Shippers, Truckers Slam Driver Fatigue Studies

The National Industrial Transportation League is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration not to change the truck driver hours-of-service rules.

In new comments filed with the agency, the shipper group challenged the findings of several studies linking longer driving hours, fatigue and driver-caused truck accidents.

The American Trucking Associations also fired a salvo at the fatigue studies, citing criticism from a former top FMCSA research official. “FMCSA should abandon its ill-advised proposal and turn its focus to improving enforcement of the current, effective hours-of-service rule,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said.

The FMCSA recently said it would delay the release of its final hours-of-service rules until on or before Oct. 28 while it reviews additional comments.  

The FMCSA last month reopened the comment period on its proposed HOS rules and asked for comments on four university-sponsored studies.  

Two of the studies relate to bus drivers and are irrelevant to trucking operations, the NITL said. A third study overlooks the cause of crashes, the group said. “Using the bus driver studies to support the proposed HOS rule is akin to making an apples-to-oranges comparison,” the league said in a letter to the FMCSA.

The shipper group said a Pennsylvania State University study that implies crash risks increase with each driving hour overlooked the cause of crashes.

The fourth study, by Virginia Tech, shows “no appreciable increase” in crash risk between the 10th and 11th driving hours, the NITL said in its letter.

Former FMCSA official Ronald R. Knipling also criticized the studies, saying the bus studies were “inapplicable” to the truck driver hours-of-service review.

In a paper prepared for the ATA, Knipling questioned the Penn State and Virginia Tech studies as well, arguing their findings require “extensive re-analysis.”

-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @wbcassidy_joc.