Procedural Clash on Senate Floor Halts Debate on HOS Restart

This story appears in the June 23 print edition of Transport Topics.

Debate in the Senate on an amendment that would have blocked a one-year suspension of the hours-of-service restart changes was halted June 19, and it is not clear when the amendment will be reconsidered.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled the expansive fiscal 2015 funding bill from the floor after several hours of initial debate due to procedural objections raised by Republicans.

He did not indicate prior to Transport Topics going to press when he would seek to reschedule consideration of the amendment or legislation.

Before the bill was pulled, the Senate had begun to consider a proposal by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to undo a provision in the spending bill that would deny funding to last year’s changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service restart rules.

“Truck drivers are working extremely long days to deliver the goods we depend on, but it should never be at the cost of their safety and that of other drivers,” Booker said in a statement.

The provision Booker sought to undo was offered by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Earlier this month, her proposal was adopted at a committee hearing by a 21-9 bipartisan vote.

FMCSA’s restart changes, effective last July, require truckers to have a 34-hour resting period between workweeks, including two 1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. periods.

On the Senate floor, Collins said her proposal seeks to improve highway safety, and she noted she was “very disappointed to see that the senator from New Jersey is otherwise engaged and not listening” to her comments.

Under Collins’ proposal, FMCSA also would be required to review the safety effects of the rules changes and justify any safety claims to Congress.

While Booker gained support from 14 Democratic colleagues, two in leadership positions, several Democrats had indicated they would support Collins.

One of the Democrats, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, said she opposes the new FMCSA rules because they allowed the agency to “enforce when people sleep,” referring to the 1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. mandated rest time.

“That’s going a step too far,” she said.

On the Republican side, Sen. Roy Blunt from Missouri said he agreed with Landrieu: “The federal government can decide a lot of things, but what’s the best work and rest pattern for people would not be one of those things.”

As debate on the funding bill unfolded, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader, said a path forward proposed by Reid denied senators in the minority an opportunity to offer amendments.

The argument between the two leaders then turned sour, prompting Reid to table the funding bill.

Sean McNally, spokesman for American Trucking Associations, said that “while the debate on Sen. Booker’s amendment was cut short, there is no question that the comments made by Sens. Collins, Landrieu and Blunt make clear as to why Collins’ hours-of-service restart study language should remain in the underlying bill.”

“It is sound policy, it is overwhelmingly bipartisan and, when it’s ultimately enacted into law, it will help keep our nation’s highways safe,” McNally added.

Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said she was upset the Senate did not further consider her $126.2 billion spending measure that includes Transportation and Housing and Urban Development among other bills.

She said that “at the end of today we can figure out how to have another day” on the floor.

“This day will come to an end, but I really hope that the appropriations [bills] coming to the floor don’t die today,” she added.

A senior Senate Democratic aide told TT that the measure could be taken up again later this summer.

Under Senate rules, a senator can object to the way legislation is considered on the floor. The parties differ on the vote threshold required to overcome such objections.

Meanwhile, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said on June 16 that Congress should not make changes to the current HOS rule.

“Legislating changes to the HOS rules now, not even a year since becoming effective, creates significant uniformity and consistency problems across the country,” CVSA Executive Director Stephen Keppler said in a statement. “The results of this legislative action will create unnecessary upheaval for the states and cause significant operational and budgetary impacts on their enforcement efforts. In addition, constant change causes confusion for both industry and enforcement.”

He said the HOS regulations are “first and foremost” safety regulations, not efficiency or productivity regulations.

“While the regulations certainly should and need to take into account the economic impacts to the industry, that is not what they are principally designed to do,” Keppler added.

He said he would support a comprehensive study on the safety and operational impacts of the HOS regulations, but while the current rules remain in place.

Staff Reporter Eric Miller contributed to this report.