ATA urges DOT to help fight for current HOS rules

WASHINGTON — American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves says there is “no compelling safety reason” to eliminate two provisions of the current U.S. hours-of-service regime.

The ATA has asked Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to push for a stay of the Court of Appeals ruling on HOS regulations.

On July 24, the Court vacated the 11-hour driving time provision and the 34-hour restart provision of the regs. The Court’s decision did not say the new rules were unsafe, but that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did not follow procedures in approving the new rules.

The three-judge panel said the FMCSA “failed to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the methodology of the crash-risk model that the agency used to justify an increase in the maximum number of daily and weekly hours that truck drivers may drive and work.”

While the HOS rules allow one extra hour of driving time,
they mandate two more hours of rest, the ATA points out.

In this split decision, the court sided with Public Citizen’s challenge on daily driving time and restart, but rejected the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s challenge to the sleeper berth provision.

“FMCSA can readily address the procedural flaws identified by the Court, and we believe that’s what they should do,” Graves said.

The ATA points out that the current regulations should be reviewed in their totality. While they allow one additional hour of driving time, they mandate two additional hours of rest. “The reality is that trucking is as safe as ever operating under these new rules,” says Graves.

The number of deaths from large truck-involved crashes declined by 4.7 percent in 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That year was the first full year for which the 2005 HOS regulations were in effect, and the decrease is the largest drop in 14 years.

Furthermore, a study by the American Transportation Research Institute found that most drivers experienced less fatigue and preferred the 11 hours driving, 10 hours off, and 34-hour restart provisions.

“ATA asks that you and your staff work with FMCSA and Department of Justice to, first and foremost, file a timely motion with the Court requesting either a stay of the decision, or a remanded (to FMCSA) without the court vacating the 11-hour driving rule and the 34-hour restart provision. There is no compelling safety reason for these two elements of the rule to be vacated,” Graves said.