Recent Statutory Trends and Developments
Fatigue and Hours of Service

Driver fatigue is a major cause of highway crashes involving tractor-trailers. Fatigue is also one of the most perplexing safety issues facing the trucking industry. Because of criticism regarding the hours of service regulations which had not been substantially modified since 1939, the Federal Highway Administration issued new rules in 2003 to become effective January 4, 2004. 49 CFR §395, et seq. Interestingly enough, because Congress mandated a revision of the rules to decrease crashes caused by fatigue, it was surprising to many that the 2003 revisions actually increased the length of time a trucking company could make its drivers stay behind the wheel. In fact, one of the primary changes allowed drivers to drive 11 hours straight, a one-hour increase over the former 10-hour rule. 49 CFR §395.3(a). Because of this change and others issued by the federal government in 2003, groups such as Public Citizens, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and others challenged the unsafe and unhealthy hours-of-service rule that the federal government adopted in 2003. Suit was filed in Federal Court, and the Court struck down the 2003 revisions. After the 2003 revisions were struck down, the government issued new revised regulations in 2005 which basically mirrored the 2003 regulations. Recently, the Federal Court again found the revisions untenable and basically ruled that they would remain in effect for no more than 90 days. Hence, it is back to the drawing board regarding how many hours a day and/or week a trucker can remain behind the wheel. Therefore, if you are retained to handle a tractor-trailer collision for either the plaintiff or defendant, you would be wise to immediately determine what regulations apply regarding hours of service. Public Citizen