House Committee Keeps Provisions on HOS, Safety Fitness, Meal Breaks
This story appears in the May 30 print edition of Transport Topics.
A provision that would allow truck drivers to avoid a rest requirement of 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on consecutive days was kept in a fiscal 2017 transportation funding bill a House committee approved May 24.
Republicans on the Appropriations Committee shot down an effort to remove the hours-of-service provision, as well as provisions having to do with a safety performance scoring system for truckers, and a meal and rest break pre-emption for states, from the transportation bill.
All but one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, sought to adopt the amendment offered by Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) seeking to remove the trucking-related provisions. The committee approved the funding bill by voice vote, sending it to the floor of the House.
The bill’s consideration is expected when House members return from Memorial Day recess.
Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) spoke against the amendment, saying the legislation was the “product of compromises made with the stakeholders.”
American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves praised the committee’s approval of the bill.
“In addition to allocating funding for important transportation projects, this legislation will ensure that commercial drivers can still utilize the 34-hour restart provision of the hours-of-service rules,” Graves said.
“Also of paramount importance, this bill would clarify Congress’ objective that interstate trucking be governed by the federal government, not individual states, in order to prevent a patchwork of regulations that needlessly complicates the lives of millions of professional drivers,” added Dave Osiecki, ATA executive vice president of national advocacy.
The bill’s provision would deny funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to enforce the 2013 requirement that truckers take off between 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. overnight on consecutive days. A 2015 funding law suspended the 2013 update to FMCA’s hours-of-service rule pending a study by the U.S. Department of Transportation. During the rule’s suspension, truckers must adhere to pre-2013 HOS regulations.
The House legislation also would prevent California and other states from enacting laws requiring companies to schedule meal and rest breaks for drivers. The provision is meant to block a California law signed in 2011 that requires employers to provide a “duty-free” 30-minute meal break for employees who work more than five hours a day and a second “duty-free” 30-minute meal break for those who work more than 10 hours a day.
A third provision would delay FMCSA’s effort on a safety fitness determination proposal. A cadre of House members this year urged FMCSA to halt a proposed safety fitness rule until the agency reforms its Compliance, Safety, Accountability scoring program. The safety fitness determination proposal would consist of using data from agency and roadside inspections and investigations to evaluate every month whether a carrier is fit to operate.
Overall, the $58 billion House transportation funding bill comes in at $889 million above fiscal 2016 levels and $4.9 billion below President Obama’s request. It would provide $918 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, $644 million for FMCSA and $228 million for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
“This bill invests in critical national infrastructure to help move our people and products as safely and efficiently as possible. It prioritizes important programs and projects, making the best use of every transportation dollar,” said House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.).
Opposition to the trucking provisions in the bill was lead by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which had urged the funding committee to adopt Price’s amendment.
Earlier this month, the Senate advanced its version of the transportation funding bill by a vote of 89-8. On May 25, the House Committee on Rules switched the Senate bill’s text with House-passed bills on Zika prevention funds and veterans affairs.
