WASHINGTON, (Jan. 19, 2005) — The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced today it will re-examine the U.S. hours-of-service rule and will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a new mandate next week.

“We are moving aggressively to make sure we have the best regulations in place to ensure truck driver health, save lives and keep the American economy moving safely on the nation’s highways,” FMCSA Administrator Annette M. Sandberg said in a release. “Public feedback is critical to this effort. We need to hear from our stakeholders about their experiences regarding the 2003 HOS rule.”

Over the next 45 days, FMCSA will seek input from truck drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officials, safety advocates and others on the HOS regulations. The Agency said it is basing new collected data on a scientific review to provide a more complete picture of the 2003 rule’s impact on carrier operations and drivers’ health.

Moreover, the agency has dedicated a team of staff professionals to review the current HOS regulations and determine whether changes should be made to better protect truck drivers and other highway users. In addition to the issue of drivers’ health, the team is looking at provisions adopted in the 2003 HOS rule which increased the daily driving limit from 10 to 11 hours, continued drivers’ use of sleeper berths, and allowed a 34-hour restart period.

In July 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out the federal government’s hours-of-service rule and sent it back to FMCSA for review because the agency failed to comply with a statute requiring the agency to consider the impact of the rule on “the physical condition of the operators.”

The court chided the FMCSA on several aspects of the rule, including increasing the maximum driving time from 10 to 11 hours; the sleeper berth provision; the 34-hour “restart” provision; and the FMCSA’s decision not to include in the final rule the earlier proposal to require electronic onboard recorders.

A month later the agency said it would revisit the possibility of making EOBRs part of its amended rule. Last fall, FMCSA opened a comment period on EOBRs to ensure any future mandate concerning the devices would be appropriate and reflect current technology.

Because of the compressed schedule for completing the rulemaking (the FMCSA has until Sept. 30, 2005 to introduce a new HOS rule) the comment period for the NPRM is abbreviated, ending on March 10, 2005.