GAO Issues Reports on Central States

In 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) undertook two reviews that examined the factors that contributed to Central States Pension Fund’s current financial condition, the Pension Fund’s investment policies and performance, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) activities under a 1982 Consent Decree between the DOL and the Pension Fund. On Monday, June 4, 2018, the GAO issued reports on their findings from the past two years. Central States has issued a statement about the reports, which can be read below. As a reminder, please visit our website, VoicesforPensionSecurity.com and take action to save your pension benefits before time runs out.

We are pleased that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan government agency, has completed its two reports related to Central States Pension Fund (Pension Fund). The first report reviews the factors that contributed to the Pension Fund’s current financial condition, as well as its investment policies and investment performance. The second report reviews the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) activities under a 1982 Consent Decree between the DOL and the Pension Fund. These thorough reviews were conducted over a more than two-year period and have confirmed the following: The Pension Fund’s investment returns and expenses are in line with other large institutional investors. The Pension Fund’s investment fees were 9% below the median for other large and demographically similar multiemployer pension funds during the 2000-2014 period. The Pension Fund’s administrative expenses were 16% below the median for large defined- benefit multiemployer plans. The DOL has performed its oversight duties under the Consent Decree. In the time since the Consent Decree was established, the DOL has not found the Pension Fund in violation of either the Consent Decree or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Beyond the DOL’s oversight role, it has collaborated with the Pension Fund and others on steps to improve the plan’s financial condition, including working with the Pension Fund on its application under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. Both reports were submitted to and reviewed by the Department of Labor, the Department of Treasury and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which provided only technical comments to the reports. As a result of these findings, the GAO is not making any recommendations to Congress. The reports also confirm the perfect storm of factors that have led the Pension Fund to face insolvency by 2025, including deregulation of the trucking industry, which caused thousands of employers to go out of business; a dramatic loss of active participants and increase in retirees; and two devastating market downturns since 2000. The GAO’s findings underscore the dire need for Congress to take action now to protect the benefits of our nearly 385,000 participants. The Pension Fund is just one of more than 110 multiemployer pension funds covering nearly 1.3 million participants that are projected to become insolvent within the next two decades. Because the federal PBGC also faces insolvency by 2025, all Pension Fund participants and those of other struggling multiemployer pension funds will have their benefits reduced by more than 90% when these funds become insolvent, according to recent testimony by Thomas Reeder, the PBGC Director. It is imperative that the bipartisan Congressional Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans act this year to produce a full and fair solution to this crisis. You can find the reports at the following links: Central States Pension Fund: Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the Plan (GAO-18-106) https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-106 Central States Pension Fund: Department of Labor Activities under the Consent Decree and Federal Law (GAO-18-105) https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-105

Hours of service: Fatal flaws, a slow response to potential fixes

By Todd Dills and James Jaillet

As many truckers are quick to point out, the hours of service rule’s one–size–fits–all prescription isn’t suited for drivers’ highly variable and unpredictable schedules. Furthermore, because the rule is unable to address the quality or quantity of sleep during off-duty periods, there is no guarantee baked into the regulation that a driver legal on hours is alert enough to drive safely.

The fixed 14–hour on–duty clock virtually forces truckers to continue to operate when they feel tired and otherwise would opt for a long break.

“The government really screwed up when they took away the ability to take a nap and not lose that time” in the duty day, says small–fleet owner Harold Hoffman, echoing common driver sentiment.

Given the predominance of per–mile pay, drivers are pressured to pack as many on–duty hours into that 14–hour window as possible, leaving little room for rest when it’s needed. The rule offers drivers little to no flexibility in managing rest during their off-duty periods.

Don Osterberg, a former member of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, notes that the rule also often pushes a driver away from an anchor sleep period and into a drifting sleep pattern. “The anchor sleep period provides the most restorative value to mitigate both short– and long–term fatigue,” he says.

A driver might sleep from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. one week but switch the next week to nighttime driving and daytime sleep. “Our bodies can’t adapt to those wide swings in work–rest patterns,” he says.

FMCSA has historically placed most of its fatigue management efforts elsewhere than evaluating fatigue-monitoring technology, some of which has been available for decades, if not in trucking then in mining and construction.

