Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/255292
16 | Overdrive | February 2014 Logbook A U.S. Senate bill would halt the most recent hours of service rule change and allow truck drivers to operate under the pre-July 1 rules again until Congress can review the rule further. The bill – the Senate counterpart to a House bill introduced in October – was introduced Dec. 20 by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who is co-spon- soring the legislation with Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). It was referred to the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. The TRUE Safety Act would require the Government Ac- countability Office to perform an assessment of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's methodology in creating the rule, specifically the research that went into developing the 34-hour restart provisions. The July 1 hours of service changes could not go back into effect until six months after GAO submits its findings to Congress unless GAO recom- mends otherwise. – James Jaillet Untitled-48 1 3/15/13 9:44 AM Text INFO to 205-289-3555 or visit www.ovdinfo.com Senate introduces bill to halt hours rule THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT Administration announced its intent to classify four versions of synthetic marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug and therefore regulated under the Controlled Substances Act. This would mean truck operators who use synthetic marijuana and fail a drug test will be disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle. LANGE TRUCKING was ordered by the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor's Wage and Hour Division to return nearly $2 million in unfunded 401(k) pension benefits to 515 drivers. California-based Lange paid $500,000 of the unpaid benefits before Minnesota-based Hoovestol acquired the company after the violations. Hoovestol voluntarily agreed to fund the remaining $1.48 million. Logbook_0214.indd 16 1/28/14 10:44 PM