>Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 15:50:05 -0400 >From: 32 HOURS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >MIME-Version: 1.0 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: CRASH denounces 80-hour week for truckers > > NEWS FROM 32 HOURS: > >Attached is a news release from Canadians for Responsible and Safe >Highways (CRASH) regarding the launch of their campaign against changes >which could result in truckers working in excess of 80 hours per week. > >Anders Hayden >32 HOURS > >--- > >Safety Group Launches National Campaign to Stop Longer Truck Driver Hours > > OTTAWA, Oct. 25 /CNW/ - Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways >(CRASH) today launched a national campaign to rally public opposition to >longer hours of work for transport truck drivers. Transport Canada, trucking >industry lobbyists and some provinces want to raise the limit on weekly hours >of work for truck drivers by 40 per cent, from an average 60 hours to over >80. > ``Fatigue kills. Big truck crashes will increase and as many as 70 more >motorists and truck drivers will die each year if regulators proceed with >this >plan'', said Bob Evans, Executive Director of CRASH. ``Transport Canada is >ignoring its own scientific panel which said that the proposed increase in >hours of work would be dangerous.'' > Evans was critical of the spin industry lobbyists and Transport Canada >officials are putting on the proposed regulatory changes. ``They are >spinning >numbers in an attempt to make an increase look like a decrease.'' > ``In reality, they are proposing a higher limit on weekly hours of work. >The industry wants more hours, week in and week out, from its drivers in >order >to get more revenues from its trucks at the lowest cost. And regulators are >caving in to this demand.'' > Evans announced the launch of a two-pronged national campaign to stop >what he called an irresponsible proposal that puts industry profit ahead of >people's lives: > - Postcard campaign to help other road users express their opposition to > sharing the road with exhausted and sleep-impaired drivers of > transports weighing up to 138,000 pounds > - Outreach to municipalities to inform them of the risk to safety on > municipal roads posed by proposed changes to federal and provincial > regulations governing heavy truck transport > > Evans was joined at the press conference by Clive Doucet, a member of the >Council at the Regional-Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton which, on October 13, >1999, voted unanimously to oppose longer hours for truck drivers. > ``I don't want the 130,000-pound truck following me into a fog bank to >have a sleep-impaired driver'', said Councillor Doucet. ``I don't want the >responsible driver of a truck carrying dangerous goods through our city >sharing the road with another truck driver who has been at the wheel for >70 to >80 hours a week for several weeks in a row.'' > Evans said that improvements to the current regulatory structure are in >order, but public and driver safety must be paramount as changes are made. >``Already there are almost 50,000 big trucks in collisions, and 12,000 >Canadians killed or injured in big truck collisions every year. This is no >time for back room deals to allow the trucking industry to push drivers to >work an extra 40 per cent,'' Evans said. > > Fact Sheet > - Federal and provincial government officials of the Canadian > Council on Motor Transport Administrators meet November 7/8/9 in > Halifax on the proposal to increase truck driver hours of work > - A scientific panel commissioned by Transport Canada has said that an > 84-hour workweek would be dangerous for both truck drivers and other > road users. It said there was no scientific evidence to support > increasing truck driver hours beyond the current average 60 hours a > week > - The U.S. National Safety Board has said that fatigue is already a > factor in 30 to 40 per cent of big truck crashes > - An Angus Reid poll in April 1998 found that 83 per cent of Canadians > are opposed to increasing the weekly limit on hours from 60 to 70 > - Between 1993 and 1997, there were an annual average 586 people a year > killed in big truck crashes. The number of big trucks in fatal > collisions increased 11.5 per cent in 1997 over 1996 (Transport Canada > statistics released Oct. 17, 1999) > - Truck drivers in Canada can already be required to drive up to 13 hours > in a shift. This is the longest in the regulated world and compares to > just 10 hours in the U.S. The Transport Canada/trucking industry > proposal would increase this to 14 hours on average or as much as 16 > hours every second day. > > > >-30- > >For information: Bob Evans, (613) 860-0529 or 1-800-530-9945; Clive >Doucet, (613) 560-1224. To obtain a copy of the eight page CRASH briefing >paper ``An Outsiders Guide to the Plan to Increase Truck Drivers' Workload'' >phone 1-800-530-9945 or download it from ><http://www.web.net/~crash>http://www.web.net/~crash > >Index of Releases > > > >send mail to CRASH [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >Return to CRASH Home Page > > > > >
