Connecticut’s U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern are calling attention to a recent poll in hopes of blocking a Republican-driven amendment that would adjust limits on the number of hours truck drivers can be behind the wheel.Senator Susan Collins is proposing an amendment to a funding bill that would allow drivers to be behind the wheel 82 hours a week, up from the current 70 a restriction put in place last year. The Republican from Maine wants a further study done believing the new rules put truckers on the road during peak hours. Senator Richard Blumenthal is cosponsoring an amendment that would cancel Collin’s attempt.
“Driver fatigue and tiredness kill people,” Blumenthal said. “We know it because we experience it. We all are afraid of nodding off.”
Blumenthal joined fellow Democrat Jim McGovern during a conference call Thursday following the release of a survey from Lake Research Partners. Of more than 1,000 people polled, about 80 percent said they oppose Congress raising the number of hours a truck driver can be on the road.
