Trump Administration poised to relax truck safety rules - Entrepreneur Generations

The Trump Administration is expected to relax trucking safety rules that many drivers see as too restrictive, but safety advocates disagree and point to a sharp rise in deadly truck crashes in the past decade, NPR reports.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering exceptions to the rule that caps driving time at 11 hours a day and requires at least 30 minutes of rest during that time. If the changes go through, the government would ease some regulations, including allowing drivers to break up their required sleep time.

Driver Michael Whitaker told NPR that tweaks in the regulations would make it easier for drivers to avoid rush-hour traffic.

"We don't want to interact with cars during rush hour traffic. We want to stay as far away from you all as possible," he said.

Another driver, Carmen Anderson, said, “It's kind of like when you're in kindergarten and they're sitting there saying, OK, it's nap time. You have to take a nap.”

Recalling a time when she was stranded in an industrial area, Anderson said she once spent 17 hours parked in a spot with no restrooms and no security because she had no flexibility in the regulations for hours of service.

Safety advocates disagree with the proposed changes.

Dawn King, president of the Truck Safety Coalition, says the trucking industry has not produced data to show relaxed standards would increase safety. King said her father was killed by a tired trucker in 2004. She is a volunteer with the Truck Safety Coalition.

"We really should not be considering weakening the regulations we should be considering enhancing them," said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "The safety of everyone traveling on our roads is at stake."

Chase said deadly truck crashes are up 40 percent since 2009.

“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is expected to issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” the NPR story says. “That will open a two month comment period on hours of service changes. Then the administration can move forward with new rules.”


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