Top Truck Highway Safety Goal Featured in National Magazine

17 May 1999

    ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 14 -- The American Trucking Associations
(ATA) top 1999 safety initiative, reform of federal Hours of Service Rules for
truck drivers, has drawn the attention of the influential Parade Magazine.  In
an article scheduled for release this Sunday, May 16, the magazine joins the
call for a rewriting of the 60 year-old rules.
    "In representing the industry's responsible trucking companies," said
Walter B. McCormick, Jr., ATA CEO and President, "we have long urged the
Department of Transportation to move forward quickly on this major safety
issue.  The Parade Magazine article further agrees with our point of view that
new regulations be based on sound science and focused on hours of rest, not
hours of work, as advocated by others."
    McCormick did point out, however, that "science also tells us that driving
at night is as safe as driving during daylight hours, if a person is equally
rested."
    ATA's examination of the issue also indicates that the number of accidents
attributable to fatigue can be reduced with training and fatigue-awareness and
fatigue counter-measures.
    "Although Parade Magazine presented the motor carrier industry and truck
drivers in a sensationalized manner in the past," said McCormick, "this time
their interest in Hours of Service reform will likely help in getting the U.S.
Department of Transportation to move forward on this key highway safety
issue."
    McCormick coupled ATA's support of Hours of Service reform with a call for
more highway rest stop areas.  He said research indicates a need for at least
28,000 more rest stop spaces across the country.  McCormick renewed the
trucking industry's pledge to "sit down anytime, anywhere, in an effort to
obtain a new, science-based, safety-focused regulation addressing fatigue.
When truck drivers are tired, they need to be able to rest," he said.

    ATA's other 1999 safety initiatives include:

    * A doubling of funding for the federal-state roadside inspection program.
    * Strengthening the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) program.
    * A federal ban on the advertising and sale of "adulterant" products
      designed and marketed for the sole purpose of beating a drug test.
    * A 100% increase in the federal truck safety research budget and
      increased funding for highway safety education programs like the "No
      Zone" campaign.