ATA Asks for Delay in HOS Rule

American Trucking Associations has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for a delay in the effective date of FMCSA’s new hours-of-service rule of three months following a court’s decision about the rule.

In a letter sent to the agency late Friday, ATA President Bill Graves wrote that a delay beyond the scheduled July 1 HOS compliance date “will avoid potentially duplicative and unnecessary training, prevent confusion if the court’s decision alters . . . the final rule, and, given the anticipated short length of the delay, will have no measureable impact on highway safety.”

FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne confirmed that the agency was in receipt of the letter and that it was under review.

ATA filed suit against the HOS rule in July, saying it “has contended that the rules that have been in place since 2004 have been working and have been a major contributing factor in the reduction in truck-involved crashes and fatalities.”

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for March 15 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

ATA’s letter said that in setting the revised rule, FMCSA noted that “industry and law enforcement may need extra time to train personnel and to adjust schedules and automated systems.”

But the letter added that while it hoped the litigation will have been decided far enough in advance for law enforcement to be certain of the rule’s provisions, the March 15 court date “makes that highly unlikely.”

ATA said it was “not our intent to forestall the effective compliance date any longer than necessary to meet the previously stated needs of the enforcement community and the [trucking] industry.”

It added that it believes a decision on the case is likely sometime in June, “but if not, ATA, as a party to the litigation, would offer to join FMCSA in petitioning the court to expedite the decision.”