Trucking news: FMCSA retains current hours-of-service limits
Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- Logistics Management, 12/12/2007
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WASHINGTON—The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said yesterday that truck drivers will continue to operate in a business as usual fashion, regarding the amount of time they are allowed to spend on and off the road.
According to an interim final rule (IFR) made public yesterday by the FMCSA, truck drivers will continue to be limited to driving 11 hours within a 14-hour duty period, and they are then required to go off duty for at least ten hours, along with a 34-hour restart period.
The IFR was issued by the FMCSA in response to a July ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which stated that certain portions of the United States Government’s truck driver hours-of-service (HOS) rules and regulations are illegal. The court overruled the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart period that have been in place since the current rules took effect on October 1, 2005, and it reset the HOS clock to ten hours of maximum driving time each day. In September, Logistics Management reported that the Department of Transportation requested a 12-month stay from the court to delay implementing this ruling, which would effectively reduce the legal hours roughly some 7 million commercial drivers could work.
In a media conference call yesterday, FMCSA Administrator John H. Hill said the IFR is part of a broader HOS service package that the FMCSA has been working with since 2003. And he added that this IFR was developed after new data indicated that safety levels maintained since the 11-hour driving limit was first implemented in 2003.
“With the re-adoption of the 34-hour restart, we believe truck drivers can obtain the necessary rest period that our research fatigue and management indicates is necessary,” said Hill. “The 34-hour restart allows for at least two eight-hour rest periods, and that should overcome the fatigue any driver may have.”
Hill said that both of these provisions signify that the FMCSA intends to give drivers a work/rest schedule that follows the optimal 24-hour circadian rhythm schedule, with ten hours off-duty and 14 hours on duty while maintaining highway safety and operational flexibility.
One important element of this IFR that Hill said was not present in the 2005 version is that it now has new comprehensive safety data, which shows how things have progressed safety-wise since the rule was first put in place. This data explains how that in 2006 the fatality rate per 100 million vehicles traveled was 1.94, which the FMCSA is the lowest ever recorded. The data also showed that fatigue-related crashes in the 11th hour of driving have remained below the average recorded from 1991-2002. In 2005, there was only one large truck involved in a fatigue-related crash in the 11th hour of driving, and there were none in 2004, according to the FMSCA.
“These are important statistics, and they show there has not been a degradation in safety since this rule has gone into effect,” said Hill. “It is important that we remain consistent with the people who enforce these HOS regulations with the industry as they provide the necessity of transporting goods throughout this country.”
American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Bill Graves said the IFR was welcomed by his organization, commenting that the FMCSA has made an important contribution to highway safety by maintaining the existing HOS rules that have led to a reduction in deaths and injuries over the last several years.
And Rick Craig, director of regulatory affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) also supported the IFR.
“We agree with the agency’s decision and appreciate its efforts toward ensuring that professional truckers aren’t hamstrung by regulations that limit their discretion and unnecessarily keep them on the road, tired or not,” said Craig in a statement.
But Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook lambasted the ruling, saying that this incarnation of the rule is no different than previous versions because it maintains the 11-hour driving limit and 34-hour restart period.
The FMCSA’s HOS interim final rule will take effect on December 27, which will be followed by a 60-day comment period.
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