Time to Respond to HOS Changes?

The Senate Surface Transportation Subcommittee was scheduled to hold a hearing on December 12, 2007 to discuss HOS rules and trucking safety. The Subcommittee would receive testimony on HOS rules, related truck driver fatigue, and truck safety matters from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and from members of the industry, says the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL).

NITL had earlier joined in support of the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) request for a stay of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia which had held the FMCSA failed to justify parts of the rule. At issue were the provisions allowing drivers to operate for 11 hours in a work day and the so-called 34-hour reset which allowed drivers to reset their duty clock following 34 consecutive hours off.

"Until the Office of Management and Budget (OBM) approves the FMCSA draft interim rule, the agency is not expected to disclose or discuss any specific revisions or changes (if any) that have been made to the rules," says NITL. This has raised concern over the industry's ability to respond to changes given that the OMB has until December 27th to review and send back to FMCSA any proposed rules.