Read Part 1 of this two-part analysis, , via the link.
As illustrated in Part 1 of this two-part series, the Department of Transportation recently advised Congress to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act’s motor carrier exemption that allows many carriers to avoid paying company drivers overtime. As Congress has begun to attempt action on the advice, the change could yield benefits for all drivers including higher earnings and shorter wait times at loading docks.
Yet well-intentioned policy changes can produce unforeseen safety outcomes. For example, the FMCSA’s 2017 electronic logging device mandate was expressly meant to make trucking safer by increasing hours of service compliance. Hours of service compliance improved considerably, but the mandate also seemed to incentivize many drivers to engage in unsafe practices like speeding, frequent lane changes, and following too closely to try to make the most of their closely monitored hours. The smallest carriers (one-truck independent owner-operators), according to this analysis, accrued 26% more driving violations after the mandate, and crash rates increased 11.6%.
Eliminating the motor carrier exemption would almost certainly affect safety to some extent. But would the impact be positive or negative? There is no way to know for sure. However, researchers have identified several factors that could shape the outcome.
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