ATA chief Graves calls on FMCSA’s Ferro to extend scheduled HOS compiance date

In a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Anne Ferro, American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Bill Graves made his call for the truck driver Hours-of-Service (HOS) rules to take effect at a later date than the current one of July 13.

In December 2010, the FMCSA rolled out its proposed HOS rules changes, which subsequently received decidedly mixed reviews in terms of their potential impact, in terms of its potential for an increase in the cost of doing business, as well as questions from trucking industry stakeholders as to whether or not these rules need to be changed from their current version, which have been in effect since 2004.

The final HOS rule is comprised of the following, according to FMCSA:
-the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work within a week has been reduced by 12 hours from 82 to 70;
-truck drivers cannot drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least 30 minutes, and drivers can take the 30-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-hour window;
-the final rule retains the current 11-hour daily driving limit (the FMCSA was considering lowering it to 10 hours) and will continue to conduct data analysis and research to further examine any risks associated with the 11 hours of driving time;
-truckers who maximize their weekly work hours to take at least two nights’ rest when their 24-hour body clock demands sleep the most—from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. This rest requirement is part of the rule’s “34-hour restart” provision that allows drivers to restart the clock on their work week by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. The final rule allows drivers to use the restart provision only once during a seven-day period; and
-carriers that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by 3 or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense, and drivers could face civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense.

FMCSA officials said that commercial truck drivers and companies must comply with the HOS final rule by July 1, 2013.

Since these rules were announced, there has more than a fair share of backlash and angst towards them from the ATA, truckload carriers and many other concerns, including Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Truck Safety Coalition, and the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) among others.

What’s more, NITL recently reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has set March 15 to hear oral arguments on HOS rules.

In his letter to Ferro, Graves explained that the ATA is requesting that FMCSA delay the compliance effective date for those (rules) provisions until three months after the D.C. Circuit issues its decision in those cases.

“The requested delay will avoid potentially duplicative and unnecessary training, prevent confusion if the Court’s decision alters in any manner the final rule, and, given the anticipated short length of the delay, will have no measurable impact on highway safety,” wrote Graves.

The ATA’s top executive added that in its final rule FMCSA recognized that “industry and law enforcement may need extra time to train personnel and to adjust schedules and automated systems,” with some industry stakeholders noting software development, programming, and testing taking up to 18 months.

But to preserve the effectiveness of training by linking it as closely as possible to the date, Graves said the rule changes becomes effective for compliance purposes, and motor carriers and law enforcement have yet to fully deploy their training resources.

“It was our hope that the related litigation would have been decided far enough in advance for industry and the enforcement community to be certain of the rules on which to train their respective constituencies,” wrote Graves. “Unfortunately, the court’s scheduling of oral argument for March 15 2013 makes that highly unlikely. However, the scheduling also suggests a decision is not very far off. It would be a waste of industry, FMCSA, and enforcement community resources to require training based on the final rule beginning in April of 2013 only to have that rule altered in some manner via the court’s decision in mid-May or early June.”

Graves explained that a delay of enforcement until three months after the court issues its decision will avoid the significant potential waste of moving forward while that uncertainty persists. And he concluded the letter by explaining that it is not the ATA’s intent to forestall the effective compliance date any longer than necessary to meet the needs of the enforcement community and the industry. 

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) stands firm against this proposed rule. ATA Vice President for Communications Sean McNally recently told LM that “the current rules are working,” and the FMCSA does not need to go out and fix something that is not broken.

“These rules by their own admission will have no net safety benefits and will come at a tremendous cost,” said McNally.

McNally also said that the ATA is skeptical of FMCSA’s motives, adding that the FMCSA will hopefully come around to the idea that the rules in place are doing what they are supposed to do.

What’s more, the ATA has repeatedly stated that the current HOS rules, which have been in place since 2004, have allowed the trucking industry to move more than 70 percent of U.S. goods while achieving record low levels of crashes and fatalities.

And the ATA has previously stated that the truck-involved fatality rate has dropped by 36 percent since 2004, which is nearly double the overall fatality rate U.S. highways. And they cited United States Department of Transportation (DOT) data.

Industry experts have told LM that if there is a significant decline in truck productivity as a result of new HOS rules, it will be difficult for other modes to make up the difference in lost production, should trucking output decrease by ten percent or somewhere in that general range.

“If you run the numbers, there will very likely be a significant loss of productivity should the ruling go through,” said a trucking executive, whom declined to be identified.