However, FMCSA does have two such monitoring projects in the works, says spokesperson Duane DeBruyne. Systems under research include actigraphy, where a wrist-worn device tracks body movement to measure quality and quantity of sleep, and head-worn devices designed to detect fatigue and distraction by measuring head movements.

The research for both is being conducted by the federal Small Business Innovative Research program, studying what DeBruyne called a trucking fatigue meter and a multi–modal driver distraction and fatigue detection warning system. DeBruyne says the research into those systems will be completed by the end of next year.

DeBruyne describes the fatigue meter as “using existing streams of trucking data to evaluate driver fatigue and provide actionable feedback in near–real time,” a phrase that could describe any of today’s fatigue monitors marketed to the trucking industry.

Results from FMCSA’s Flexible Split Sleeper Pilot Program study could hold the most short–term promise when it comes to giving drivers more ways to effectively deal with fatigue. An agency spokesperson says the study is waiting for a go–ahead from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Its goal is to see if there are safety improvements when drivers have more options to split the required daily 10–hour off–duty period in increments other than the currently allowed 8 and 2 hours (5 and 5, 6 and 4, etc.).

Many observers cite the slow, cumbersome federal regulatory machine as making it unlikely in the foreseeable future that the hours rule would ever get such a radical revision as to include fatigue–monitoring technology. Others see a less distant path to such a change.

Load One’s John Elliott considers the ELD mandate as a step along the path to changing the rule. With the mandate in effect, “we’ll be able to go back to Congress and push for logical hours reform based on the data,” Elliott says. “FMCSA’s shield has always been ‘We don’t have all the data.’ Like [Compliance, Safety, Accountability], too much [about hours] is based on policy, not on science. With all that data, we can break it down on science for the driver that has just been ignored.”

Small–fleet owner James Griffith also believes FMCSA officials could make better decisions on HOS if they get the accurate data produced by fatigue monitors. It could even lead to a major change in how drivers’ on–duty time is handled, he says.

Griffith’s 35–40–truck fleet, Conard Transportation, based outside of Nashville, Tennessee, uses road–facing dashcams and Maven Machines earpieces that measure head movement to detect potential fatigue and distraction. He says he’s been pleased with the improved safety results.

http://www.overdriveonline.com/

On Eve of Teamster Election, A Top Teamster Official is Charged with Obstructing Corruption Investigation

Less than two weeks before the vote count in the national Teamsters Union election, a court-approved anti-corruption officer has charged the number two Teamster official with obstructing corruption investigations by hiding and destroying thousands of union documents and emails.

The charges against Ken Hall were released in a 42-page report by the Independent Investigations Officer (IIO), an anti-corruption position established under the settlement of a RICO lawsuit filed against the Teamsters by the Justice Department.

Hall, the General Secretary Treasurer, is the highest ranking official in the 1.3 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters after General President James P. Hoffa. The charges against him will likely result in his expulsion from the union and cast a shadow of uncertainty over the election for the union’s top officers.

Teamster members have been voting by mail ballot since October 6 to elect their International Union officers, but the charges against Hall did not become public until November 2. The ballots will be counted on November 14.

Hall is charged with obstructing the IIO, who is investigating top Teamster officials, including Hall, for corruption, rigging the bids for business with Teamster benefit plans, taking employer gifts and payoffs, and embezzlement.

“The obstruction occurred when Hall and his agents knew that the Independent Investigations Officer was investigating the conduct of certain high-ranking officers, fund trustees and union employees, including Hall himself,” the IIO report states.

The targets of the obstructed investigation include Hoffa, Hall, Hoffa’s assistant Willie Smith, running mate Rome Aloise, Hoffa-Hall campaign operatives Richard Leebove, Todd Thompson and Christine Bailey, Benefits Director John Slatery, and Political Director Nicole Brener-Schmitz.
The fact that Hall is willing to risk expulsion from his lucrative and powerful post indicates how important the cover-up is to Hoffa and his inner circle.  Hall was charged – and not yet Hoffa – because the General Secretary Treasurer has control of all the union’s files and records.
The Aloise investigation has already led to corruption charges. A federal criminal investigation is also underway.

After issuing charges against Aloise, the IIO expanded its corruption investigation to include other Hoffa-Hall administration officials. But Hall stonewalled the investigators to prevent the corruption scandal from becoming public until after the International Union election.

