Can Increased Trucker Salaries Lead to Safer Roadways?

The U.S. Congress enacted truck safety legislation—known as Title 49—to authorize limits on truck drivers’ working hours, ultimately seeking to enhance driver and roadway safety. Title 49 follows decades of deregulation beginning with the Motor Carrier Act in 1980. The Act reduced regulations on the industry and made it easier for new truck carriers to enter the market, which increased market competition in an industry central to the U.S. economy.