Chicago Truck Accident – Safety Group Seeks Limits on Trucks' Size, Drivers' Hours
May 31, 2011
“Every year about 4,000 people needlessly die on our highways and 100,000 more are injured in truck crashes,” Claybrook said. “Families and truck drivers are being slaughtered on our highways because of the trucking industry’s relentless push for bigger, overweight trucks operated by drivers who are exhausted and pressured to meet unreasonable delivery deadlines.
“Hoffa said he was driven by his members — more than 600,000 of the 1.4 million Teamsters are drivers — and the need to promote safety.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is in the final stages of two related rules: to limit service to 10 consecutive hours and to require trucks to convert to electronic on-board recorders to keep tabs on the hours driven continuously. The Truck Safety Coalition is pushing for quick approval of the rules, while the trucking industry supports the on-board recorders but not changing the driving limits.
via Safety group seeks limits on trucks’ size, drivers’ hours | McClatchy.