75 miles per hour. Orbie’s car exploded on impact.
Paul Badger
Davidson, NC
Father, Bill Badger, was killed by a tired trucker who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into his car.
Kate Brown
Gurnee, IL
Son Graham was hit by a drunk, drugged and fatigued truck driver who fell asleep and swerved into the oncoming lane, hitting Graham’s car and sending it airborne into a field.
Jackie Novak
Hendersonville, NC
Son Charles “Chuck” Novak and his girlfriend Theresa Seaver, were two of five people who died in a crash when a fatigued, speeding tractor-trailer crashed into a line of cars stopped due to an earlier crash.
Michelle Novak
Franklinville, NY
Nephew Charles “Chuck” Novak and his girlfriend Theresa Seaver, were two of five people who died in a crash when a fatigued, speeding tractor-trailer crashed into a line of cars stopped due to an earlier crash.
Ed Slattery
Baltimore, MD
Wife Susan and sons Peter and Matthew were hit by a truck driver who had fallen asleep behind the wheel. Susan was killed and Peter and Matthew were critically injured.
Ron Wood
Washington, DC
Mother Betsy Wood, sister Lisa Wood Martin and nephews Chance, Brock and Reid Martin, were killed just outside Sherman, Texas when a tractor trailer driver fell asleep behind the wheel and crossed a median into oncoming traffic, killing a total of ten people and injuring two more.
Please reply to the Truck Safety Coalition, John Lannen, Executive Director,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, 703.294.6404.
cc: The Honorable Ray LaHood
The Honorable Anne Ferro |
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Family Fights Back from Truck Accident |
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BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. - It has been six months since Matthew Slattery suffered a traumatic brain injury after a tired trucker fell asleep at the wheel and barreled into his family's car on an Ohio interstate.
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Statement of Truck Safety Coalition on Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) for Long-Haul Trucks Proposed Rule |
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Arlington, VA (February 1, 2011): The Truck Safety Coalition (TSC) supports the proposed rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requiring that within three years long-haul commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, be equipped with Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have repeatedly cited driver fatigue as a major factor in truck crash causation. EOBRs which objectively document driving time and on-duty status will help reduce driver fatigue, eliminate fraudulent paper log books, and improve hours of service (HOS) rules enforcement.
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Truckers may be ordered to take extra hour of rest |
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The Federal Government may order truckers to take an extra hour every day.
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Hours of Service Case Reaches Settlement |
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Hours of Service Case Reaches Settlement, Obama Administration Agrees to Reexamine Rule to Rid America's Roads of Tired Truckers
ARLINGTON, VA (November 10, 2009) |
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Overturn Truck Driver Hours of Service |
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Consumer, Safety and Labor Groups File Brief to Overturn Bush Administration Midnight Rule on Truck Driver Hours of Service
Obama Administration Poised to Defend Unsafe, Anti-Worker Bush Rule
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Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation - United States Senate - December 19, 2007
Good morning, my name is Daphne Izer and I am the founder of Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.). P.A.T.T. is a member of the Truck Safety Coalition and my testimony reflects the views and position of our coalition. I would like to begin by thanking Senator Lautenberg, Ranking Member Smith and the other Members of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security for inviting me to participate in this critical hearing on the issue of truck driver fatigue and the Hours of Service (HOS) rule.
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Appeals Court Again Rejects Hours of Service Rule |
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July 24, 2007
A federal appeals court today struck down for the second time a Bush administration regulation that increased the number of hours that truck drivers are permitted to drive without rest.
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Trucks, tired drivers can be deadly mix |
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By LISE FISHER - Sun staff writer / February 19. 2006 6:01AM
A truck driver carrying a gym bag heads for the showers at the Pilot Travel Center in Ocala Thursday evening. Richard Darley has been driving rigs since 1970 and he knows something about driver fatigue.
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Unsafe Features of the (HOS) Rule |
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Turning Back the Clock on Truck Safety: Major Unsafe Features of the 2005 Hours of Service (HOS) Rule
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Risk Higher for Truckers in the 11th Hour |
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Recent court cases raise questions about trucking safety |
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By: Max BakerStar-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH |
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