Groups Ask Appeals Court to Overturn HOS Rule

A coalition of labor and advocacy groups Monday escalated their case against two regulations concerning truck drivers' working hours by filing a federal lawsuit.

The Teamsters, Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and the Truck Safety Coalition contend that regulations allowing drivers to work an 11-hour workday and reset their weekly limit by taking a 34-hour break is unsafe and unhealthy for truck drivers, the groups said in a statement announcing their lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Bush administration issued the regulations in 2003, extending the workday by one hour, the coalition said. The D.C. Circuit Court twice threw out the rule, but both times, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration re-instated, the coalition said.

The latest FMSCA rule was issued Nov. 13 and took effect Jan. 19, the coalition said. The groups filed a petition Dec. 18, asking FMCSA to overturn the rule. FMCSA Administrator John Hill denied the petition Jan. 16.