Just last month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration submitted an important proposal for the new proposed truck driver hours of service rule. The details are unknown, but it is believed that the new laws will shorten the number of hours truckers are permitted to drive each day.
The trucking industry of course is concerned about losing money and is urging that the current 11 hour rule per day is allowed but public safety groups and consumer advocates are pushing for an eight hour day requirement.
What most Americans are not aware of is that often times, truck drivers are breaking the rules that protect the public and going over the mandated 11 hour maximum. Many times, tragic accidents that have caused innocent families to lose loved ones have happened due to truck drivers who have pushed themselves past the brink of exhaustion and driven more hours then allowed or humanly possible to do so safely. Oftentimes, in order to push themselves to meet deadlines with their thousand ton loads, truck drivers will take dangerous caffeine supplements and energy drinks which has a “crashing” effect later on. Sadly, these truck drivers end up literally “crashing” into other drivers on the roads and freeways. This type of criminally negligent behavior is often ignored by the big trucking companies who turn a blind eye to this behavior. However, it is the public safety that ends up paying the cost.
Hopefully, the new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed rules for truck drivers will put public safety before the profits and pocketbooks of big trucking companies. No life is worth losing due to a company’s greed and recklessness that encourages their employees to engage in such dangerous practices.