As part of a campaign to address heavy vehicle accidents, Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant last week announced that government would cap the permissible working hours for truck drivers to 45 per week (nine hours a day). According to the Interdisciplinary Accident Research Centre (IARC), most long-haul drivers work more than 70 hours per week. This has led to complaints within the industry of driver fatigue – and recent research by the centre revealed that 41% of accidents were fatigue related. According to Oliphant, truck drivers can work overtime and may agree to work six-day weeks (but no more than nine hours per day), depending on the agreement they have with their employer. Effective from February 1, wholesale and retail truck drivers received a minimum wage increase of 5.1-6.6% – depending on the region in which they operate.
