Execs Seek HOS Change During Capitol Hill Visit

WASHINGTON — Trucking executives from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio asked members of their congressional delegation here April 9 to help roll back provisions of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule that imposes limits on truckers’ work schedules.

The groups argue that portions of the agency’s hours-of-service rule hurt wages and productivity.

At issue is a requirement for truckers to account for an unpaid 30-minute break during their shifts; and also rest for 34 consecutive hours, including two rest periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. It’s called the restart provision, which took effect with the new HOS rule July 1.

The groups said most of the lawmakers they spoke with acknowledged their concerns and a few offered to propose legislative fixes. Such proposals could be tied into a highway funding bill that would replace MAP-21, which expires in September.

“What we can find is that on hours-of-service we are getting positive receptions from both Republicans and Democrats. It’s truly not a partisan issue,” said John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association.

“They put in the 30-minute rest break but don’t realize that the drivers have to stay with the load. So how do you calculate the 30-minute rest break in the middle of your drive with the hazardous material load that you have to stay with,” asked Thomas Balzer, president of the Ohio Trucking Association.

John Smith, chairman of CRST International in Iowa, said he told his lawmakers, “The half-hour break is really costing the carriers a lot in lost productivity.” CRST International ranks No. 20 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.

American Trucking Associations coordinated the meetings as part of its “Call on Washington” series.

Before the Capitol Hill meetings, Smith and his Iowa peers met with top FMCSA officials. Brenda Neville, president of the Iowa Motor Truck Association, said that meeting was productive.

FMCSA did not comment on the meeting, but the agency has said the rules are part of various steps to address driver fatigue.

The trucking groups also called for a long-term highway bill that would approve more funding for infrastructure projects. Senators said April 10 that a long-term transportation bill that includes a renewed focus on freight mobility is the top priority.

They also asked lawmakers to increase federal fuel taxes to pay for roads and bridges and repeal the federal excise tax on sales of new trucks and trailers as part of general corporate tax reform.

Truckers also took issue with FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability ratings program, saying the agency’s database inaccurately compares individual fleets.

Balzer said the lack of action from Congress was frustrating to experience. “You bring in these executives who are used to saying they want this done and it gets done. And here the dysfunction in D.C. is probably the most challenging factor that everybody deals with.”

Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.), chairman of the Highways and Transit subcommittee, met with members of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association.

Petri told Transport Topics he agreed that “these hours-of-service rules are a big thing in the industry.”

Earlier this month, Petri and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) requested the Government Accountability Office to evaluate two studies FMCSA used to justify the rule.

At that time, Shuster said in a statement, “Concerns have been raised that these regulatory changes may have been enacted without proper data or analysis, and if the [Obama] administration is going to change the rules on truck drivers, we need to know that the changes were thoroughly vetted and will improve safety.”