Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/34058
Hours of Reckoning Trucking industry sounds off about impact of proposed hours-of-service changes MAX KVIDERA AND TODD DILLS s the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration post- poned releasing its latest drivers hours-of-service rules rewrite, the industry is wondering what is behind the current regulatory revi- sion. Many believe Congress may have to legislate a solution. Since the FMCSA announced creation of the latest proposal to revisit HOS regulations in Decem- ber to satisfy terms of its December 2009 court settlement with advo- cacy groups challenging the current rule, industry groups have noted inconsistencies in the way FMCSA has supported the changes with cost/benefit analysis. “As proposed, the rule is not at all satisfactory to the industry,” says Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations for the American Truck- ing Associations. “There’s no basis for the changes as far as we can A 22 TRUCKERS NEWS JULY 2011 tell. We can only come to the con- clusion that the changes are more politically driven than based on sci- ence or data.” Many drivers echo the ATA. “When is enough, enough?” asks Landstar-leased owner-operator Andy Soucy, based in Lebanon, Tenn. “What is it that they want? They want to change [the hours of service] mainly to get interest groups off the government’s back. … People don’t like trucks. They fear trucks. We’re the big kid on the block that they want to pick on. They’ll never be happy, though we’re now the safest we’ve ever been in history.” What’s more, Osiecki says, law enforcement, represented nationally by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, “has said, ‘Hey, these rules are working. Let’s just enforce them better than we have been.’” Night hauls may be less desirable if proposed changes to the restart rules go into effect requiring two midnight to 6 a.m. periods to be included in any restart. CVSA noted in a press release that, if implemented, FMCSA’s pro- posal could well have the “unin- tended consequence of reducing overall CMV and motorist safety. According to CVSA, the changes could make roadside enforcement more complex and open the door toward more drivers falsifying their records.” Said CVSA Executive Direc- tor Stephen A. Keppler: “The con- sensus from our state and juris- dictional enforcement members regarding these proposed rules is that they are confusing and not easily understood. The proposed rules, in our view, will be more dif- ficult to enforce roadside than the rules in place today.”If changes are made law as proposed, carriers will have to adjust schedules, negotiate new terms with shippers, buy more equipment and hire more drivers.