DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TAKES TO ROAD FOR TRUCKERS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - More than 7,000 truckers barrel north through Santa Clarita each day, some with just eight hours of rest between fatiguing 15-hour shifts.

Federal transportation officials see long workdays for truckers, coupled with the enormous size of their rigs, as a lethal combination for other motorists. They have proposed increasing the eight-hour rest period to 12 hours, with a goal of reducing the number of crashes caused by exhaustion.

``The purpose of these proposed rules is to decrease the number of commercial motor vehicle crashes related to fatigue and improve highway safety,'' said Richard Brennan of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

In the second quarter of this year, 141 truckers were involved in crashes in the Santa Clarita area. The state Highway Patrol does not keep statistics on how many crashes involved weary drivers, but a spokesman contends that more rest undoubtedly would make for safer roads.

``Twelve hours of rest would be a lot better, absolutely,'' CHP Officer Doug Sweeney said. ``It would be better for the truck drivers and for all of the motoring public.''

In June, a trucker heading in to Santa Clarita veered off the freeway and slammed into a parked truck. His rig ignited as he was pulled unconscious from the twisted cab. Hours later, his companion was found dead inside. The crash, like most big-rig collisions, closed the Golden State Freeway, the state's most traveled route.

The driver hadn't been paying attention, Sweeney said, not unusual among truckers who gaze at long stretches of road for hours and hours.

Under the DOT proposal, the mandatory rest hours would be increased for interstate drivers, who would carry electronic monitors to log their hours, and the work week limited to five days with consecutive days off.

Like the truckers it governs, the DOT took to the road to hear from drivers and others affected by the proposal. Truck drivers gathered in the nation's capital, at a fairgrounds in Colorado, a theater in Missouri, a motel in Connecticut and a truck stop in Georgia.

In Southern California, the Ontario Convention Center in Orange County hosted a two-day hearing in June.

Responses since then range from the industry's willingness to negotiate, to some independent truckers fuming.

``We're not kindergarten kids who need nap time,'' trucker Marty Arondahl said during a recent stop in Castaic, a town filled with motels and diners that cater to drivers traveling the Golden State Freeway.

``We are professionals, we are adults, we are working men who know our limitations,'' Arondahl said. ``If I have to stop for 12 hours - that's four more hours than most people need for sleep - it'll run me out of business.''

What the DOT proposes for long-haul drivers is 10 consecutive hours off, plus two hours of minimum 30-minute breaks per shift.

The proposal, the first potential rule changes for the trucking industry in 60 years, divides truckers into five categories - from long-haul cross country drivers to local delivery services, Brennan of the DOT said.

The public has until Oct. 31 to submit comments on the plan.

Tempered opposition comes from the trade group that represents trucking companies, the California Trucking Association.

The association is all for new limits, but objects to the intricacies of the federal proposal, spokesman Warren Hoemann said.

``We think that truck drivers need more rest - the current eight hours are not sufficient to get the proper rest needed. We think that should be increased to 10 hours,'' Hoemann said.

``We also think that the 15-hour work day should be reduced to 14 hours - hours of service should be based on a 24-hour cycle. One of the problems in existing federal hours is they don't add up to 24. A truck driver could end up driving different times of day. That's not good for the body.''

The CTA also objects to the mandatory weekend for two reasons. The proposal, Hoemann said, would cut some truckers' income by as much as 30 percent and would add to a current shortage of truckers.

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Photo: (color) With more than 7,000 truckers traveling through Santa Clarita on the Golden State Freeway each day, the Department of Transportation is focusing on increasing down time for drivers.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer