TRUCKER CLAIMS * USA - He was fired for refusing to break downtime laws

Gaston man says he lost his job when he refused to break those rules

Gaston,SC,USA -10WISTV, by Jack Kuenzie -Nov 18, 2010: -- The trucking industry is a critical component of the American economy.  But drivers of the big rigs have to follow rules set by the government, and a Gaston man says he lost his job when he refused to break those rules... Victor Harris took a few minutes Thursday afternoon to play with a new addition to his family, but he has more time on his hands than he'd prefer. Until he lost his job this summer, Harris had spent seven years developing the considerable skills of a long haul trucker... Harris says it's not easy to make a living driving big rigs.  It was even harder for him pressure from his employer to deliver cargo long distances on schedule and still comply with federal regulations that require all drivers to rest after being on the road for a certain number of hours... Harris says a few months ago, the Columbia-based company he was driving for gave him an assignment that was impossible without violating the law. When he insisted on taking the legally required downtime, he was in effect laid off... Harris is planning a lawsuit against his former employer. His attorney said some of the practices her client describes are "rampant" in the trucking industry...

* Welcome worn out for obscure fatigue ‘statistic’

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Joe Rajkovacz (OOIDA director of regulatory affairs) -24 Nov 2010: ...   The notion that “31 percent of all heavy truck accidents [are] caused by driver fatigue” has any validity is a form of urban myth or, more suitably, a road rumor that took on a life of its own as it has been continually repeated... The 31 percent number comes from an obscure NTSB Safety Study conducted back in 1988... Suffice it to say that study was not a scientifically based, statistically valid examination of general fatigue among truckers, but it’s been artfully elevated to that level. The bogus 31 percent number from that study is repeated by many who want to mandate expensive on-board safety technologies (or worse) under the guise that fatigued driving is an epidemic... Just how significant is fatigue amongst truck drivers? There are reliable statistics that accurately report on the prevalence of fatigue in fatal crashes among truck drivers. They come from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Those numbers were publicly communicated on Sept. 30, 2010, in a webinar hosted by FMCSA titled: 2009 – Historic Truck Crash Declines. The number is 1.4 percent... There is a big difference between 1.4 percent and 31 percent. Excuse my cynicism, but why do supposedly responsible organizations like to rely on false or bad statistics to support hammering away at truckers?... Follow the money. Beating up unfairly on truckers is big business. Perpetuating the “big bad trucker” stereotype is being used to justify more onerous and costly mandates and regulations, more roadside enforcement and – of course – grabbing more taxpayer money...

* DC - HOS remains under review at Office of Management and Budget

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -29 Nov 2010: -- The proposed hours-of-service regulations remain at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, but it should not affect the agency’s ability to have a final rule completed by mid-2011... The plan was for the White House to finish review of the regulation on Friday, Nov. 26. However, that was just the plan, and it’s not uncommon for reviews to miss their targeted completion date. The continuing review does not mean the journey toward new HOS regs has been derailed...