Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339485
10 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2014 JOURNAL NEWS A bill making its way through the U.S. Senate now includes an amendment to suspend some provisions of the hours- of-service rule changes implemented in July 2013 and require a study by the U.S. Department of Transportation. If the bill becomes law, drivers no lon- ger will be limited to taking one 34-hour restart in a 168-hour period, and the restart no longer will have to include two consecutive 1-5 a.m. periods. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also would be required to conduct a field study in conjunction with DOT's Inspector General to deter- mine if the provisions are justified and report its findings to Congress. The amendment was offered by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) during the Senate Appropriations Committee's markup of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill June 5 and was approved by the commit- tee by a 21-9 vote. It would affect only the two aforemen- tioned restart provisions and leave intact the rest of the HOS rule, including the required 30-minute break and 14-hour on-duty time, 11-hour drive time and 10-hour off-duty time. The THUD bill is a $54.4 billion discretionary spending budget to fund DOT, among other departments. The following week, the full House took up its version of the THUD bill, which did not include the amendment. It still can be added, however. The committee's vote on the amend- ment came after about 30 minutes of comment and debate on the proposal. Collins said she proposed and sup- ported the amendment because the current rule has caused the "unintended consequences" of placing more trucks on roadways during peak congestion and commuter hours, which she said actu- ally makes the HOS changes cause more accidents, not less. Other senators supported the bill based on that premise, while some supported it for other reasons – such as objections to the government's rule in regulating sleep patterns, which was voiced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (R-La.) – and the deter- mination that FMCSA did not produce adequate research or study before imple- menting the rule. There was some opposition to the bill, however, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who said trucks in the Long Beach and Los Angeles areas "just zoom out all over the highway" and that the restart provisions offer a mecha- nism to ensure they're rested. The 2013 rule changes have been effective, she said. Others said the HOS rule had been through the courts, where it was upheld, and it had been studied enough by FMCSA. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association applauded the com- mittee for the amendment. "We thank Senator Collins and the supportive members of the committee for their work on this important amendment," said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president. "Truckers have long pointed out the negative impacts of the 2013 changes on their ability to get rest, stay out of busy city traffic, spend time at home and make a family-supporting income." The American Trucking Associations likewise voiced its appreciation for the committee's willingness to address "the unjustified changes" to the restart provi- sion. "Since these rules were proposed in 2010, ATA has maintained that they were unsupported by science, and since they were implemented in 2013, the industry and economy have experienced substantial negative effects as a result," said Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer. "Today, thanks to Senator Collins' leadership, we are a step closer to reversing these damaging, unjustified regulations." Teamsters President James P. Hoffa penned a letter June 9 to the U.S. House asking it to not add any amendments to its DOT funding bill that would "delay, revise or replace" the 34-hour restart rule. Hoffa pointed to the high-profile June 7 truck crash involving actor Tracy Morgan as evidence to keep the current rule, saying the crash "could have been prevented had Walmart's driver been properly rested." Hoffa also said the 2013 rule protects drivers from carriers that want to "push their drivers to squeeze every possible hour out of them that they can." Graves, addressing the Morgan crash, said the 2013 restart rule actually decreases safety, as it "[alters] driver sleep patterns and [puts] more trucks on the road during more risky daylight hours." He also addressed public reports that the Walmart driver hadn't slept in more than 24 hours – but had taken the proper amount of time off duty – by saying there's no way the industry or government action can "dictate what drivers do during that off-duty period." ATA "strongly believes that drivers must take advantage of their off-duty periods for rest and that drivers should not drive if they are fatigued," Graves said. Walmart driver Kevin Roper pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homi- cide and assault by auto filed against him in the Morgan crash. – James Jaillet Senate committee clears bill amendment to temporarily undo parts of HOS rule FMCSA would be required to conduct a field study to determine if the hours provisions are justified and report its findings to Congress.