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Jun 24, 2013

HOS Discussions * USA

* Georgia - Trucking industry opposes safety rules

Atlanta,GA,USA -PKP firm -21 Jun 2013: -- The trucking industry's main trade group, the American Trucking Association (ATA), opposes new driver hours of service (HOS) rules, which were published in December 2011 and would require specified rest periods for drivers after long hours of contnuous work. Starting July 1, 2013, the new HOS rules would cut the number of hours a driver can work from 82 to 70 per week, require drivers to take 34 consecutive hours off before restarting their work week, and take a 30 minute break before driving more than eight hours... Last month the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) denied a request by the ATA for a three month stay of the implementation of these rules, saying it was “…unwilling to sacrifice what may be several months of public safety benefits” ...  


* DC - Trucking industry wants to jam brakes on looming driver regulations

Washington,DC,USA -The Hill, by Ben Goad -16 June 2013: -- Trucking companies are about to get hit with a new set of regulations further limiting the time a driver can spend behind the wheel... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule, the subject of a years-long legal battle, will only exacerbate an existing national driver shortage and hit consumers in their pocketbooks, the industry charges... Safety groups, meanwhile, argue the regulations don’t go far enough to protect the nation’s roads from the consequences of driver fatigue... Beginning July 1, drivers will be able to drive 12 fewer hours per week and will be required to take regular 34-hour rest periods that include pre-dawn hours of two straight days, under the rule... Meanwhile, the House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is set to convene a hearing on Tuesday to consider the potential impacts of the rule. Representatives from FMCSA, the American Trucking Association and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance are among those scheduled to testify...
* DC - Congress gets earful on HOS. Rule changes due to take effect just 7 days from now

(Photo: Barring a court decision, trucking will very soon be dealing with key changes to the hours-of-service rule) 
Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by David Cullen -Jun. 19, 2013: -- Testimony before a Congressional subcommittee yesterday on impending changes to the Hours of Service (HOS) rules for truck drivers cast some more light on the intentions of the revisions and the difficulty of roadside enforcement of the changes—as well as what may well shape further battles over the rule’s content... These changes to the rule are slated to go into effect just 12 days from now, barring a court decision on a pending legal challenge:

 -- Limiting of a driver's work week to 70 hours within a seven-day period. (Under the current rules, truck drivers can work on average up to 82 hours) 
-- Drivers will not be allowed to drive after working eight hours without first taking a break of at least 30 minutes. 
-- Drivers can take that 30-minute break whenever they need rest during the eight-hour window... 
-- Drivers who maximize their weekly work hours will have to take at least two “night-rest” periods from 1:00 am to 5:00 am. This 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... 
-- Drivers will only be able to use restart provision once during a seven-day period... 

 According to Joan Claybrook, consumer co-chair of the nonprofit Advocates for Highway and  Auto Safety and a former Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, testimony, further changes to the rule will be needed to more fully address driver fatigue... She made her case with these points: 

 -- Crash risk increases geometrically after the eighth (8th) consecutive hour of driving 
-- Under the current HOS rule, drivers are not getting sufficient sleep, obtaining, on average, less than six (6) hours of sleep on work nights 
-- Because humans have a biological diurnal schedule that normally requires nighttime sleep, attempts to sleep during daytime result in shorter and less restful sleep periods as compared to nighttime sleep 
-- Lack of sufficient sleep from day-to-day and week-to-week results in cumulative sleep deprivation, or sleep debt, that can only be overcome through extended periods of off-duty time for rest and recovery... 


* California - Tougher regulations affect trucking industry

Fresno,CAL,USA -KFSN-TV/DT/ABC 30 -June 20, 2013: -- Truckers in California are trying to deal with the effects of tougher regulations... Six months ago, California started requiring refrigerated trucks to have engines that date back no further than seven years. Truckers say with the new rules, there are a lot fewer vehicles working in California because many don't meet the standards... Another worry is a new federal rule that goes into effect next month. That increases the number of hours trucks must rest before hitting the road. They say being forced to sleep more, might cost them hours or even days on arrival...


* California - High Court throws out parts of L.A.’s Clean Truck Program 

Sacramento,CAL,USA -City News Service/EGP News, by Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou -June 20, 2013: -- The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down part of a program aimed at cutting pollution generated by trucks at the Los Angeles port... Port officials can still ban dirty trucks, forcing trucking companies to switch to cleaner vehicles, as part of their 2008 clean truck program, but according to the June 13 ruling, they cannot make the companies display “how am I doing?” placards in their trucks and to provide a list of places they park vehicles that are not in service... The justices ruled that federal law pre-empts the port from enforcing those two requirements, part of a host of “concession agreements” under the 2008 program... Marine terminal operators face misdemeanor charges and could be fined up to $500 or sentenced to six months in prison if they let in trucks from companies that fail to comply with those agreements. Truck companies could also lose their license to operate at the port if they do not take “corrective action” ... The two requirements the Supreme Court overturned were part of five concession agreements originally challenged by the truck association. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had agreed with ATA that trucking companies should be able to hire truck drivers as independent contracts rather than as employees, but struck down challenges to two other requirements that the companies show their financial ability to comply with the clean truck program and submit clean truck maintenance plans. The port decided not to pursue keeping the driver employment requirement, which environmental and labor groups had argued was necessary because drivers operating as independent contractors were not paid enough by trucking companies to upgrade and maintain their vehicles on their own...

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