FMCSA publishes new interim final HOS rule; Current limits to remain

WASHINGTON — There will be no changes to the 11-hour drive time and 34-hour restart provisions in the U.S. federal hours-of-service rule — not if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gets the final say.

The FMCSA finally announced the details of a new Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding commercial driver HOS Regulations. The IFR keeps the existing regulations in effect and provides the public with a 60-day comment period, which will begin when the official copy is published in the Federal Register next week. FMCSA will evaluate the comments after the comment period has ended, and will make a determination at that time what will be contained in a Final Rule.

Truck drivers, therefore, will continue to be limited to driving only 11 hours within a 14-hour duty period, after which they must go off duty for at least 10 hours.

The agency issued the new rule in response to a July decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacating the two key provisions, effective Dec. 27, because, according to the court, FMCSA ‘failed to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the methodology of the crash-risk model used to justify the maximum daily and weekly hours drivers could work.”

Despite most of the data concluding the newest HOS rules are
safe, professional protest groups are gearing up for more challenges.

Keeping the rules virtually unchanged was the most likely scenario. The FMCSA also had the option of rewriting the rules, and not enforcing the two provisions in question. Most observers, however, didn’t suspect that would have happened.

Instead, the IFR was developed in response to the court’s main concerns. This time, FMCSA did a better job of justifying the changes to the rule and included new data showing that safety levels have been maintained since the 11-hour driving limit was first implemented in 2003.

“This proposal keeps in place hours-of-service limits that improve highway safety by ensuring that drivers are rested and ready to work,” FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said. “The data makes clear that these rules continue to protect drivers, make our roads safer, and keep our economy moving.”

The agency noted that, in 2006, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 1.94 — the lowest rate ever recorded. Similarly, since 2003, the percentage of large trucks involved in fatigue-related fatal crashes in the 11th hour of driving has remained below the average of the years 1991-2002. In 2005 alone, the agency noted, there was only one large truck involved in a fatigue-related fatal crash in the 11th hour of driving while in 2004 there were none.

In addition, between 2003 — when the 11-hour driving limit and the 34-hour restart were adopted — and 2006, the percent of fatigue-related large truck crashes relative to all fatal large truck crashes has remained consistent. The agency’s estimates show that only seven percent of large truck crashes are fatigue related.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has already expressed support in response to the IFR. OOIDA Director of Regulatory Affairs Rick Craig said, “We agree with the agency’s decision and appreciate its efforts toward ensuring that professional truckers aren’t
hamstrung by regulations that limit their discretion and unnecessarily keep them on the road, tired or not.”

But the fat lady hasn’t even begun warming up her vocal cords yet. This action, too may be challenged by the usual opponents who have been suing FMCSA since the HOS regime was entirely rewritten in 2004 and changed further in 2005.

Such parties may choose to challenge the agency on this action, in which case the courts may choose to intervene once again.

“FMCSA is continuing the sweatshop conditions for truck drivers rolling down our highways, which endangers Americans all over the country,” Joan Claybrook, president of Washington-based consumer watchdog Public Citizen, said in a statement after the IFR was published.

FMCSA strongly maintains that all the rule is based first on safety, and that despite “allegations and innuendoes that the rule is not safe,” the most modern data show it is.

To read the latest Interim Final Rule in its entirety, go to www.fmcsa.dot.gov (link below).


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