Hours of service rules for truckers change again
Court overturns previous ruling on truckers' work hours
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
The U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit yesterday overturned two portions of the latest version of truckers’ hours of service (HOS) rules, shortening drivers’ daily driving time from 11 hours back to the original rule of 10 hours, and removing the 34-hour restart period.
The court's decision repeals a 2005 rule but keeps a split-sleeper berth provision, which truckers wanted eliminated, in place, which does not allow truckers to split their down time, but rather take it all at once.
The new rule takes effect Sept. 14.
The case was originally brought to court by Public Citizen and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association to challenge a 2005 ruling. According to a New York Times article, the court found that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2005 rule had “ignored the results of a study, which it had commissioned, involving a database of more than 50,000 truck accidents from 1991 to 2002. Using the data, the study extrapolated a substantially higher risk of fatigue-related accidents in the extra hours of service allowed by the new rules.”
"We are analyzing the decision to understand the court's findings as well as determine the agency's next steps to prevent driver fatigue, ensure safe and efficient motor carrier operations and save lives," the FMCSA said in a statement.
In an Associated Press report, C. Randal Mullett, a lobbyist for trucking firm Con-way, said because of the new rule, some trucking routes may have to be changed, Mullett said. "It can make some pretty significant differences."
Yesterday’s ruling is the latest in an ongoing saga of the hours of service rule. The FMCSA first decided to increase number of hours truckers can drive in 2003, but the D.C. appeals court struck it down the next year. Congress reinstated the rule later that year. The rule that was overturned by the court Tuesday was then created by the administration in 2005.
The American Trucking Associations, which supports the existing 11-hour rule, issued a statement saying it will ask the court to stay its decision and keep the current rule in effect. "ATA believes the existing rules have proven to be a significant improvement over the old rules in terms of reducing driver fatigue and related incidents," said Bill Graves, ATA's president and CEO, in the statement.
Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, says the latest decision will raise costs for the trucking industry because drivers will be forced to work less. “We're not pleased with it,'' said Spencer, in a recent news report. “I guess the reality is we're really in a no-win situation when the courts are trying to come up with safety regulations.”
In a note to clients, analysts at Bear Stearns said, “We view this court decision as a negative for the larger, public truckload carriers if it eventually takes effect. While it would mean fewer hours available for drivers to haul freight each day, we believe the rule has proven difficult to enforce on the smaller truckload carriers which make up 80-85% of the market. After the first change of HOS rules in 2004, the larger public carriers had a much bigger driver shortage than the smaller and mid-sized carriers.”
The Teamsters Union applauded the new ruling as a victory for truck drivers and highway saftey.
For more background and history on the hours of service rule, see the FMCSA’s HOS web page.
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