Statement Regarding New Hours of Service Rules for Truckers

Washington, DC, April 30, 2003 --The National Sleep Foundation is pleased that the Department of Transportation has developed new rules governing hours of service for commercial drivers, and has moved forward in making revisions to the current antiquated guidelines to try to increase highway safety by focusing on issues relating to driver alertness and fatigue.

Science has produced valuable information regarding the relationship between sleep deprivation and fatigue, alertness and performance. The new rules, increasing the number of off-duty hours from eight to ten, is a step in the right direction that will hopefully give truckers more time to obtain quality sleep that can improve their alertness and safety on the roads. However, increasing the allowable hours of continuous driving time by an hour and permitting a total of 14 hours of continuous work time per day is likely to offset other gains and continue to provide adverse risks for commercial drivers and others on the roads.

In addition, the new rules do not mandate onboard recording devices to track a driver's time behind the wheel. Without the ability to monitor and enforce the new rules, they are not likely to be more effective than the rules they replace.

The National Sleep Foundation advocates for comprehensive education about sleep, alertness and the prevention of drowsy driving for all commercial drivers and others involved in the shipping and transportation network. The Foundation also advocates for regular "no-fault" screening for sleep disorders among all commercial drivers.

Without a comprehensive and systematic approach to hours of service for commercial drivers and the enforcement of such rules, the bottom line is that the drivers themselves and the public will continue to travel on unsafe roads and at continued risk for crashes.