The IIO report details how Hall withheld emails that were requested by subpoena while others “mysteriously disappeared from the IBT email system,” according to the report.

Hall withheld an email with the subject line, “Charlie Bertucio payout.” Hoffa administration officials are being investigated for rigging the bidding process for a health insurance contract with a Teamster benefit fund in favor of Bertucio, who took Hoffa and other Teamster officials on golf trips to Europe, among other gifts. Bertucio landed the contract despite submitting the most expensive bid.
The Teamsters is the largest union in North America with direct elections for its top leadership. The Hoffa-Hall slate is being challenged by Fred Zuckerman, the President of the 17,000-member Louisville Local 89 and an outspoken critic of contract concessions and Teamster corruption.

Zuckerman and his Teamsters United slate are backed in the race by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the national reform movement of Teamster members.

Georgia Teamsters to Washington D.C. to Rally Against Pension Cuts

Teamster retirees from Georgia filled up a bus bound for Washington D.C. to rally against the proposed Central States pension cuts. Local 728 Retiree Club President Waymon Stroud joins this determined and focused group in the fight over OUR earned retirement benefits.....Great job Sandra Patterson Presley!

Jimi Richards

YRC Worldwide Reports Second Consecutive Quarter of Positive Operating Income; Regional Transportation Delivers a 93.5 Operating Ratio

