Clock ticking on hours of service (and other trucking risks)

© Khunaspix Dreamstime.

The US’s new hours of services – similar to the European Working Time Directive – will come into force at the beginning of July. There’s some pretty complicated stuff regarding rest periods and night shifts, but US shipper organisations have lobbied legislators that the new regulations will likely increase both costs and road congestion. More worrying, perhaps, is the ticking time bomb that is the number of drivers. There’s currently an estimated shortfall of 20-25,000 across the country, at a time when freight traffic is relatively low. Should it increase, that shortage will really make itself felt.