Restricting HOS Exemption Costing Carriers Involved in Oil, Gas Drilling, Executives Say

This story appears in the Aug. 27 print edition of Transport Topics.

New regulatory guidance restricting the use of an hours-of-service exemption for some drivers involved in oil and gas drilling operations is increasing operating costs for the affected carriers, executives told federal regulators.

During two recent listening sessions, truckers asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to rescind the guidance, and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis before making a final decision.

In June, FMCSA ruled that only drivers who require “extensive” training and who are driving trucks “specially constructed for use at oil and gas sites” are allowed to extend their on-duty time to 14 hours if waiting at drilling sites.

As a result, truck drivers hauling materials such as sand and water involved in the drilling operations were no longer allowed to take advantage of the long-standing exemption.

“I believe that this decision was made arbitrarily, and without much knowledge of the fundamental role water and sand haulers have in the industry,” Kristin Hood, an official with G&Z Transport, Keenesburg, Colo., told a group of FMCSA officials Aug. 17.

Hood spoke at a listening session in Denver, which was followed days later by another session in Coraopolis, Pa., near Pittsburgh. Both locations are near some of the most active oil and gas drilling areas in the United States.

“Our wait time is the exact same wait time that heavy coil vehicles, missile trailers or wireline trucks experience,” Hood said, outlining some of the trucks that will continue to be eligible for the exception under the new guidance. “Our drivers are no more able to mitigate wait time than any of these other haulers.”

“The guidance does not consider or even acknowledge the economic impact that it could possibly have on our industry,” Rodney Steely, president of Colorado Crude Carriers Inc., Greeley, Colo., told the agency officials. “In my state, Colorado, we have always been al-lowed to utilize the oil field exception rule.”

Since taking effect, the guidance has increased costs for Select Energy Services, Houston, by about 30%, Joey Fanguy, the company’s vice president of operations, said at the Pittsburgh-area session.

“The regulatory guidance will increase the number of trucks on the roads,” he said. “These trucks will be filled with inexperienced and marginally qualified drivers. This will lead to in-creased accidents.”

All trucks servicing the oil and gas drilling industry need the exception, industry representatives said, because drilling operations often require materials with little notice.

The trucks hauling those materials therefore have to wait for hours until the materials are needed.

“It’s all about timing,” said Dewayne Blanscet, safety supervisor for Dawn Trucking Co., Farmington, N.M. “One operation has to be immediately followed by the next operation.”

However, FMCSA officials said they want to ensure that drivers don’t become too tired while they’re waiting.

“We need to make sure drivers are well rested and not subject to fatigue,” Jack Van Steenburg, the federal agency’s assistant administrator, said at the Pennsylvania session.

Frank Lopez, director of safety for Brady Trucking Inc., Vernal, Utah, suggested that drivers should only be eligible for the exception if their trucks have sleeper cabs, since it would allow them to rest while waiting.

“Our trucks are all set up with sleepers, and I think that’s where this exception needs to apply,” he said “It’s not for the day cabs.”

FMCSA is planning one last listening session on the regulatory guidance next month in Dallas. A specific date and location have not yet been set.

The agency is also accepting comments until Oct. 5. It pushed back the original Aug. 6 deadline because of the controversy surrounding the guidance.