MAJOR HOURS OF SERVICE RULES CHANGE!!!!!
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours of service rules, and imposed rules of their own. These changes, I believe, will become effective no sooner than September 14, 2007, but stay tuned, as that too may change.
Drivers may no longer drive 11 hours, they may now only drive 10 hours. Drivers must continue to use the 14 hour rule. Drivers may not reset their 70 hour clocks with a 34 hour reset period.
How did all of this happen? When the FMCSA made it first changes some years ago, as they were directed to by Congress, they moved to the 11, 14, and 70 hour rules, with the reset provisions. They were sued by the public advocacy groups. These are people who hate trucks, and believe that if there is one truck accident, it’s one accident too many, consequences be damned. The US Court of Appeals found that the FMCSA did not follow the law in implementing the new rules, and directed them to make changes. The FMCSA announced that there would be, in effect, no more split sleeper berth provision. The advocacy crazies were not satisfied with this, and sued again. The same US Court of Appeals has now ruled again, and found that again, the FMCSA did not follow the law in implementing the new rules, and has imposed its own rules.
Who is to blame for this fiasco? As much as I like to bash the FMCSA, it probably isn’t their fault, even though the court says it is. This is just a leftist court, which sees this as a naked attempt by the industry to lessen the safety standards which will kill more innocent women and children for profit. No matter what the agency would have done in promulgating these new rules, the court would have found fault. Also to blame are the Republicans in Congress. They had an opportunity to short-circuit this insanity by passing a law which would have established the new rules as the law of the land, thereby cutting off the courts, but they failed. You can’t expect the Democrats in Congress to pass such a bill, as they favor more restrictive hours of service rules.
So, once again, everyone has to go back to the drawing board, and try to make sense of the new rules. Carefully set up routes and contracts laid out with the hours rules in mind will have to be scrapped. Carriers have built new terminals in locations picked specifically with the 11 hour rule in mind. Those will have to be moved or closed. The bottom line is the new, more restrictive laws will not make the roads any safer. In fact, if you look at the documentation in the FMCSA rulemaking, it will make the roads more dangerous.
Stay tuned, this may not be the last word on this issue. There may be an appeal, but I am not optimistic about its chances. I strongly suspect that the FMCSA will just give up at this point and go with the new rules imposed by the courts.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
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