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DRIVER FATIGUES * USA - Weary truckers pose a highway threat
"My fixed cost doesn't allow me to run legal ... I sleep four hours a night. It isn't out of choice. It's finances"...
Minneapolis,MINN,USA -The Star Tribune, by JIM SPENCER -July 22, 2010: -- Before he crashed his semitrailer truck in a midday accident that killed two people, Jason Styrbicky had been driving all night... The I-35 accident and others in Minnesota recently are renewing questions about truck driver inattention and distraction, as well as the role fatigue plays in each. But when the vehicle is an 80,000-pound semitrailer, losing focus becomes especially deadly... Since 2005, when the U.S. Department of Transportation reduced driving time and increased hours off between shifts, the number of people killed in big truck crashes nationwide shrank steadily, from 5,240 in 2005 to 4,229 in 2008... Fatigue drives regulatory debates, including whether to impose driving restrictions. Experts differ on whether pay based on miles or deliveries tempts truckers to drive dangerously or stay behind the wheel longer than rules allow... 
At the Big Steer, a truck owner-operator begged to differ. "I don't get paid while I'm sitting waiting to load and unload," said the man, who asked that his name not be printed. "Drivers put themselves at risk driving fast to make stops" ... (Photo by Renee Jones Schneider/The Star Tribune: Big Steer truck stop)Labels: driver fatigues, truckers' complain
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