Research focuses first on hours of service and ELDs
The American Transportation Research Institute has begun developing a framework for comparing the safety benefits and compliance costs of trucking regulations. ATRI says the first phase focuses on the federal hours-of-service rules and electronic logging device mandate. The organization is asking motor carriers, truck drivers and law-enforcement personnel to complete its HOS / ELD survey by October 16, 2026.
Participants will evaluate specific rule provisions
According to ATRI, the survey asks respondents to assess the overall HOS rules, the ELD mandate and nine specific provisions within those requirements. Participants can rate perceived safety benefit and compliance cost and recommend changes that could improve safety or reduce burden. The exercise is designed to collect operational experience; it is not a vote that automatically changes a federal rule.
Responses are intended for broader regulatory analysis
ATRI says individual responses will be kept confidential and results will be reported only in aggregated, anonymized form. Its Research Advisory Committee selected development of the benefit-cost framework as a 2026 priority. Although HOS and ELD requirements are the first subjects, ATRI says the framework is intended for later use across safety, workforce and environmental regulations.
The survey does not suspend current compliance duties
The research project does not create an exemption, extend a driver’s available hours or authorize changes to an ELD record. Drivers and carriers must continue following the HOS and ELD requirements that apply to each operation unless FMCSA issues an official rule, waiver or exemption. Survey participation also should not include customer, driver or company information that the participant is not authorized to disclose.
Driver and fleet takeaway
Drivers who participate should use recent, specific examples involving safe parking, detention, split-duty decisions, ELD edits, unidentified driving and dispatch pressure rather than relying only on general impressions. Fleets can compare survey answers with actual violation trends, crash and fatigue data, ELD-support time, detention records and administrative cost before responding. Submit through ATRI’s official page by October 16, preserve normal compliance procedures, and treat any later recommendation as research until a federal agency publishes an enforceable change.
American Transportation Research Institute — HOS / ELD Cost-Benefit Research
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