Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/522363
LOGBOOK 14 | Overdrive | June 2015 A bill introduced in the U.S. House in late April would rein- force the suspension of elements of the 2013 hours of service rule. The House Appropriations Com- mittee passed the bill in mid-May, but the legislation still needs to be passed by the full House and the Senate and signed by the president to become law. President Obama, however, has signaled he may veto the legislation, pointing to the HOS provisions as one of his reasons. The $55 billion appropriations bill that funds the U.S. Department of Transportation for the 2016 fiscal year calls for the suspension of 2013's 34-hour restart provisions to remain in effect until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration produces a study on the rule. Enforcement of the 2013 regula- tions was halted by the 2015 DOT appropriations bill passed in Decem- ber, which also required the study. The suspended provisions required that a 34-hour restart include two 1-5 a.m. periods and limited the restart's use to once per week. The new bill says for those regula- tions to go back into effect, FMCSA's study must show that drivers "who operated under the restart provisions … demonstrated statistically signif- icant improvement in all outcomes related to safety, operator fatigue, driver health and longevity and work schedules" when compared to drivers operating under the pre-2013 rules. The bill also would permit 33- foot double trailers, another White House hang-up, and block FMCSA from increasing liablity insurance minimums required of carriers. – James Jaillet Bill retains 34-hour restart suspension The catalyst for the increase in accidents, ATRI says in its report, was a shift in working hours. The number of truck-involved crashes and subsequent injuries and tow-aways increased during the year and a half that the more restrictive 2013 hours of service rule was in effect, according to an American Transportation Research Institute study. The catalyst for the increase in crash- es, ATRI says in its report, was a shift in working hours by drivers. In response to the changes in the use of the 34-hour restart provision, they operated more in the traffic-heavy daytime hours rather than at nights and early mornings. "The July 1, 2013, restart rule did, in fact, have the outcome intended by FMCSA — the shift of truck trips from nighttime driving to daytime driving," ATRI writes in its report. "However, the unintended consequence of higher numbers of crashes at other points in the driving schedule also appears to have occurred." — Todd Dills Study: Hours change increased crashes PILOT FLYING J restrooms are being upgraded at more than 680 North American locations as part of a $50 million investment. The renovated restrooms will feature low-water-consump- tion toilets, eco-friendly hand dryers, LED lighting and Italian tile. A SAFETY SCORING system proposal for carriers that will yield an absolute score in the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, rath- er than percentile rankings, is set for publication Sept. 9.