NorthwestJanuary 4, 2004

Scott Powers

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sweeping new federal regulations that go into effect Sunday are designed to make the nation's highways safer by keeping drowsy truckers off the road. But truckers complain the rules could actually cause more accidents.

The regulations are supposed to reduce the risk of fatigue for truckers by setting work-hour rules encouraging a 24-hour cycle.

But that may prove a tough fit for an economy that likes to roll trucks anywhere, anytime, and a trucking industry that meets that need with a fierce tradition of independence.

"Nobody likes it," said Robert Morris, 50, an independent trucker from Charlotte, N.C., in Orlando last week to deliver a load of refrigerated foods. "I haven't talked to a driver or heard on the radio from anyone who agrees with it."

Starting Sunday, the nation's 3 million truckers can only work 14-hour shifts, including loading, up to 11 hours of driving, breaks and unloading. Those shifts must be followed by 10 hours off the clock -- two hours more than the law required previously.

The new rules give truckers an extra hour of driving time, but the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 65,000 truckers, claims that will increase fatigue, making highways more dangerous.

Even more troubling to some truckers is how the new 24-hour cycle is supposed to work. Until now, truckers could work and take breaks -- getting on and off the clock as they saw fit. Under the new rules, once drivers begin their day, it must end 14 hours later.

Jerry Drury, vice president for safety at Armellini Industries, a large, long-haul trucking company based in Palm City, Fla., said he envisions a lot of truckers trying to drive through their fatigue, though he noted that his own company always puts two drivers in a truck to reduce such risks.

"In the past if a guy got tired, he could pull over and take an hour nap, and that would not count against his total time. Under the new law, it's going to count against him," Drury said. "Where's the incentive for a guy to pull over and go to sleep? I think he's going to push it."

Annually, there are almost 5,000 fatal accidents involving big trucks. Because of inconsistent state policies, there is no clear way to know how many involve driver fatigue. Estimates range from less than 2 percent to 50 percent.

Federal regulators contend the changes, the first in truckers' schedules since 1940, will save at least 75 lives a year and prevent thousands of accidents.

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"What we have done is synchronize the commercial drivers' work/rest schedule better with the body's 24-hour circadian rhythm. That's the body's natural clock," said Andy Beck, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation. "It will save lives."

The new rules should make driving safer for everyone, according to AAA.

"We really think they're going to be a positive for traffic safety," said Kevin Bakewell, vice president of AAA Auto Club South. "They do require additional off-duty, rest time -- 10 hours -- as opposed to the eight hours in the previous version.

"It's definitely a beneficial trade-off" for the extra hour of driving, he said.

Not everyone thinks so, however.

Teamsters spokesman Rob Black said companies will force truckers to drive that extra hour regardless of whether they should.

"For all of the talk of the increased rest time, still, it's increased drive time," Black said. "With the increased time behind the wheel of this heavy piece of machinery, clearly you see how the fatigue can only increase."

For the past 64 years, truckers were limited to a 15-hour workday. But that rule was pretty meaningless because they could clock out whenever they were not driving. So if they were waiting hours for a shipper to load a truck, or for a receiver to unload it, the time did not necessarily count as work.

Not any longer. Beck said studies show those loading times and even on-road breaks still drain drivers, increasing the chance of fatigue. The key is creating a 24-hour cycle. So the 14-hour schedule is rigid.

"The change in hours, the new ones as far as 11 hours driving, we can all live with that," said Jerry Heeter, 55, of Elkhart, Ind., who stopped in Orlando while taking a load to Bradenton. "Not being able to split up that 14 hours can really screw up a day."

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