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- YRC Worldwide Inc. /quotes/zigman/7564002/quotes/nls/yrcw YRCW -5.21% today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2012. Consolidated operating revenue for the third quarter of 2012 was $1.237 billion, 3.1% lower than 2011, and consolidated operating income increased $53.4 million to $27.3 million, which included a $2.3 million gain on asset disposals. This is the second consecutive quarter that the company has reported income from operations. As a comparison, the company reported consolidated operating revenue of $1.276 billion for the third quarter of 2011 and a consolidated operating loss of $26.1 million, which included a $10.8 million gain on asset disposals. The company reported, on a non-GAAP basis, adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2012 of $78.8 million, a $24.1 million improvement over the $54.7 million adjusted EBITDA during the comparable period in 2011 (as detailed in the reconciliation below). "Despite the current economic headwinds, we were able to increase profitability through a combination of pricing discipline, customer mix management and an unrelenting focus in the areas of safety, costs, and operational fundamentals," stated James Welch, chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide. "Since the new board of directors and management team were put into place in the third quarter of 2011, adjusted EBITDA has increased over each comparable prior year's quarter, and we have most recently generated two consecutive quarters of positive consolidated operating income. For the first time in four years, excluding second quarter of 2010, which included an $83 million non-cash reduction in equity-based compensation expense, we are reporting positive operating income in each of our subsidiaries. I am encouraged with the steady progress we've made throughout the year and remain committed to the execution of our strategy. "I want to especially thank and recognize our employees who are embracing our turnaround efforts and working more safely now than at any time in our recent history," Welch continued. "We are solely focused on the North American LTL market and are working diligently to remove any distractions that might keep us from dedicating 100% of our time and energy to improving the operating results and service levels at YRC Freight and the Regional Transportation companies. "We continue to produce results slightly ahead of our forecast and remain intensely focused on execution at each of our operating companies. We are dedicated to delivering freight at a level that brings value to our customers and providing high-quality, consistent service," stated Welch. Key Segment Information Regional Transportation third quarter 2012 compared to the third quarter of 2011: Operating revenues up 3.1% to $417.3 million Tonnage per day up 0.3% and shipments per day down 0.4% Revenue per hundredweight up 2.9% and revenue per shipment up 3.6% YRC Freight third quarter 2012 compared to the third quarter of 2011: Operating revenues down 2.6% to $819.5 million Tonnage per day down 4.6% and shipments per day down 4.5% Revenue per hundredweight up 3.4% and revenue per shipment up 3.2% "Our Regional carriers delivered a solid 93.5 operating ratio for the third quarter and performed better than almost every other public company in the industry. They provide best-in-class service and continue to build on their profitability with operational improvements and efficiencies. These companies know how to deliver results, and with the dedication and enthusiasm of their employees, they continue to positively comp year over year. I'm very proud of the accomplishments of the Holland, Reddaway and New Penn teams," Welch said. "YRC Freight recorded positive operating income for the first time in four years, excluding second quarter of 2010, which included a $64 million non-cash reduction to its equity-based compensation expense. The improvement in profitability is the result of the continuation of our strategy to improve our customer mix and an emphasis on yield and productivity improvements," stated Welch. "I am encouraged, but not satisfied, with the improvement in their operating ratio. While I am confident they will continue to improve on their performance, there is still much to do at YRC Freight in order to reclaim their position as an industry-leading LTL carrier." "We continue to decrease costs while simultaneously improving customer service by optimizing the network and reducing transit times across thousands of lanes in our LTL network," said Jeff Rogers, president of YRC Freight. "We recently recalibrated our network to reduce handling of shipments and improve service time but there's additional work to be done with freight flow alignment. Maynard Skarka joined us last month as chief operations officer to lead our network and operations teams. His expertise will help build the link between operational efficiencies and customer service," Rogers stated. "I am extremely pleased with the progress we have made and continue to make with our safety initiatives, which are reducing the overall frequency of our workers' compensation claims," Welch said. "Given the investment in our people and their safety, we continue to meaningfully close more claims than are opened and have the fewest number of open claims today since we started tracking the information in 2000. We are changing the culture across the organization and we see employees embracing the change by doing the right things every single day," stated Welch. Liquidity At September 30, 2012, the company's liquidity, including cash, cash equivalents and availability under its $400 million multi-year asset-based loan facility (ABL), was $237.6 million. The ABL borrowing base was $375.9 million as of September 30, 2012 as compared to $360.2 million as of June 30, 2012. As a comparison, the company's liquidity, including cash, cash equivalents and availability under its ABL was $248.7 million at June 30, 2012. For the nine months ended September 30, 2012, cash used in operating activities was $48.0 million as compared to $52.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, an improvement of $4.8 million. This improvement in cash used in operations in 2012 was inclusive of a year-over-year increase of $46.8 million of cash paid for interest, $21.4 million of cash paid for letter of credit fees, $40.3 million of cash paid to multi-employer pension plans and $40.7 million of cash paid to single-employer pension plans that was not paid in the prior comparable period. "Total liquidity only decreased approximately $11 million since the end of last quarter to $238 million which speaks to our continued operational improvement and effective working capital management," stated Jamie Pierson, chief financial officer of YRC Worldwide. Review of Financial Results YRC Worldwide Inc. will host a conference call with the investment community today, Friday, November 2, 2012, beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET, 8:30 a.m. CT. The call will be available to listeners as a live webcast and as a replay via the YRC Worldwide website yrcw.com. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Adjusted operating income (loss) is a non-GAAP measure that reflects the company's operating income (loss) before letter of credit fees, equity-based compensation expense, net gains or losses on property disposals, and certain other items including restructuring professional fees and results of permitted dispositions. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that reflects the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization expense, and further adjusted for letter of credit fees, equity-based compensation expense, net gains or losses on property disposals and certain other items, including restructuring professional fees and results of permitted dispositions and discontinued operations as defined in the company's credit facilities. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted operating income (loss) are used for internal management purposes as financial measures that reflect the company's core operating performance. In addition, management uses adjusted EBITDA to measure compliance with financial covenants in the company's credit facilities. Free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow are non-GAAP measures that reflect the company's operating cash flow minus gross capital expenditures and operating cash flow minus gross capital expenditures, excluding the restructuring costs included in operating cash flow, respectively. However, these financial measures should not be construed as better measurements than operating income, operating cash flow, net income or earnings per share, as defined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow have the following limitations: Adjusted operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to fund restructuring professional fees, letter of credit fees, service interest or principal payments on our outstanding debt; Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; Equity-based compensation is an element of our long-term incentive compensation program, although adjusted operating income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA exclude either certain union employee equity-based compensation expense or all of it as an expense, respectively, when presenting our ongoing operating performance for a particular period; Adjusted free cash flow excludes the cash usage by the company's restructuring activities, debt issuance costs, equity issuance costs and principal payments on our outstanding debt and the resulting reduction in the company's liquidity position from those cash outflows; Other companies in our industry may calculate adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow should not be considered a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow as secondary measures. The company has provided reconciliations of its non-GAAP measures (adjusted operating income [loss], adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow) to GAAP measures within the supplemental financial information in this release. * * * * * Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Words such as "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "project," "forecast," "propose," "plan," "designed," "enable," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and are subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, uncertainties and contingencies, known and unknown, many of which are beyond our control. Our future financial condition and results could differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including (without limitation) our ability to generate sufficient cash flows and liquidity to fund operations and satisfy our cash needs and future cash commitments, including (without limitation) our obligations related to our substantial indebtedness and lease and pension funding requirements; the pace of recovery in the overall economy, including (without limitation) customer demand in the retail and manufacturing sectors; the success of our management team in implementing its strategic plan and operational and productivity improvements, including (without limitation) our continued ability to meet high on-time and quality delivery performance standards, and the impact of those improvements to meet our future liquidity and profitability; our ability to finance the maintenance, acquisition and replacement of revenue equipment and other necessary capital expenditures; potential increase in our operating lease obligations resulting from our decision to defer the purchase of new revenue equipment; changes in equity and debt markets; inclement weather; price and availability of fuel; sudden changes in the cost of fuel or the index upon which we base our fuel surcharge and the effectiveness of our fuel surcharge program in protecting us against fuel price volatility; competition and competitive pressure on service and pricing; expense volatility, including (without limitation) volatility due to changes in rail service or pricing for rail service; our ability to comply and the cost of compliance with federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations, including (without limitation) laws and regulations for the protection of employee safety and health and the environment; terrorist attack; labor relations, including (without limitation) the continued support of our union employees with respect to our strategic plan, the impact of work rules, work stoppages, strikes or other disruptions, our obligations to multi-employer health, welfare and pension plans, wage requirements and employee satisfaction; the impact of claims and litigation to which we are or may become exposed; and other risks and contingencies, including (without limitation) the risk factors that are included in our reports filed with the SEC, including those described under "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. * * * * * About YRC Worldwide YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC Freight, YRC Reimer, Holland, Reddaway, and New Penn, and provides China-based services through its JHJ joint venture. YRC Worldwide has one of the largest, most comprehensive less-than-truckload (LTL) networks in North America with local, regional, national and international capabilities. Through its team of experienced service professionals, YRC Worldwide offers industry-leading expertise in heavyweight shipments and flexible supply chain solutions, ensuring customers can ship industrial, commercial and retail goods with confidence. Please visit www.yrcw.com for more information. Web site: www.yrcw.com Follow YRC Worldwide on Twitter: http://twitter.com/yrcworldwide

