What's Hot
David Hannon, Managing Editor -- Purchasing, 9/15/2005 2:00:00 AM
The version of the transportation bill signed into law by President Bush in August did not address the Hours of Service rules for truckers, which put the job on the shoulders of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to draft up new rules. In late August, the FMCSA released new rules that go into effect Oct. 1, but did not change the maximum driving time and minimum rest limits from the 2003 update. To review the new FMCSA rules, go to: http://www.fmsca.dot.gov.
What the transportation bill did include were several exemptions to the Hours of Service rules. The exemptions apply to the propane distribution industry, the agricultural industry, utilities, and the motion picture industry. Yes—the motion picture industry.
"It's a big deal for us," said Robert Baylor, spokesman for the National Propane Gas Association in Washington in a recent Bloomberg News report. "It's probably going to save our industry $90 million a year."
The bill exempts dairy and livestock farmers and suppliers of fertilizer and other agricultural materials from the driving limits within a 100-mile area during planting and harvest.
Now Playing: 