Under new federal trucking rules that take effect Sunday, truckers can drive an extra hour a day but must rest two extra hours after a shift.

Intended to reduce driver fatigue, the first changes in the “hours of service” rule since 1939 have alarmed truck companies and safety advocates alike.

“When I read the new rules, I said goodbye to the small companies like mine,” said Linda Ballington, whose Lexington-based JB Enterprises is a one-truck operation.

Ballington said she was particularly upset that the time drivers wait inside her truck — during loading and off-loading, for example — will count against their overall shift, which has been cut by an hour to 14 hours.

“You can’t make any money when you’re sitting in your truck, not going anywhere,” she said.

In the past, drivers could take breaks and “recharge” without cutting into shift times, she said.

Now, they must finish their shift 14 hours after it starts — no matter what. Truckers then must take a 10-hour break, two hours longer than before.

Despite Ballington’s reservations, the trucking industry has backed the changes, which will cost it $1.3 billion a year, the government estimates.

“This a package that our members can work with,” said Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations, when the new rules were published in April. “These new guidelines will allow the trucking industry to do what we do best — move American’s freight safely and efficiently.”

The new rules will save 75 lives and prevent 1,320 crashes annually, estimates the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Each year, truck crashes claim about 5,000 lives. In South Carolina during 2002, tractor-trailers were involved in 86 of the 949 fatal crashes, according to Department of Public Safety records.

Many safety advocates say they think the new regulations will not make the nation’s roads less dangerous.

“The rules are a step backward for safety, and drivers will be logging more hours behind the wheel,” said Jackie Gillan, vice president of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a group based in Washington, D.C. “Truck driving is the most dangerous occupation in the country, and we should be getting drivers to log less hours behind the wheel — not more.”

Under the new rules, drivers can drive up to 11 consecutive hours, one more than before.

But because most truckers are paid by the mile, not the hour, they have an incentive to ignore federal regulations, Gillan said.

“We would have liked to see the government require onboard recorders to account for driving time,” she said.

Many drivers keep two different log books to get around restrictions on their driving time, Gillan said.

In its published report, the Transportation Department said it would study the issue of onboard recorders.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, trucking companies anticipate the new rules — with the call for extended rest — might force them to hire more drivers.

“Most carriers, like us, are going to add additional staff,” said Tom Rubbo, an S.C.-based safety coordinator for TMC Trucking, an Iowa-based company with 1,600 trucks.

“We’re already looking at rate changes across the board,” said Rubbo, who said consumers ultimately will bear the cost.

“There’s a trickle-down effect,” he said. “The more it costs to ship freight, the more money the product costs.”

Reach Wachter at (803) 771-8404 or pwachter@thestate.com.