YRC Freight Announces Driver Hiring Initiative

Company plans to fill 200 positions; Benefits include union contract pay rates and full paid health care

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- YRC Freight, a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW), has announced immediate plans to hire 200 qualified over-the-road drivers in cities across the U.S., primarily in Maybrook, NY; Buffalo, NY; St. Paul, MN; Chicago, Il; Salt Lake City, UT; Akron, OH; Cleveland, OH; Cincinnati, OH; North Indianapolis, IN; Charlotte, NC; Jackson, MS: Albuquerque, NM; and Kansas City, MO.

"YRC Freight is growing and our volumes are building," said Jeff Rogers, president of YRC Freight. "A huge key to our ability to prosper is engaged employees who are focused on working together with the common objective of on-time pickups and deliveries, claims free service, emphasis on safety, and the long-term commitment of delivering confidence to our customers every day."

A unionized company, YRC Freight makes available to its road drivers full paid health care benefits and vacation time. Drivers are paid union contract pay rates. All equipment is provided and maintained by the company and all fuel cost is paid for by the company. Many daily dispatches involve minimum time away from home. With the exception of team drivers, overnight stays for drivers are provided and paid for in hotel rooms.

YRC Freight recruits from approximately 100 truck-driving schools across the nation and is dedicated to investing in new hires. The company offers training for new drivers and helps them fine-tune their freight driving skills – including how to maneuver in city traffic and how to complete hazmat required paperwork.

"YRC Freight is a great place for drivers. We work as a team to get the job done and everyone treats each other with respect," said Wilson Meier, 11-year veteran driver with YRC Freight who was just named as the New York State Motor Truck Association Driver of the Year. "We have excellent health care benefits and our equipment is well maintained too," added Meier.

