‘Sham’ analysis used for HOS rewrite, truckers tell court

Trucking interests are back in court challenging the government’s latest attempt to reduce the hours a truck driver can legally work—and they are getting some help from some of the largest shippers in the nation.
  
The American Trucking Associations, in a brief filed in late July in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) latest attempt to rein in drivers’ hours -of-service (HOS) was based on a “sham” analysis.
  
FMCSA wants to change provisions in the 34-hour restart, which allows drivers to “reset” their work week after 34 consecutive hours off duty. Under the proposed changes, drivers would be able to reset their work week only once every seven days—and the rest period would have to include two spans from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
  
The government also wants to impose two mandatory 15-minute rest breaks. These provisions, trucking interests say, are arbitrary, capricious and not based on sound science.
  
The cost-benefit analysis used in the rule, the ATA said in its brief, is based on a “sham” analysis because of faulty assumptions in the government’s study.
  
“FMCSA stacked the deck in favor of its preferred outcome by basing its cost-benefit calculations on a host of transparently unjustifiable assumptions,” ATA said in its court brief.
  
The ATA also is challenging the government’s claim that that 13 percent of truck crashes are caused by fatigue.
    
Truckers are getting some big league help in their case. The National Retail Federation and its National Council of Chain Restaurants division joined a coalition of manufacturers, shippers and transportation providers and filed an amicus brief opposing the new HOS provisions. They said the proposed regulations were arbitrary and capricious.
  
“The retail industry is at the crossroads of the supply chain, interconnecting manufacturers and suppliers with vendors and customers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “It is the retail industry’s responsibility to get products to market and into consumers’ hands in a safe and timely manner. It is a responsibility that we hold dear. Any new regulation that impedes that ability increases our transportation costs, increases consumer prices, and jeopardizes the fragile economic recovery.”
  
The Obama administration failed to take into account the “serious economic ramifications faced by the broader supply chain community” when drafting these rules” Shay added.
  
He said his group believes that the new requirements will only drive up costs, make trucking less safe, increase congestion, but will ultimately hurt job growth and the economy.
  
“Any change in supply chain policy should be based solely on science and fact,” Shay said.
  
The joint brief also supports another FMCSA decision that preserved the 14-hour driving window and 11-hour on-time driving requirement. This aspect of the regulation is being challenged in court by Public Citizen.
  
If upheld by the court, the new regulations are scheduled to go into effect next July.