Combined Truck Routing and Driver Scheduling Problems un Hours of Service Regulations

摘要

The leading cause of truck accidents is driver fatigue. In fact, driver fatigue was the primary cause of 2% to 23% of all truck crashes (OHanlon 1978; Horne and Reyner, 1995). For example, Reissmann (1997) discovered that drowsy drivers were responsible for 50% of the fatal vehicle crashes on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and New York Thruway. This alarming statistics is not surprising given that drivers who have been awake for 24 hours have an equivalent driving performance to a person who has a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.1 g/100ml and thus are seven times more likely to have an accident. Recognizing the seriousness of driver fatigue to highway safety, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has attempted to implement new hours-of-service (HOS) regulations. The new HOS regulations effective on October 1st of 2005, however, may lead to substantial cost increases for the trucking industry which will in turn hurt shippers and ultimately customers. For instance, the trucking industry may need to hire additional 84,000 drivers to comply with the new HOS rules requiring that drivers be placed out-of-service until they accumulated enough off-duty time. To elaborate, off-duty breaks required to refresh driving hours were increased to 10 consecutive hours from the old rule of eight cumulative hours. A chronic shortage of truck drivers coupled with new HOS regulations could further complicate the driver scheduling problems. In addition, due to potential loading/unloading delays and stiffer fines/penalties (between $550 and $11,000 per violation depending on the severity) resulting from new HOS regulations, trucking firms will be faced with daunting challenges of controlling mounting costs while complying with new HOS regulations.