Truck Poll

An Angus Reid poll conducted by Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways (CRASH) found strong opposition against bigger trucks and against longer hours for truck drivers.

The results of the poll show Canadians are strongly opposed to increasing the work week of truck drivers from 60 to 70 hours. Federal and provincial government safety officials are discussing such an increase, and possibly even 80 or more hours of weekly work. Safety experts estimate fatigue is already a contributing factor in 30 to 40 per cent of big truck crashes.

Following are the survey highlights:

• Most Canadians (83%) opposed increasing the weekly limit on truck driver hours from the current 60 to 70 hours.
• Most Canadians (86%) favour reducing the consecutive hours truck drivers in Canada can drive from the current 13 to the U.S. limit of 10
• Most Canadians (81%) favour requiring all big trucks to be equipped with electronic devices to record actual driving hours.
• Most Canadians (86%) opposed allowing trucks with two 48 foot trailers.
• Canadians across all regions were even more solidly opposed to allowing trucks with three 28 foot trailers (95% overall, 85% strongly, 11% somewhat).

Contact CRASH for a free eight page summary report (Telephone: 1-800-530-9945; fax: (613) 67-6204; e-mail: crash@web.net; URL: www.web.net/~crash)

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