Trucking: Court denies motion to invalidate HOS rule

NITL -- Logistics Management, 1/30/2008 8:43:00 AM

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a terse order on January 25 denying advocacy group Public Citizen’s request to invalidate the recently issued hours-of-service (HOS) Interim Final Rule (IFR).

Public Citizen claimed that the Court’s prior decisions in the case effectively prohibited the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from issuing an IFR that included an 11-hour daily driving time limit and a 34-hour restart provision. The FMCSA, as well as the American Trucking Associations and the League all filed briefs or affidavits opposing the Public Citizen motion.

The League’s filing highlighted the need for retention of the 11 and 34-hour provisions in an IFR to avoid signific ant disruptions to the shipper and motor carrier industries as well as to law enforcement. In addition, the League and others pointed to significant safety gains that have been achieved under the current HOS rules. This court decision means that the 11 and 34-hour provisions will remain in place pending further FMCSA consideration of a final HOS rule.

The Court did expressly note that its denial of the motion did not preclude Public Citizen from challenging the IFR in a separate legal proceeding. However such a proceeding would, even if expedited, take many months to pursue, with a final HOS rule likely to be issued before the litigation could be completed.

Click here to view a copy of the court’s decision (PDF).