"We are the original LTL experts and while our name has recently changed, the caliber of our workforce and our commitment to our customers remains the same as it has been for the past 85 years," added Rogers. "Our strength is built on the talents and dedication of each and every employee. We invite safety-minded professional drivers with a strong work ethic and the desire to succeed to join our winning team."

Drivers interested in positions with YRC Freight can apply online by visiting www.yrcfreight.com/careers or www.yrcw.com/careers.

About YRC Freight
YRC Freight, a leading trucker of industrial, commercial and retail goods, specializes in less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping solutions for businesses. Based in Overland Park, Kan., YRC Freight provides comprehensive North American coverage and offers a broad portfolio of LTL services to bring flexibility and reliability to customers' supply chains. For more information, visit www.yrcfreight.com.

Web site: www.yrcfreight.com
Follow YRC Freight on Twitter: http://twitter.com/yrcfreight
Follow YRC Worldwide on Twitter: http://twitter.com/yrcworldwide

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/711302#ixzz1uxUB9RMn

Safety Groups and Drivers Go to Court Over New Truck Driver Hours of Service Rule

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- NEW RULE ON TRUCK DRIVER HOURS OF SERVICE FAILS TO ADDRESS DRIVER FATIGUE

The federal rule for truck driver hours of service (HOS) still fails to make needed improvements to protect the public from tired truckers and should be subjected to judicial review according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Truck Safety Coalition, and two truck drivers who today filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule.

"Given the FMCSA's mission to prevent truck-related deaths and injuries, it is appalling that the agency issued yet another rule that fails to adequately address truck driver fatigue and puts the public's safety at risk," said Henry Jasny, Vice President and General Counsel, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

In the lawsuit, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the parties seek judicial review of the final HOS rule issued on December 16, 2011, by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The agency final rule failed to reduce the 11-hour limit on consecutive driving hours to 10 hours, despite the agency's statement in the proposed rule that "the 10-hour rule is currently FMCSA's currently preferred option" because it would be most effective in reducing driver fatigue. Although the agency had no data to support its adoption of the longer 11-hour limit in 2004, the agency decided to stand by that mistake even though it comes at the cost of numerous additional fatigue-related crashes.

The new final rule also fails to eliminate the 34-hour restart provision that encourages cumulative fatigue and allows drivers to exceed weekly driving and work limits. The restart provision, first instituted in 2004 without any supporting data or research, reduces the off-duty time drivers are allowed from 48 or more hours to just 34 hours off-duty after driving up to 70 hours and working more than 80 hours over eight days. Changes included in the December 2011 final rule do not prevent the most fatigued drivers, those who work on a schedule of 70 hours of driving in eight-days, from continually using the short and unacceptable 34-hour restart every week, or being required to do so by their trucking company.

Driver surveys sponsored by the agency show that under the current HOS rule, two-thirds of truck drivers (65 percent) acknowledge that they drive while tired, and nearly half (48 percent) admit to falling asleep behind the wheel in the previous year.

Adding to the problem of driver fatigue, the new FMCSA rule includes a loophole that allows truck drivers to sit in the cab of their truck during their 10-hour off-duty rest period instead of sleeping. This will only lead to increased rates of driver fatigue among long-haul drivers who do not have sleeper berths in their trucks.

In 2004, and again in 2007, the Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in favor of safety organizations that challenged the HOS rule. In the first case, the Court found the agency's decisions to allow truckers to drive for more hours, both consecutively and weekly, was at odds with the agency's research and findings of fact that show increases in driving hours results both in higher levels of driver fatigue in each 11-hour shift and in higher levels of cumulative fatigue every week.

"Despite the fact that truck crash fatalities increased by nearly nine percent in 2010, and more than 100,000 people were injured, at a cost to society of nearly $42 billion, the FMCSA Administrator has chosen to imperil public safety by keeping unsafe and illegal driving limits for truck drivers," according to Joan Claybrook, Chair of the Board of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) which is part of the Truck Safety Coalition.

"Unfortunately, industry pressure trumped public safety," said Daphne Izer, founder of Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.) part of the Truck Safety Coalition. "The research is clear and compelling. However, FMCSA's decision to keep the longer, more dangerous 11 hours of driving time rather than returning to the 10-hour limit will put the public and truck drivers at risk."

SOURCE Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved