Open Road - Winter 2026
Federal
Tricia Connelly 2026-01-24 14:09:15
TRUCKING SAFETY PILOT PROGRAMS: Fatigue Management Through Sleep Flexibility
Effective driver fatigue management is a persistent challenge for the trucking industry, including the Department of Transportation (DOT), who has already implemented regulations to help manage fatigue and ensure safe driving windows. As part of ongoing deregulatory efforts by the administration and the DOT, two federal pilot programs will explore new safety measures through flexible driver rest periods. The first pilot program will test pausing the hours of service (HOS) clock and the second examines the impact of sleep flexibility. These pilots are not a rule change but are assessing potential benefits to guide future regulatory decisions. Brenna Lyles, Senior Director of Safety Policy with the American Trucking Associations (ATA), says these programs could help promote data-driven decisions and “provide flexibility without compromising safety.”
The Priorities Are Health and Safety
There are already several monitoring systems that use technology to measure driver alertness, detect distractions and other impairments that can negatively impact the driver and those on the roads. And the purpose of existing HOS regulations are to prevent fatigue and promote road safety. The fatigue management safety measures that these two pilot programs will explore also prioritize road safety, and additionally driver health and safety. By supporting different sleep patterns through shorter rest periods and flexible HOS windows, these programs aim to show that fatigue is managed, overall road safety and driver health improves.
If a driver can pause the 14-hour clock, they can work in “shorter chunks of time that a driver can take a rest and break up and ultimately extend the 14-hour driving period,” says Brenna. “But is that safe? Does that effectively manage fatigue and allow a driver to get enough rest so that they can safely be back on the road? That is what we want to ensure before implementing any changes.” Brenna also points out that this policy could also help drivers work more efficiently, particularly when “detained” at shipper facilities because, “often that counts towards their clock. So I think this pilot program also gets at thinking about how a driver could pause their clock and take some rest during those windows of time to more effectively, kind of manage off time that they aren’t spending driving but might otherwise be ‘dinging’ them in a way towards their hours of service.”
Brenna emphasizes that in addition to the priorities of health and safety, “ATA reiterates the need to ensure any change to the HOS rules are supported by sound research and empirical evidence showing comparable, if not greater, safety outcomes.”
Early Stages: Hurdles and Concerns
With all pilot programs, it is important to make sure the sample size is large enough and representative of the population that is being studied, and that the window of data collection is long enough to capture enough needed information. The DOT faces a challenge of recruiting more than 500 drivers in a limited timeframe.
Brenna Lyles says the ATA wants to make sure the pilot programs ensure safety and data-driven decisions, and that it is important that the study “reflects the diversity of the trucking industry and measures leading indicators of safety.” By having diverse carrier and driver participation, and a variety of metrics that measure all leading indicators of safety, not just crash statistics, these pilot programs could result in important and impactful data.
She also stresses that the data could be more representative of the entire industry if having conditional safety ratings are reconsidered as a disqualification from the studies, especially since the ability to receive new ratings is not currently very frequent. Brenna says that because of the frequency in which a carrier may receive a new safety rating, “those are really just a snapshot in time and don’t reflect a carrier’s current safety status.” Participation from carriers large and small and diverse drivers is important for a representative sample population.
Both pilot programs are in early stages. Eligibility criteria and recruitment details are still pending, and all current HOS rules remain. The main goal is ensuring that any changes are data-driven and safe before implementing them broadly. Meanwhile, it is always important to be proactive with fatigue management. Monitor driver alertness and use of rest areas, consider adjusting schedules and driver rosters as needed, and educate yourself on best practices to prevent fatiguerelated risks.
For Updates on the Pilot Programs, Follow FMCSA, ATA and LMTA The pilot programs recruitment process is still in its early stages. F or more information and to keep updated on eligibility criteria and deadlines, follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the ATA and LMTA.
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Federal
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