The FMCSA this week announced they’re gearing up to gather information for the required study of the 34-hour restart provision.
According to the FMCSA, the “Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Driver Restart Study is designed to measure and compare the fatigue and safety performance levels of truck drivers who take two nighttime rest periods during their 34-hour restart break and those drivers who use less than two nighttime rest periods during their restart break.”
The FMCSA will compare 5-month driver work schedules and evaluate driver fatigue. The study will be broken into two groups:
- CMV drivers who operate under the hours of service (HOS) restart provisions in effect between July 1, 2013, and December 15, 2014.
- CMV drivers who operate under the provisions as in effect on June 30, 2013.
In addition, the study will measure crashes, near-crashes, and crash-relevant conflicts, operator alertness, and short-term health outcomes of the two groups of drivers.
Safety, driver fatigue and driver health outcomes will be evaluated using:
- Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) (which track drivers’ time on duty).
- The Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) (which measures alertness).
- Actigraph watches (which assess sleep).
- Onboard monitoring systems and/or cameras that record or measure SCEs and driver alertness.
- The Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) (which measures drivers’ assessment of sleepiness).
The FMCSA is currently recruiting truck drivers and carriers to participate in the Driver Restart Study.
Participation Requirements from FMCSA:
- The study team will monitor driver compliance on a daily basis.
- Participating drivers will be required daily to complete one or more three-minute alertness tests.
- Every driver may be required to maintain sleep/wake logs, record caffeine intake, and report sleepiness during the study.
- Drivers will be asked to complete a survey about their experience upon completion of the study.