Reactions Mixed to FMCSA's Driver Hours Plan

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

rucking companies and their representatives were mostly positive in their reactions to the new commercial driver hours-of-service rules, while drivers’ groups were negative.

“Our length of haul is such that it won’t make a big difference in the 24-hour schedule, but it will provide us with the extra hour that can be of benefit,” said Thomas Vandenberg, general counsel of Schneider National, Green Bay, Wis.

Clifford J. Harvison, president of the National Tank Truck Carriers, said his members were glad the rules would allow drivers to restart their clocks after a 34-hour break.

He said the restart was beneficial for long-haul and tank truck drivers, and during the busy times such as the Christmas season.

But Tim Lynch, president of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, said it will be a challenge for the industry to comply with the new regulations by January.

“Just the mundane tasks of educating drivers is going to take a lot longer than eight months,” Lynch said.

Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis.), vice chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he had not had a chance to study the rules but said it looked like “there were pros and cons.”

He said he was “all but certain” the committee would hold hearings on the subject.

While trucking groups generally had kind words for the proposal, driver organizations were critical.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the rules would have a “limited impact” on safety because shippers would still require drivers to wait to load or unload freight and expect them to meet unrealistic deadlines.

“After almost 65 years of working with regulatory controls that should have been declared obsolete decades ago, this is a pretty sorry excuse for a revision to address today’s problems,” said OOIDA President Jim Johnston.

“Basically we’re opposed to any increase in hours,” said Teamsters spokesman Rob Black. “How forcefully we will oppose this one or how we will oppose it has not been decided at this point.”

Safety groups were unable to comment on the rules when Transport Topics went to press. However, the Washington Post reported that an official of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said the new rules were meaningless because truckers routinely violated the current rules and the new rules provided no new means of enforcement.

Senior Reporter Tiffany Wlazlowski contributed to this story.

This story appeared in the April 28 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

10131