As the grace period for new hours-of-service rules for truck drivers expired last month, paving the way for increased enforcement, a number of industry groups called on Congress to change the law. Groups such as the National Retail Federation and the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) asked influential lawmakers in the House of Representatives to modify the law to help short-haul truckers. In a recent letter to the House transportation subcommittee, the IWLA said the hours-of-service regulations create hardships for those drivers, who return to their normal work-reporting location at the end of each day.

The hours-of-service rules took effect on January 4th of this year. The previous rules, dating back more than 60 years, allowed drivers to operate trucks for 10 hours in a 15-hour work period. The new rules permit 11 hours of driving in a 14-hour on-duty period. (For more details, see "Bohman on Pricing," page 33.)

The government included a 60-day phase-in period in the law to teach drivers about the new requirements while imposing fines for only the most flagrant violations. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta asked state officials to begin strict enforcement of the law as of March 4th.

At press time, motor carriers and trucking groups were reporting no significant boost in enforcement. Thomas Nightingale, an executive at truckload carrier Schneider National, said his company hadn't seen any uptick in hours-of-service enforcement after the expiration of the grace period. "We are hearing about drivers receiving warnings, but aggressive enforcement hasn't started yet," said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Industry groups such as the IWLA have said that the current regulations do not take into account the work environment of short-haul truckers. "This imposition of an inflexible, 14 consecutive hours on-duty limit gives no consideration as to how much of the on-duty time an operator may actually spend in non-driving activities," said IWLA President and Chief Executive Officer Joel Hoiland. "By its very nature, a larger proportion of a short-haul driver's time is spent waiting for loads to be taken on or off his truck."

To remedy the situation, the IWLA and other groups are lining up in support of an amendment to the highway spending bill now making its way through the halls of Congress. That amendment, proposed by U.S. Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.), would allow short-haul operators to continue to operate under the old hours-of-service rules, which counted only hours spent behind the wheel as on-duty time.

At press time, the Senate had approved a $320 billion transportation bill, despite a veto threat from the White House. The full House was slated to take up its own version of the highway bill, which would appropriate $275 billion. The Bush administration has said that the price tags for both the Senate and House bills are too high.

Patrick Creamer, press secretary for Rep. Boozman, said the Arkansas congressman would attempt to attach his amendment in the conference committee that will attempt to iron out the differences in the two versions of the highway spending legislation.

Boozman's proposal faces an uphill fight. Public safety groups are opposed to any changes in the hours-of-service regulations, said lobbyist Patrick O'Connor, who represents the IWLA. In addition, he said, many conservatives in Congress are complaining about a soaring federal spending deficit, increasing speculation in Washington that the highway funding bill may not see the light of day this year.