In a recent blog post (please see our August 28, 2013, entry), we discussed some of the factors that contribute in a major way to commercial truck crashes in Ohio and across the nation. Obvious culprits include aggressive driving — both by truckers and by motorists of passenger vehicles in close proximity — and cell phone use.
We alluded also to drowsy driving, which is a singular peril in the trucking industry owing to the many hours that commercial truckers spend on the road in tractor trailers, 18-wheelers and other big rigs. A fatigued driver can bring about devastating consequences and is the primary catalyst in a high number of collisions. A study conducted under the aegis of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has concluded that trucker fatigue factors into as many as 13 percent of all commercial truck accidents.
A parallel concern that has often been cited by the FMCSA in recent years is sleep apnea, a subject that administration officials state bears closer attention and needs to be addressed within the trucking industry.
Trucking advocacy groups, employers and individual truckers are paying due attention to FMCSA pronouncements on the subject, given statistics indicating that government guidance on the matter could cost the nation’s trucking fleets and drivers as much as $1 billion annually to comply.
Congress has listened to industry concerns, with a recently authored House bill passed by a stunning 405-0 vote requiring that any apnea-related action taken by the FMCSA be pursuant to formal rule making and not mere guidance on the matter. Similar legislation is now under Senate consideration.
Voices from within the trucking industry say that the issuance of guidance alone would lack clarity and confuse drivers, as well as be a unilateral dictate foisted upon the trucking community without its input.
“[I]t is critical that we include all the stakeholders, including medical professionals and the trucking community, in any thorough analysis of fatigue-related crashes,” said one of the House bill’s sponsors, Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), following passage of the would-be law.
Source: Truckinginfo, "U.S. House passes sleep apnea legislation, Senate bill introduced," Even Lockridge, Ssept. 26, 2013