Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Regarding Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Hours-of-Service

Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Regarding Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Hours-of-Service

Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Regarding Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Hours-of-Service

Rodney E. Slater, United States Secretary of Transportation
April 25, 2000

Remarks As Prepared For Delivery
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater
Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Hours-of-Service
April 25, 2000
Washington, D.C.

Today, through the newly established Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the first new agency of the new century and new millennium, I am announcing a proposal designed to increase safety on our highways.

It will help reduce the 755 fatalities and more than 19,000 injuries that occur each year on our nation’s roadways and highways because of drowsy, tired or fatigued commercial truck and bus drivers.

Hours of service rules for commercial drivers date back to a 1937 Interstate Commerce Commission regulation that saw its last major change in 1962, almost 40 years ago.

The current rule requires that drivers take 8 hours of rest after a maximum of 10 hours driving or 15 hours on duty. This new proposed rule is based on scientific studies. It eliminates the distinction between driving and on-duty time, and instead, is designed to ensure that big rig operators have the rest they need to drive safely, protecting their lives and potentially the lives of others. Drivers will no longer be able to drive up to 16 hours in a 24-hour day. Again, it will help prevent fatigue-related crashes, thereby saving lives and preventing injuries.

This NPRM has been a long time in the making and would make three major changes:

First, and most importantly, the new rules would be science-based, related to sleep cycles, and put all drivers on a 24-hour cycle.

The second major change is that the rules would reduce the total number of hours in which a driver may work in a given 24-hour cycle to no more than 12 hours. Under the current rules, a driver could legally reach the 60-hour on-duty limit in less than four days, and under the 70-hour limit in less than five days. Under the new system, drivers will reach those limits after 5 days.

The third major change is that long-haul and regional drivers -- drivers who do not report back to their home base of operations every day -- would be required to use electronic on-board recording devices, but only to ensure credible verification of a drivers compliance with the rules.

Julie Cirillo, the Acting Deputy Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, will have more to say about this in just a minute, but before I close, let me add that the department estimates the new hours-of-service rules will prevent approximately 2,600 crashes, 115 fatalities and nearly 3,000 serious injuries annually.

Indeed, let me stress that we want to ensure we meet our objective in the least burdensome manner and encourage public comment, especially on the data supporting our conclusions.

We are excited about our proposed rule, but we are open and we are listening.

As a matter of fact, I am at the halfway point of my two-week, multi-state, multi-modal tour listening to what the American people have to say about transportation and transportation safety.

This important life-saving regulatory proposal is the latest initiative in our efforts to improve the safety of our transportation system -- DOT’s North Star. The hours-of-service regulations has been highlighted as a key objective for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in its recently published Surface Action Plan. This plan highlights over 50 specific actions planned by the Motor Carrier Safety Administration to address our stretch goal of reducing truck-related fatalities by 50 percent by the year 2010.

Last week, I visited M.S. Carriers as part of my tour and saw how attention to safety can be good for the company, can enhance a carrier’s financial performance. Late last week, Vice President Gore unveiled the 21st Century truck initiative designed to bring safe, environmentally friendly commercial vehicles to America’s highways. These efforts, along with this landmark regulatory proposal, highlight the commitment of this U.S. Department of Transportation to constantly strive for progress in bringing Americans of all walks of life a safer and more livable nation.

We plan to use what we learn from our travels and in our visioning sessions to help design the International Transportation Symposium I will be hosting in Washington, D.C this fall. This conference will share best practices and innovative ideas from around the world. It will focus on transportation improvement with special focus on safety.

In closing, across-the-board, we are making progress, and we are listening. We are not only listening, we are acting.

Over the next 90 days, we are scheduling seven public hearings to take place here in Washington D.C., and in Atlanta, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles and the Springfield, Massachusetts-Hartford, Connecticut area to hear what the public and what industry has to say about our proposed rule on hours-of-service for commercial drivers.

Safety is President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s highest transportation priority and the North Star by which the U.S. Department of Transportation is guided and willing to be judged. There is much work to be done to reduce motor carrier fatalities by 50 percent over a decade, but this proposal is a critically important step. I am proud of the Department of Transportation’s efforts with this proposal and our safety efforts and accomplishments.

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Source: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)