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Hours Of Service * USA - Trucker’s Dream? Obama Reconsiders 11th-Hour Bush Decision
Chicago,IL,USA -In These Times, by Stephen Franklin -November 18, 2009: ... Urged on by the trucking industry, the Bush administration twice before tried to boost drivers’ hours and loosen the regulations controlling them. The trucking industry had rolled out a heap of explanations why longer hours for drivers was good for business, good for the economy and just plain good for the country... And both times federal courts knocked down the government’s efforts... Even the government’s own Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), part of the labor department, opposed the rule changes proposed by the Bush administration, saying it would put more tired truckers on the road... But in October 2008, the Republican White House went ahead with a rule not very different from the others that the courts overturned... That was the situation until the current administration worked out a deal last month (October 2009) with the Teamsters Union, Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition. Because the government agreed to reconsider the rule, those organizations dropped their lawsuit against it... Meanwhile the 11-hour rule governs the road... Nor does the 11-hour rule matter to the truckers who see how much more money they can make by pushing their freight hours beyond what they are allowed... Drivers who cook their books don’t worry because they know there are numerous ways not to get caught. And they also know that the government hasn’t been trying very hard to catch so them... But it’s also a matter of concern to truckers who know they are driving themselves to death... Several years ago, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association came up with startling figures. By its calculations, its average member was dropping dead at 55 and its members were running a higher than average suicide rate... (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images - A truck stands idle on the Interstate 15 freeway northwest of San Bernardino, Calif)Labels: HOS debate
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