From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine
- June 12, 2014 -
Supply Chain News: Update - Senate Committee Votes to Suspend Key Hours of Service Provision, but House Now Leaves Measure Off Its Bill, Perhaps over Walmart Accident
34-Hour Restart Rules would have to be Studied before It Could be Enforced Under Proposed Bill; Development Comes as Accident with Walmart Driver May Make Reform Politically Toxic
SCDigest Editorial Staff
Update at 9:31 am ET, June 12, 2014:
The US House unveiled its version of a 2015 transportation appropriations bill that, unlike the Senate version, does not contain language that would suspend the 34-hour restart provisions in last year's new Hours of Service rules while the impact on productivity and safety is studied.
The House version calls for a report on the safety benefits of the restart rules but does not suspend it pending such analysis by the Federal Motor Carrier Safey Administration.
Capitol Hill insiders had expected language from the House similar to the Senate bill, but that turned out not to be the case. That left many wondering, as we had suggested in our original story below, if the tragic accident late last week in New Jersey apparently caused by a Walmart truck driver - said to have not slept for 24 hours - would make the issue politically toxic for now.
In a letter to House members this week, Teamsters Union President James Hoffa said that any move to suspend the restart would weaken highway safety standards. He urged representatives to oppose any suspension amendments.
The lack of such language in the House bill does not mean the issue is dead, however. The suspension of the rule awaiting further study could still be inserted when the House and Senate confer on their separate transportation appropriations bills to produce a single bill for approval in both houses.
Original Story
Many involved in US logistics probably thought the battle over revised Hours of Service rule was over after a Federal appeals court last year ruled that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) did indeed have the authority to enact such regulations.
But the American Trucking Associations and other continued to work members of Congress in search of some relief, and may just have found it, as last week the Senate Appropriations Committee voted by a wide margin to suspend the current 34-hour restart provision of the Hours of Service rule while ordering the FMCSA to study the impact of the change, which went into effect July 1 last year.
SCDigest Says: |
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| The ATA has claimed that the rule's requirements for scheduling rest breaks at night is forcing more trucks onto the road during the daytime when traffic is most congested, leading to less safety. |
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What Do You Say?
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But almost simultaneously, a Walmart truck driver slammed into a limousine in New Jersey, severely injuring well known comedian Tracy Morgan, killing his friend, and hurting several others. Reports are that the driver has said he hadn't slept in 24 hours, and even though this really has nothing to do with the HOS rules, it may make the issue politically toxic.
The committee voted 21- 9 in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, whose spokesperson said "it has become clear that the rules have had unintended consequences that are not in best interest of carriers, shippers and the public."
The amendment is attached to a Senate bill appropriating transportation funds for fiscal year 2015. It says that FMCSA funding will not include money to enforce the restart rule that took effect last June as part of the new HOS requirements.
The move still has to clear the full Senate and be reconciled with whatever transportation funding bill is passed in the House as well, but if those stars all align, truckers would soon be back under the old rules.
Those prior rules do not contain the requirement that drivers be off between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on two successive nights during their restart, nor the restriction limiting use of the restart to once a week.
The 34-hour restart, however, only is required if a driver has reached the maximum weekly limits of 70 hours over eight days or 60 hours over seven days.
It is unclear how long such a study would take, but the law would basically require the FMCSA to analyze safety results before and after the change in the law to see if there have been any real benefits.
Truckload carriers in general have said the new HOS rules delivered a hit to productivity of 2-3%, though some have said they have seen a somewhat greater impact.
The core issue is one of safety, with the FMCSA saying that the new rules would decrease accidents stemming from driver fatigue.
"At the heart of this rule is an expectation to minimize the risk when tired drivers are behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound truck," Anne Ferro, head of the FMCSA, recently said. "The hours are exceedingly long."
Truck crashes caused 3,912 fatalities in 2012, and the fatal-crash rate increased each year from 2009 through 2012, reversing a five-year trend. The new HOS regulations were projected to prevent 1,400 truck crashes a year, saving 19 lives and avoiding 560 injuries.
(Transportation Management Article Continued Below)
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The trucking industry has said that the data to support these projections is bogus, and claimed that the rule's requirements for scheduling rest breaks at night is forcing more trucks onto the road during the daytime when traffic is most congested, leading to less safety.
