Hours-of-Service Provision Attached to Short-Term Funding Bill
A clarification to regulators about an hours-of-service rule for truck drivers has been attached to a short-term funding bill the House and Senate need to advance by Dec. 9 to keep the federal government running beyond this week.
The bill would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to follow the existing 34-hour hours-of-service restart rule to "ensure continuity in federal rest regulations, should the report on the rule [mandated in prior acts] not meet the criteria set by Congress,” according to a fact sheet provided by the House Appropriations Committee on Dec. 6.
This clarification, pushed by key Republicans and touted throughout the trucking industry, would guide regulators after DOT’s congressionally mandated study of a 2013 update of the hours-of-service, or HOS, rule.
MORE DETAILS: Press release from Committee on Appropriations
Highlight from Continuing Resolution summary House funding leaders sought to address the hours-of-service matter earlier this year by unveiling a bill that would have denied funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to enforce the 2013 HOS update that truckers take off between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on consecutive days. A 2015 funding law suspended the 2013 HOS change pending the DOT study. During the rule’s suspension, truckers have to adhere to pre-July 2013 HOS regulations.
Most of the trucking industry had been critical of the Obama administration’s update to the HOS rule. The timing and scope of the short-term funding bill unveiled Dec. 6 make it unlikely for the Obama White House to recommend a veto on the bill over the trucking provision.
The short-term bill would fund the government through April 28, 2017. Funding authority for the federal government expires Dec. 9. Republican leaders indicated they would send the bill to the president’s desk this week.
“This continuing resolution is the necessary step for an operating and functioning government over the next four months. However, this type of short-term spending absolutely should not be the final answer to funding the federal government for the year,” said House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.).
American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear applauded Congress’ focus on the rule.
“Reverting back to the pre-July 2013 restart shifts the emphasis back to safety by removing flawed data from the rulemaking process. The entire industry will now be able to comply with this rule thanks to a common sense approach championed by a bipartisan group of legislators,” Spear said.
