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HOS - USA - New trucking rules irritate nap takers
Omaha, USA -Omaha World-Herald/Billings Gazette (MT, USA), by Stacie Hamel -Nov 6, 2005: -- Staying safe and healthy while trucking became harder recently, though, Duysen said, under a change in federal regulations that govern drivers' work hours... The changes were intended to reduce driver fatigue and highway deaths, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and were announced after much scientific research... The goal of the hours-of-service rule is to synchronize a driver's daily work and rest schedule as closely as possible with a circadian rhythm, said Patricia Lee of the safety administration... Duysen said the change isn't reducing his fatigue. He and others said long-haul truckers who use their trucks' sleeper berths are driving longer without rest breaks, even when they are tired... The reason: Tired truckers no longer can stop the clock on the time they are allowed to drive each day to take a nap... The changes, he said, "just make the job less attractive and don't do a darned bit of good toward attracting the kind of people we need behind the wheel of these trucks." ... Duysen said he doesn't understand why the rules are so restrictive that he has difficulty remaining healthy and safe by fitting bike rides into his schedule... "Safety to me is the number one thing," he said. "A driver should never have to drive tired. We should be able to stop and take a break without being penalized."...
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