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| Congressman Proposes Insane Work Rules |
| 2005-03-10 |
| Wal-Mart and other retailers are lobbying Congress to extend the workday for truckers to 16 hours, something labor unions and safety advocates say would make roadways more dangerous for all drivers. Rep. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican whose district includes Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, is sponsoring a bill that would allow a 16-hour workday as long as the trucker took an unpaid two-hour break. The proposal is expected to be offered as an amendment during debate over the highway spending bill on Wednesday. "Truckers are pushing harder than ever to make their runs within the mandated timeframe," Boozman said. "Optional rest breaks will reduce driver layovers and improve both safety and efficiency." Current rules limit drivers' workdays to 14 hours, with only 11 consecutive hours of driving allowed, union leaders and safety advocates say. That gives truckers three hours to eat, rest or load and unload their trucks... And a two hour *unpaid* break. I'm surprised that Wal-Mart didn't just ask to be exempted from paying minimum wage. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 I don't want some knocked out trucker on the road when my family is driving home. |
| Posted by: Glereger Clise6229 2005-03-10 11:55:19 PM |
| #6 I drove over the road for 2 years back in the early 70's -- 14 hrs in every 24 is already pushing it to the wall, IMHO. Remember, many of these guys, especially the independents, do this shit day in, day out, 7 days a week. Let that sink in and it becomes even more insane. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-03-10 11:07:52 PM |
| #5 Not to cause a worry,but I've come from a long tradition of truck drivers we work 16 hr days now :). |
| Posted by: djohn66 2005-03-10 9:51:52 PM |
| #4 The operative question here is what kind of trucking is this law mainly aimed at? Local/regional or long haul? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-10 9:24:38 PM |
| #3 It's still a bad idea. That's too long to drive day in day out. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-10 8:04:12 PM |
| #2 Nice try, Phil, but it ain't just Wal-Mart. Just about all trucking companies want longer hours for their truckers. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-03-10 7:55:09 PM |
| #1 I am now not buying from Wal-Mart. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-03-10 6:15:41 PM |