The ATRI (American Transportation Research Institute), which is a subsidiary of the American Truck Association just recently published a study on the new HOS (hours of service) regulations that the FMCSA has imposed on us. The study is reporting that there is an expected loss of driver wages to the tune of $1.6 billion to $3.9 billion per year. In addition to the monetary loss, they found more drivers are reporting increased fatigue and are being forced into driving during the most dangerous rush hour peaks of traffic. According to a a recent article in
Transport Topics, "more than 80% of the carriers ATRI surveyed said they've suffered a loss in productivity because of the new rules. Half the carriers said they've had to hire more drivers to haul the same amount of freight."
Furthermore, the article in
Transport Topics reports that Philip Byrd, Sr., president of Bulldog Hiway Express and Chairman of the American Trucking Association (ATA) said "
By now, it should be clear that these rules were a mistake; everyone can see it. FMCSA should listen to the facts and roll back this ill advised rule." Duane Long, first vice chairman of ATA calls the new HOS
"a solution in search of a problem."
Anne Ferro, FMCSA Administrator dismisses ATRI's study as being inaccurate with no metric data to validate it. In their defense, the FMCSA has done some good things since its inception in 2000. There were 5380 truck involved fatalities in 1999, (before FMCSA) and just 10 years later, that number was 3380 as recorded in 2009. However, during that period, our industry was not under the new HOS rules. We did have a 34 hour restart, but there was no once per week limit on it and no 1-5 a.m. consecutive day requirement as a part of it, not to mention the mandatory 30 minute break. This is where I agree with Duane Long that this is "
a solution in search of a problem."
There's no question that the economy is not doing well right now and hasn't been for a few years.
Government regulation that unnecessarily restricts capitalism and stifles economic growth, especially during these fragile times is a recipe for a prolonged recession.