WASHINGTON – New studies inserted into the hours-of-service docket at the 11th hour could cause the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to miss a court-imposed deadline of July 26 for publishing a final rule.

According to the official publication of the American Trucking Associations, Transport Topics, FMCSA’s associate administrator Larry Minor told a national Transportation Board conference it’s looking "less likely" the agency will meet the deadline, although it is trying "desperately" to do so.

Minor told the group that the FMCSA is committed to posting a final rule by the end of the year.

In a surprising move, the FMCSA reopened the hours-of-service Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to allow for further review of the new research.

The four studies – two of which are funded by the agency and two deal with the bus industry — seem to indicate that safety risk increases as work and driving time increases.

The American Trucking Associations and other industry groups opposed to the proposed changes were immediately suspicious of the timing of the studies.

The ATA said it was "skeptical about the 11th-hour appearance of the studies and the "unusual announcement" to reopen the process.

The FMCSA has been accused of misusing findings of other studies to support changes to the hours of service rule.