Federal motor carrier safety regulations expert witnesses may opine on the trucking industry,trucking and transportation rules and regulations, truck maintenance, and related topics. In Fatigue Study Provides Basis for 34-Hour Restart Proposal Oliver B. Patton writes for truckinginfo.com:
The 34-hour restart gives daytime drivers a chance to catch up on their rest, but it does not work as well for night drivers. In fact, it may even be detrimental to driver performance.
That’s the conclusion of a study the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is using to justify its proposal that the restart include two periods of rest between midnight and 6 a.m. The proposal is a point of strong contention between the agency and the industry, which is arguing that the two-night requirement will force night drivers to take as much as 53 hours off, possibly away from home, and begin their shifts during morning rush hour when exposure to accident risk is higher.
The study, done for FMCSA by Hans Van Dongen and Gregory Belenky of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University, found that the effectiveness of the 34-hour restart depends on the timing of the driver’s work schedule.
Read more: truckinginfo.com.