US president Barack Obama must approve the changes before they take effect.
Proposed changes to fatigue management laws for truck drivers in the US have passed Congress in a move welcomed by the country’s trucking representatives.
The industry is now waiting on president Barack Obama, who must give his approval before the amendments take effect.
If passed, the changes will suspend the restrictions that prevent drivers working between 1am and 5am and limit them to taking one 34-hour ‘restart’ break a week.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) says the reforms are a “common sense fix to two unjustified provisions” included in US driver fatigue laws introduced in 2013.
The group representing owner-drivers in the US, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), supports the changes.
“Small business truckers know from personal experience that current restart restrictions compromise safety by forcing them onto the roads during the most congested and dangerous hours of morning traffic,” OOIDA executive vice president Todd Spencer says.
The OOIDA says any truck drivers want to work overnight shifts because there are fewer vehicles on the road.
The provisions were tacked on to an omnibus spending bill that now goes to Obama for approval.
However, his administration and road safety groups recently voiced their support for keeping existing conditions in place.
US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx claims removing the restrictions will lead to drivers working more than 82 hours per week, well above the average of 70 hours, and put lives at risk.
But senator Susan Collins, who led the charge to reform the laws, says the current regime raises potential safety concerns.
“As a result of unintended consequences of these regulations, more trucks have been forced on our nation’s roads during the most congested morning hours – when commuters are traveling to work and children are traveling to school,” Collins says.
The two-year suspension of the requirements is designed to allow the US Government to investigate whether they are effective.