Hours-of-Service Proposal Worthy of Consideration, Hart Says

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is not simply "covering its butt" with its proposed overhaul of the hours of service regulations, the agency's senior official said Friday.

Speaking to the board of directors of American Trucking Associations, FMCSA Deputy Administrator Clyde Hart Jr., said the controversial proposal is worth giving serious consideration to.

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The notice of proposed rulemaking is not the end, but the beginning of the process," Hart said. He rejected a request to scrap the proposal and work with industry to develop a rule based on sound science. "I know the proposal doesn't meet with everyone's approval. In fact, I was looking for a flak jacket and helmet before I came over here.

"I can either do a negotiated rulemaking or the notice and public comment period," he added. "I don't have a third way."

Hart noted that the Department of Transportation dismissed the idea of negotiating a rulemaking after concluding it would be impossible to reach a consensus.

He said he didn't want to interrupt the public comment process that is attracting 1,000 letters to the DOT each day and overflow crowds at public hearings. Hart urged his audience to participate in the comment process, saying, "I have ruled nothing out. I'm willing to look at anything."

The only sacred cow for the DOT is the need to reform the current rules, which date back to 1939, and to base new regulations on a 24-hour clock. The current rule allows drivers to be behind the wheel for 10 hours followed by eight hours off.

Hart reiterated earlier comments of Acting Chief Safety Officer Julie A. Cirillo that the agency will continue its aggressive enforcement efforts as a means of cutting truck-related fatalities in half by 2009.

"It will take the effort of everyone who uses the road to reach that stretch goal," he said, praising the industry for cooperating with FMCSA on the "No Zone" campaign.