It seems that Dart Transit is making an attempt at bringing reality into the Hours of Service Debate. Not complete reality, mind you, but more realism than has been considered to date. eTrucker has reported, in an article published yesterday, that

“Dart Transit Co. wants a two-year exemption from two provisions of the hours-of-service regulations so that 200 of its owner-operators can operate under a fatigue risk management system that encourages quality nighttime sleep and uses electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) to monitor drivers’ rest schedules.”

The two provisions in question are the 14 hour clock and split-rest limitations; all other HOS provisions will apply. The goal here is to place the specified 200 drivers into a scientifically valid test in real world conditions. The on-board recorders will be used to ensure that the truck isn’t moving for at least six straight hours between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. (meaning, presumably, that the driver is sleeping and not playing some silly video game). The idea is to provide night-time sleep while, at the same time, affording drivers a little more flexibility in choosing when and how they manage to get in their full ten hours of rest during any 24 hour period.

They’ll also, according to the article, use

“…software from Circadian Technologies to analyze driver fatigue risk on a daily basis. Exempt drivers and their fleet managers would get these scores, along with instructions on how to improve them, such as temporary reductions in workload.”

Dart applied for the exemption in June and the FMCSA published a notice of the exemption request, seeking comments, on Monday; the comment period closes on December 26. If the exemption is granted, Dart will begin taking applications and providing health screening from and for O/Os seeking the opportunity to participate in the study. The health screening is being done to eliminate anyone from the study who might have an undiagnosed sleep disorder.

On the face of it, this study would seem to go a long way toward bringing scientifically backed, and reality based, evidence into the HOS debate - rather than the unending litany of bias-ridden statistics. But do I think this’ll be groundbreaking or earth-shattering? Nope, but the proposed study, as well as its method and practice, is rife with interesting implications….

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