Provisions of the federal hours-of-service rule for truck drivers are “reasonable” and have been “adequately explained” by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency said in a court filing late Monday.
The brief was in response to a suit filed by American Trucking Associations earlier this year, which said the HOS rule relied on a “sham” of an analysis and unjustifiable assumptions, while urging the court to overturn the provisions restricting the rule’s 34-hour restart and require an off-duty break.
FMCSA also said in its brief that its decision to allow 11 hours of driving after 10 hours of duty “is not arbitrary or capricious.” The brief was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
ATA criticized the brief, saying it asks the court to defer to the agency’s discretion and expertise.
But FMCSA should only be allowed to exercise that discretion “if its rule is based on reasonable conclusions from reliable evidence that are adequately explained,” Rich Pianka, ATA’s deputy general counsel, told Transport Topics.
The brief shows that FMCSA “cannot demonstrate the reasonableness of its conclusions” in the rule, Pianka said.
ATA must reply to FMCSA’s brief by Oct. 24.
