ATA Files Suit on HOS Rule’s Documentation Regulations

American Trucking Associations said Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to compel the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue a long-overdue hours-of-service supporting documents regulation.

The suit, filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is referred to as a “mandamus” action by which a court can compel government officials to perform their legal duties, ATA said.

In the action, ATA asked the court to require DOT to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking within 60 days of the its ruling and a final rule within six months of the NPRM publication date.

Actions to require agencies to issue overdue regulations are common and often result in a settlement whereby the agency agrees to act within a negotiated time frame, ATA said.

ATA President Bill Graves said the group felt it had to let DOT know “just how important the supporting documents issue is to our industry. We hope this lawsuit prompts a greater focus on the issue and that the Department will be willing to work with us to get the regulation out within a reasonable time frame.”

Supporting documents refer to the documents a motor carrier must retain for six months that can be used to verify drivers’ hours-of-service records. Congress recognized in 1994 that the failure of the DOT to properly define for motor carriers what constituted a supporting document was imposing a financial and administrative burden on the trucking industry.

Consequently, it ordered DOT to promulgate a rule that would designate the “number, type, and frequency of [required] supporting document retention” and to ensure that such retention would be at a “reasonable cost” to motor carriers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is part of DOT, is holding “listening sessions” starting this week in several cites around the country, on the HOS rule.

Click here for related Editorial.