Federal Appeals Court Hears Hours-of-Service Arguments

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ASHINGTON — A three-judge federal appeals court panel heard arguments Monday from attorneys representing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and a pair of groups challenging the agency’s revisions to truck driver hours-of-service rules.

Both Public Citizen and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sued FMCSA earlier this year to overturn the agency’ court-ordered 2005 revision of the rule. (Click here for previous coverage.)

FMCSA changed how drivers are allowed to split their off-duty periods in sleeper berths, while retaining the 11th hour of permitted driving and the 14 consecutive hours of work. Under the original version of the rule, drivers could drive for 10 hours in a 15-hour on-duty period, but could log off duty during that time.

Paul Cullen, the attorney representing OOIDA, argued that the “unstoppable work day . . . discourages” drivers from taking short breaks. He argued that the agency did not properly notify the public of possible changes to the rule’s sleeper-berth provisions.

“By proposing every possible iteration of the rule, they really proposed nothing,” Cullen said.

Matthew Collette, representing FMCSA, said the notion that the agency altered its figures and formulas to support the regulation was incorrect. “To assume they are cooking the books is wrong,” he said.

But the three-judge panel scolded Collette and FMCSA for not sufficiently addressing questions about the data.

The hearing was held in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Typically, the court takes several months to render a decision.