Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/44411
FMCSA under pressure to keep HOS rule T he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was under pres- sure from the trucking industry and even Congress to leave hours of service rules untouched before the agency was scheduled to act on pro- posed changes Oct. 28. Look for a story on the agency's action online at www.truckersnews. com and an update with analysis in the December issue. While trucking industry groups voiced support for retaining the cur- rent HOS rule, House transportation leaders had sent a letter to President Obama to withdraw the proposed HOS rule change. Transportation Committee Chair- man John Mica's Sept. 23 letter to Obama asked the proposal be with- drawn and that the current rule be continued. The Florida Republican wrote that the proposed rule would be an unnecessary and costly reg- ulatory burden on truckers, given the improved record of truck safety since the 2004 rule became effective. Three other Republican committee members signed the let- ter: Tennessee's John Duncan, high- way subcommittee chairman; Penn- sylvania's Bill Schuster, chairman of the railroads, pipelines and hazard- ous materials subcommittee; and Missouri's Sam Graves, committee member and Small Business Com- mittee chairman. The president had not respond- ed to their letter as of Sept. 28, ac- cording to Justin Harclerode, trans- portation committee communica- tions director. Should the FMCSA proceed with the new rule, the four House members would weigh op- tions that could include hearings or legislation. On Aug. 30, Obama responded to House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) request for pending reg- ulations with compliance costs of more than $1 billion. Seven pro- posed rules qualified, including the HOS proposal at more than $1 bil- lion and electronic on-board record- ers at $2 billion. The Owner-Operator Independent 14 TRUCKERS NEWS NOVEMBER 2011 MAX KVIDERA Drivers Association and the Ameri- can Trucking Associations have said the HOS proposal is costly and un- necessary since data indicate safe- ty improvements under the current rule. The current hours-of-service rules, which have been in effect since January 2004, made four primary changes to the regulations then in place: increasing the daily driving limit from 10 hours to 11 hours; increasing the required minimum daily rest from 8 hours to 10 hours; decreasing the number of hours on duty after which a driver may not operate a commercial motor vehicle from 15 hours to 14 hours; and al- lowing a driver to "reset" the weekly 60 or 70-hour on-duty limits with 34 consecutive hours off duty. Under the current proposal, FMCSA is considering whether to re- duce the daily driving limit from 11 hours to 10 hours and has proposed to limit the 34-hour restart provi- sion by requiring that it include two periods from midnight to 6 a.m. and BRUCE SMITH