Canada’s ministers responsible for transportation and highway safety have approved a new, modernized national standard governing the hours that truck and bus drivers can work, according to information from the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA).
The new rules will introduce new daily and weekly driving and work limits and increase minimum daily rest periods for commercial drivers. Maximum driving time is being reduced from 16 to 13 hours per day. Current regulations allow truck drivers to work up to 104 hours a week, while the new rules will require drivers to shut down for a minimum of 36 hours once they reach 70 hours on-duty. Minimum daily rest periods will be increased by 25 percent from eight to 10 hours.
The new rules, which also have the support of the industry’s largest trade union, the Teamsters, were developed over a 10-year period and were the subject of intense scientific scrutiny, according to CTA.