Trucker Schedules

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued new rules on commercial trucker schedules, to replace those they had issued in 2003. These 2005 rules are based on traffic safety data collected and medical research done in the two intervening years.

How Long Can a Trucker Drive Without Taking a Break?
The 2003 and 2005 rules both say that a trucker cannot:
• Drive more than 11 hours without a break
• Work longer than 14 hours in a shift
• Drive more than 60 hours in a seven-day period
• Drive more than 70 hours in an eight-day period

In addition, the 2005 rules requires that:
• Truckers rest for at least 10 hours in between shifts
• Truckers take a 34-hour break to recover from cumulative fatigue
• If the trucker has a sleeper berth in his truck, he must rest for eight hours continuously, plus take another two consecutive hours off before he resets his driving schedule.

These additions are designed to decrease the 5.5% of fatal truck accidents that are caused by truck driver fatigue. They seek to give the drivers more rest for longer time periods, based on the finding that several blocks of rest taken in short periods are less refreshing than a single block of rest taken for a longer period.

Work Other Than Driving
Many truckers do more than just drive. They also load and unload their cargo. With large products like cars, certification is required for their loading, and the trucker may be the only one so certified when he arrives at his destination.

Pressure on the drivers
Big rigs carry every type of product, from canned food to gasoline to livestock to automobiles. Many goods go part of their journey by train, plane or ship, but most are also transported part of their journey by big rigs. Some truck runs are routine and some are ad hoc.

There are always deadlines by which the driver is expected to deliver his goods. Some trucks now have a sleeper berth with benches and a kitchen behind the driving seat, and two drivers take turns, one resting while the other drives. These trucks are like a combination of 18-wheeler and RV and they have longer runs than regular trucks, lasting even several weeks.

Truck cabins are now also made more comfortable and ergonomically correct. But driving for long periods can be dull, lonely and tiring. Many drivers work the maximum time allowed, as they are paid according to the number of miles or hours they have achieved. Trucking companies like their goods delivered as quickly as possible. Although each driver keeps a log of his driving time, it could sometimes be falsified if the driver is over his driving limit. On the other hand, more trucks now have a satellite connection to their employer, or a Global Positioning System link. This provides easy communication with a dispatcher or the company’s headquarters and allows the truck to be tracked.

A Balance Between Employer Needs and Government Regulations
For the sake of road safety and drivers’ health, there needs to be a decent balance. On the employer’s side, speed is of the essence, as there are many trucking companies, and reliable and speedy delivery keeps a company ahead of the competition. On the other hand, risk to other drivers on the road must be kept to a minimum, especially since there are more and more of these big rigs on our roads these days. So the new DOT rules will hopefully keep both the truckers and the rest of the traffic safer.