CCJ

January 2015

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS A federal rule to eliminate the requirement that drivers submit a driver vehicle inspection report when no defects are found went into effect Dec. 18. The rule cleared the White House's Office of Management and Budget in early December, paving the way for its publication in the Federal Register. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published the pro - posed rule last August, and the final rule was sent to OMB earlier this year for approval. FMCSA said the rule will save the trucking industry $1.7 billion annually, based mostly on time and paperwork costs. The rule keeps in place the requirement that drivers perform both a pre- and post-trip inspec - tion of their truck and trailer. But if no defects are found, those DVIRs no longer will have to be filed with regulators. According to FMCSA, 95 percent of DVIR reports show no defects, and removing the requirement to submit clean DVIRs will help the agency focus on the 5 percent of reports that do address defects. – James Jaillet T wo provisions of the 2013 changes to the hours-of- service regulations for truck operators were suspended at least until Sept. 30, 2015, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was required to study the rules and their impact further before they can take effect again. The order came from Congress: the Senate last month passed a spending bill already passed by the House that included a provi- sion to put a stay of enforcement on the federal rules requiring a driver's 34-hour HOS restart to include two 1-5 a.m. periods and limiting the use of a 34-hour restart to once per week. President Obama signed the bill into law. The law dictates that FMCSA issue a notice in the Federal Register "as soon as possible" announcing the suspension of the rules in question. The law also requires the agency to per- form a "naturalistic study" of the restart rules to determine their impacts on safety, health and carrier operations. The study must be overseen and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General, and the law dictates that the two suspended rules will not go back into effect until FMCSA completes the study and can show Congress that they "provide a greater net benefit for the operation, safety, health and fatigue impacts" than not. The 1,600-page appropriations bill was billed as a bipartisan agreement crafted by top brass from both cham- bers of Congress. However, promi- nent lawmakers from both politi- cal parties in both the House and the Senate began voic- ing their unhap- piness with some inclusions in the bill, making its passage uncertain at points. Congress had to pass two stopgap spending bills to avoid a government shut- down and give congressional leaders more time to rally support for the bill. Industry reaction Major trucking groups like the American Trucking Associations, the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Truckload Carriers Association and trucking associations in all 50 states – along with dozens of other industry associations – supported the inclusion in the omnibus plan of the Collins Amendment spon- sored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-news- letters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a daily e-mail newsletter filled with news, analy- sis, blogs and market condition articles. COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JANUARY 2015 9 Rule to eliminate no-defect DVIRs on the way Congress forces suspension of hours restart rules The law suspends the requirement that a driver's 34-hour restart include two 1-5 a.m. periods pend- ing further study and more justification. FMCSA said the DVIR rule will save the trucking industry $1.7 billion annually, based mostly on time and paperwork costs. Continued on page 15

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