Shippers, CVSA back carriers on stay of current HOS rules

WASHINGTON — In five separate filings, law enforcement, shipping and trucking interests have come forward to support the American Trucking Associations’ request that the effect of the U.S. Court of Appeals’ hours of service (HOS) decision be stayed pending the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) reconsideration of the 11 and 34 hour provisions.

Several organizations have explained to the court the disruptions to the industry that would be caused by a transition to different HOS rules or the standard reverting back to 10 hours a day.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), which represents law enforcement officials in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, noted that a sudden change to the HOS rules would lead to a patchwork of state requirements that would undermine safety enforcement and not allow sufficient time to train law enforcement personnel on a new regulatory regime. “Thousands of law enforcement officers will need to be retrained, which cannot be completed quickly or easily,” CVSA concluded.

The National Industrial Transportation League and the Retail Industry Leaders Association joined in a filing that further described the impact to the nation’s shipping community and described the positive safety experience private shippers have had under the current HOS rules.

Carriers protest that changing the current U.S.
HOS rules would place more trucks on highways.

“A sudden change will substantially interfere with the ‘just in time’ delivery systems adopted by numerous businesses throughout the United States.”

Such a disruption would cause “uncertainty as to schedules and transit times, concerns about lawful and permissible operations, and the inevitable delayed deliveries,” added the National Small Shipments Traffic Conference. It would also mean many businesses would have to maintain higher inventory levels, which “is wasteful, costly, and runs counter to the main goal of modern supply chain management.”

UPS is one of many carriers worried that having to shift away from an 11-hour daily limit would likely require fleets “to place more trucks on the nation’s highways, thereby adding to traffic congestion and pollution.”

Last month, the ATA filed a Motion for Stay of the Court of Appeals’ July 27 decision to vacate the 11-hour and 34-hour restart provisions of the HOS rule., The court did not affirmatively find that the rules were unsafe, only that FMCSA had made procedural errors in developing them and did not allow for a proper public comment period.

The 11- and 34-hour provisions have been in effect since Jan. 1, 2004. Since then, motor carrier accident experience has significantly improved, according to DOT data. In 2006 large truck crash-related fatalities decreased 4.71 percent and the large truck crash rate reached its lowest in the history of those records.