The Oregon Trucking Association has filed a petition asking that during the fire season timber haulers in the state be exempted from the hours-of-service rule provision that requires drivers to take 30-minute breaks every eight hours.
With the driver break, timber mills are not receiving the volume of logs they need to maintain their economic viability, the OTA petition said.
OTA took the action in August. FMCSA published a notice Dec. 10 that it would consider the request and is taking public comment on it before issuing a decision. Comments must be filed by Jan. 9.
According to OTA’s petition, environmental restrictions already limit the amount of timber that can be harvested in the forests and, during the fire season, harvesting is further restricted.
OTA said in its petition that the fire season can last from July to October in some cases and that in August of this year logging operators had to leave the forests each day by 1 p.m.
“If logging operators have to leave the forest lands by 1 p.m. during fire restrictions, they need all available time prior to 1 p.m. as on-duty time, without a rest break,” the petition notice said.
“OTA states that its members engaged in these operations are willing to restrict their duty day when operating under the exemption to a maximum of 12 hours in lieu of the 14-hour limit of the HOS rules,” the notice said.
