Journal: Hours rules finalized - again
Journal 16 Commercial Carrier Journal December 2008 n Administration last month sent to the White House for review a final rule regarding use of electronic onboard recorders for monitoring drivers' compli-ance with hours-of-service regulations. Details will not be known until FMCSA publishes the rule. In January 2007, FMCSA proposed to require EOBRs on all trucks operated by carriers that had dem-onstrated a history of serious noncompli-ance with the hours-of-service rules. n dissemination of commercial drivers' safety performance data to motor car-riers for use in hiring. As ordered by Congress in 2005, the program would help motor carriers assess individual drivers' crash and serious safety viola-tion inspection history. The data would be released to a carrier only with the driver-applicant's consent. n probably collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007, due to inadequate load capacity of the gus-set plates resulting from design error by engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates, the National Transportation Safety Board announced last month. Contributing to the design error was failure of the firm's quality control pro-cedures to ensure the appropriate main truss gusset plate calculations. n Index fell 2.5 percent in September from its August level, declining for the second consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. The index has dropped 4.3 percent in the past two months, dropping to a level equal to the four-year low set in September 2007. in brief T he rules governing truck drivers' hours of service apparently won't change at least not until the next round of inevitable litigation or any reconsideration initiated by the Obama administration. On Nov. 19, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published in the a final rule adopting the provisions of its Dec. 17, 2007, interim final rule on the hours rules. The agency issued the December 2007 IFR to hold current regulations in place pending a reconsideration ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Under the final rule, commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers may continue to drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour window from the start of the workday, following at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. And motor carriers and drivers may continue to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. The 11-hour and 34-hour rules were at the heart of Public Citizen's second challenge to the hours rules. The final regulation is set to take effect Jan. 19. Coincidentally or not but prob-ably not that is one day before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. FMCSA's final rule on hours-of-service regulations discusses again much of the data the agency has relied on in the past, as well as additional information submitted in response to the IFR. This rulemaking rests on a wide-ranging body of data and comprehensive analy-ses, and complies with all congressional mandates, FMCSA says in the preamble to the final hours rules. By adopting HOS regulations that include increased daily off-duty time, a shorter driving window, a longer period of uninterrupted rest for sleeper-berth drivers, and sufficient time for two full sleep periods before restarting the 60- or 70-hour clock, the rule ensures CMVs are `operated safely' and drivers' responsibilities `do not impair their ability to operate the vehicles safely,' as required by 49 U.S.C. 31136(a)(1)-(2), respectively. FMCSA added that data on fatigue-related highway fatalities published since 2003 show nominal annual fluctuations, but nothing of the rising trend implied by some criticism of the IFR and related earlier rules. In fact, the overall large truck fatality rate is at its lowest level ever. FMCSA estimates the total annual cost of eliminating both the 11th hour of driv-ing and the 34-hour restart at more than $2.4 billion, while the projected annual safety benefits of doing so are about $214 million. A third challenge to the hours-of-service rules is virtually certain unless the Obama administration changes them. The appeals court noted in its July 2007 opinion that it was vacating the rules strictly on the procedural grounds Hours rules finalized again FMCSA changes nothing, but another lawsuit looms (Continued on page 50) The rule takes effect Jan. 19 on the last full day of the Bush administration. (Continued on page 18)