These same issues exist in the Trucking Industry, and they are very real for those of us who do the Day - to - Day driving. Random Drug and Alcohol testing has been a requirement for at least 25 years now. Recent Federal efforts have guaranteed a CDL driver 10 hours off - duty vs. 8 hours before, and a continous and uninterrupted 34 hours off - duty after driving for 60 hours; said period must include two periods off - duty between 1 and 5AM. This reg is written mostly for the LTL Industry ( Conway, Yellow, etc. ), where most line drivers work Monday night through Friday night, ending their driving on Saturday mornings. So basically this new reg guarantees these line drivers the weekend off, which most were already getting. The problem here is with the nationwide carriers, which operate 24/7/365. Many of these carriers sued the Fed to overturn the new Hours of Service regs, to no effect thus far.
Another method used by trucking companies, or I should say companies with trucks, to avoid some Fed regs, is to down-rate their straight trucks to less than 26,000 Lbs GVW, just under the Federal requirement for a CDL licensed driver. Does it make you feel safer that the bobtail truck next to you on the freeway is driven by a non - CDL qualified driver just because it has a 25,999 GVW ??? Is this truck and / or driver any safer ???
As a Commercial Truck Driver , I have had an experience similar to SP5103, where I refused to drive due to fatigue. The boss threatened to fire me, at which point I asked him to look up the phone number for the State Patrol and local TV stations. The conversation ended at that point, however I became a marked man at that company. Most big trucking companies will reluctantly allow a driver to mark off a time or two; the smaller companies might just fire ya and hire a new sucker.
There is a new Federal program in effect called Compliance -- Safety -- Accountability. This program assigns a risk factor number to both CDL Drivers AND trucking companies. My CSA score now follows me to any trucking company I may drive for. Better yet, the company is also assigned a CSA risk factor, based to the TOTAL of ALL accidents & injuries occurring with their CDL drivers, whether owner - operators or direct - hire. Adverse CSA scores can affect a company's liability insurance; some shippers use them as a safety reference as well when deciding which carrier to use. The CSA program has had the effect of placing more safety emphasis on the companies, and also weeding out bad - risk drivers. It has also made the driver shortage even more acute, which leads to more hours behind the wheel, which leads to more fatigue and accidents. Terrific ...