FMCSA director quits; EOBR rule delayed

WASHINGTON — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration director Annette Sandberg has resigned.

The FMCSA’s second director’s resignation is effective March 1.

In her letter to President Bush, Sandberg noted several achievements under her watch, including a reduction in regulatory backlog by 68 percent, and the lowest truck fatality rate since the collection of data began in 1975.

While the agency has made some headway, it has gotten bogged down with defending several versions of the new hours-of-service regime introduced in 2003.

A coalition of special interest groups had a federal court throw out the rule in the summer of 2004, just a few months after it became effective on Jan. 1, 2004. The court instructed the FMCSA to rewrite parts of the regulation.

The agency came back with a revised document in August of last year. But that amendment — sleeper-berth changes, which requires drivers to take eight consecutive hours off as part of their 10-hour, off-duty time — didn’t seem to please anyone. The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association is the first group to challenge the sleeper-berth revision in court.

The Teamsters Union and special interest groups like Public Citizen, and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety are planning to file their own challenge against the new HOS regulations as well.

Recently, Transport Topics reported that the impending court battles have grinded down an upcoming proposed rule for mandatory electronic on-board recorders, or “black boxes.” The proposal was slated for early February, but is not expected to be introduced until May.