Hourly Pay for Truck Drivers

A new bill, the Truck Safety Act, calls for truck drivers to be paid hourly with increased insurance levels, among other things.

According to Senator Cory Booker, “Truck drivers work extremely long days to deliver the goods we depend on and keep our economy moving, but too often this comes at the expense of their safety and the safety of other drivers… We can significantly reduce the number of accidents on our nation’s highways by harnessing new technologies, and better protect victims of truck accidents by raising insurance minimums for trucks that haven’t changed in over 30 years.” Booker was the senator who introduced the bill.

According to TruckingInfo, the proposed bill would include:

• Minimum Insurance — Would increase the minimum levels of insurance carriers must have from $750,000 to $1.5 million, also helping to keep pace with inflation.
• Collision Avoidance Systems — Would require a rule-making for commercial motor vehicles to have crash avoidance systems, such as forward collision and lane departure warning systems.
• Speed Limiting Devices — Would require the Secretary of Transportation to finalize regulations requiring commercial motor vehicles to have speed limiting devices to prevent speeding.
• Driver Compensation — Would require the Secretary of Transportation to mandate that employers compensate truck drivers for hours worked.
• Excessive Commuting — Would require a study on the effects of excessive commuting. There are concerns that far too often, truck drivers commute several hours to and from their base of operation.

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