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Feb 17, 2016

TRUCKERS' HOS * USA: Highway bill restart 'suspension' needs a redo

* DC - DOT, trucking groups look to close 'troubling' loophole in HOS created by FAST Act
-- Congress didn’t just roll back the restart provision of the hours of the service (HOS) rule; language in the recently passed highway bill could eliminate it altogether. But truckers are being urged to carry on business as usual until a resolution to the apparent new loophole in HOS can be worked out... Basically, because the Department of Transportation has interpreted that the restart clause in the FAST Act appropriation package “contains no language to direct our industry on a restart provision, then there is no restart provision to abide by,” according to an “urgent” notification emailed late Saturday by the Truckload Carriers Assn. to its members... At issue are the “bolt-on” provisions to the HOS restart (the two consecutive 1-5 am off-duty periods and the 168 hour restriction) added by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to the 2013 overhaul of HOS. ATA had lobbied successfully in the spring of 2014 that the “bolt-ons” actually had an adverse impact on safety and productivity by forcing trucks onto the road at peak morning traffic hours. The resulting suspension and rollback to the pre-2013 restart, included by Congress in the DOT’s 2015 budget, also called on FMCSA to produce a study comparing the effectiveness of the two systems... However, because the study had not been completed by the end of the fiscal year, Congress continued the suspension with language in the highway bill. But, by DOT’s interpretation of the recent legislation, if the study finds the 2013 changes do not meet the standards set by Congress, “the entire restart provision would have to be vacated,” according to the ATA summary... 
Washington, DC, USA - Fleet Owner, by Kevin Jones - Feb 15, 2016


* DC - FAA bill with trucking hours and pay implications advances

-- A bill that would prevent states from requiring truckers and their employers to comply with state laws regulating hours of service, such as meal or rest break requirements, has been approved by the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The bill would also, if enacted, throw cold water on state-level initiated driver pay reform... The Aviation, Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization Act bill, which deals almost entirely with aviation policy and funding, cleared the T&I Committee by a narrow 32-26 margin, paving the way for the bill to be taken up by the full House... 

 The trucking-relevant clauses would: 
(1) Block states from requiring drivers to take meal and rest breaks, if such a law is on the books at the state level, 
(2) Exempt carriers from penalties for not requiring drivers to take state-law-required breaks and
(3) Allow carriers, as employers, to skirt any state laws requiring drivers be paid “separate or additional compensation” beyond mileage or other base pay... 

 Carriers would still be allowed to provide other compensation, such as detention time or other initiatives, but they wouldn’t be required to if state law dictated such measures...
Washington, DC, USA - Overdrive, by James Jaillet - February 12, 2016

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