HOS Restart Suspension May Stay Through February

The hours-of-service restart rules for truck drivers likely will remain suspended through February, a few months longer than expected.

An update by trucking regulators on the status of a congressionally mandated study of the restart rules indicated that the completed study likely will reach Congress by mid-February, instead of next month.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokesman Duane DeBruyne told Transport Topics on Nov. 19 that the agency will provide the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General its review of the restart rules in mid-December.

“The statute provides the [OIG] 60 days to conduct its review,” DeBruyne said.

That means OIG has until mid-February to finalize its review of the study.

The study is to address whether the rule has safety benefits and is better for drivers in terms of fatigue, health and work schedules. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which was contracted by the agency, spent five months collecting data for the study.

Earlier this year, the office of the secretary of transportation had told TT the restart study was due to arrive at OIG by Oct. 12, and not December. Then, the secretary’s office said, the final report on the restart rule was due to Congress on Dec. 11.

FMCSA did not comment on the timeline’s discrepancies.

The restart rules are required to remain suspended until a final study is presented to Congress, according to a fiscal 2015 funding law enacted in December 2014. That law suspended FMCSA’s rule requiring truck drivers to take off two consecutive periods of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. during a 34-hour restart.

Truckers still have to adhere to HOS regulations set prior to July 2013.

The study must assess the restart rule’s impact on safety as well as driver alertness in response to industrywide concerns over the rule’s burden on drivers. The industry points out the rules forced drivers to work during heavily congested daytime hours.

American Trucking Associations and other industry leaders argue the ideal time to operate trucks is during less congested hours.

ATA officials said the mid-February timeline for the HOS study did not come as a surprise. ATA also has indicated that even after the study reaches Congress, congressional action or certain findings may impact or delay the rule’s reinstatement.

A recent House-passed fiscal 2016 funding bill would add requirements to the restart rule’s study. ATA President Bill Graves said the more robust study is “an important step in improving the safety of our highways, first and foremost, but also the efficiency of our highway system and the industry that moves nearly 70% of the nation’s goods.”