DOT Signals Change in the Hours of Service Rules
Posted on November 19, 2009
Filed Under GENERAL, HORROR STORIES, HOURS OF SERVICE, IN THE NEWS
After defending the new hours of service rules since 2003 when they were implemented, DOT is waving the white flag, surrendering to the safety crazies. In late October, 2009, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced the agency was starting over in developing an hours of service rule. In exchange, Public Citizen and the safety crazies have suspended their lawsuit against the agency. Quid Pro Quo.
The DOT has said they will have a proposed rule in 9 months, and a final rule in 21 months. If they stick to this timetable, this means you will have a new set of hours of service rules to work under in 2 years. My guess is they will adhere to the timetable, since the rewrite is going to be relatively simple. I believe (and I have no inside information on this, it is merely my educated guess), the new rules will be a 10 hour rule, instead of 11, the 14 hour rule will stay the same, and we’ll lose the 34 hour restart of the 70 hour rule. That’s my guess, although it might be worse than that, since Joan Claybrook is writing the rule.
The new rule will not prevent any more accidents than the current rule. Bank on that. It will make transportation more costly and less efficient. These costs will be partially absorbed by the industry, although most of them will be passed along to the consumers. So prepare yourselves: in 2 years you will not be allowed to work as many hours as you do today.
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