NTSB recognizes dangers of fatigue in transportation industry

Debra Hersman, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, addressed the National Sleep Foundation last week and encouraged them to continue to research causes and cures of fatigue, including sleep apnea.  It is well established that fatigue is a major cause of accidents in the transportation industry and has been a cause of many serious truck accidents in recent years.

Currently, federal regulations limit the number of hours a driver can be working and actually operating a tractor trailer due to the adverse effects that fatigue has on driver performance.  However, more recent studies have shown that sleep apnea is a widespread problem with truck drivers and is largely untreated.  This means that even when a truck driver limits his hours in service to that which is allowed under the regulations, he may still be suffering the effects of fatigue due to poor quality rest.  There are no regulations at present addressing this emerging issue in the trucking industry.