Heures de conduite US.... "Trucking news: ATA asks DOT for a stay on recent HOS ruling"
Heures de conduite US....
From the pages of Logistics Management
Trucking news: ATA asks DOT for a stay on recent HOS ruling
Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- 8/2/2007
WASHINGTON—A ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week, which stated certain portions of the United States Government’s truck driver hours-of-service (HOS) rules and regulations are illegal, has the potential to make things more challenging for truck drivers and carriers and shippers alike, according to high-ranking officials of the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
The recent ruling overturned the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart period that have been in place since the current rules took effect on October 1, 2005. It also resets the HOS clock to 10 hours of maximum driving time each day.
In a letter sent earlier this week to Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, ATA president and CEO Bill Graves asked to push for a stay on the ruling, saying there is “no compelling reason” to eliminate the two provisions the court challenged.
Graves’ request for a stay asks for the U.S. Court of Appeals to keep the current rules governing truck drivers’ work and rest periods in place until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provides the court with explanations for two of the rules provisions. In its ruling last week, the court also said that the FMCSA violated procedural law when it drafted the rules. The new rules are scheduled to go into effect in mid-September, and the FMCSA is currently studying the ruling and has not indicated if it will appeal it.
“This ruling and other issues like the truck driver shortage and the whole issue of truck productivity—in a broad sense—impact our ability to have the capacity and the people and equipment to get the all the freight moved that needs to be moved,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves at a press conference yesterday.
And the HOS ruling, said Graves, raises the possibility of removing one-ninth of a percent of a productive driving day, which the industry needs to be concerned about. In his letter, Graves also cited how the DOT issued final truck-involved fatality figures for 2006—the first full year of the trucking industry operating under the new HOS rules—resulted in fatalities declining by 4.7%, which was the largest decline in 14 years. He added in the letter that if these rules are vacated in September it is likely that there will be “disruptions in the supply chain, our economy will suffer, and the highway safety implications become an unreasoned variable.”
But what needs to be remembered, added Graves, is that along with that additional hour of driving was a requirement for additional rest time—that dictated truck drivers sleep for one seven-to-eight-hour period out of their 10-hour off-duty/sleep time— was part of the rule.
“We think there is a justifiable case that can be made, and we hope we can work with the FMCSA and support their efforts to satisfy the court’s concerns,” said Graves.
When asked what the impact would be on trucking operations if the 11-hour driving rule and 34-hour restart provisions were actually vacated, Graves said ATA members told him “quite clearly” that their trucking operations will clearly have to change, because many members that have already changed elements of their operations because of HOS rules would now have to change operations again.
Potential effects of this change, he said, may be that carriers have to move drivers from one location to another, move facilities, re-engineer networks (on the LTL side), as well as costs, training, and contracts and service level ramifications as well.
On the service level side, the new HOS rules may put carriers in a position where they may not be able to meet certain contractual obligations.
“Not every driver or trucking company uses the 11th hour, and we understand we can only advocate and be in favor of what we justify and prove to be safe operating conditions and terms for our fleets,” said Graves.
Another component of the HOS regulations if the sleeper berth ruling for truck drivers. This rule dictates that truck drivers sleep for one seven-to-eight-hour period out of their 10-hour off-duty/sleep time. Drivers previously were allowed to split their sleep time into two periods, with the shorter period being at least two hours long. Remaining unchanged is a requirement that limits drivers to 14 hours of on-duty time in a 24-hour-period, including a maximum of 11 hours of driving time, following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Graves said the ATA plans to continue gathering data on that and myriad other trucking highway safety-related issues that will be used to help the ATA in its request a stay on the court’s decision.
ATA Vice President of Safety and Security Dave Osiecki noted that the ATA is conducting ongoing studies, and he is optimistic that it will be able to generate some new data and be able to critique some of the science that underlies the FMCSA’s decision and “ultimately succeed in bringing the sleeper berth issue back on the table and getting it reconsidered.”
From the pages of Logistics Management
Trucking news: ATA asks DOT for a stay on recent HOS ruling
Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- 8/2/2007
WASHINGTON—A ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week, which stated certain portions of the United States Government’s truck driver hours-of-service (HOS) rules and regulations are illegal, has the potential to make things more challenging for truck drivers and carriers and shippers alike, according to high-ranking officials of the American Trucking Associations (ATA).
The recent ruling overturned the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart period that have been in place since the current rules took effect on October 1, 2005. It also resets the HOS clock to 10 hours of maximum driving time each day.
In a letter sent earlier this week to Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, ATA president and CEO Bill Graves asked to push for a stay on the ruling, saying there is “no compelling reason” to eliminate the two provisions the court challenged.
Graves’ request for a stay asks for the U.S. Court of Appeals to keep the current rules governing truck drivers’ work and rest periods in place until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provides the court with explanations for two of the rules provisions. In its ruling last week, the court also said that the FMCSA violated procedural law when it drafted the rules. The new rules are scheduled to go into effect in mid-September, and the FMCSA is currently studying the ruling and has not indicated if it will appeal it.
“This ruling and other issues like the truck driver shortage and the whole issue of truck productivity—in a broad sense—impact our ability to have the capacity and the people and equipment to get the all the freight moved that needs to be moved,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves at a press conference yesterday.
And the HOS ruling, said Graves, raises the possibility of removing one-ninth of a percent of a productive driving day, which the industry needs to be concerned about. In his letter, Graves also cited how the DOT issued final truck-involved fatality figures for 2006—the first full year of the trucking industry operating under the new HOS rules—resulted in fatalities declining by 4.7%, which was the largest decline in 14 years. He added in the letter that if these rules are vacated in September it is likely that there will be “disruptions in the supply chain, our economy will suffer, and the highway safety implications become an unreasoned variable.”
But what needs to be remembered, added Graves, is that along with that additional hour of driving was a requirement for additional rest time—that dictated truck drivers sleep for one seven-to-eight-hour period out of their 10-hour off-duty/sleep time— was part of the rule.
“We think there is a justifiable case that can be made, and we hope we can work with the FMCSA and support their efforts to satisfy the court’s concerns,” said Graves.
When asked what the impact would be on trucking operations if the 11-hour driving rule and 34-hour restart provisions were actually vacated, Graves said ATA members told him “quite clearly” that their trucking operations will clearly have to change, because many members that have already changed elements of their operations because of HOS rules would now have to change operations again.
Potential effects of this change, he said, may be that carriers have to move drivers from one location to another, move facilities, re-engineer networks (on the LTL side), as well as costs, training, and contracts and service level ramifications as well.
On the service level side, the new HOS rules may put carriers in a position where they may not be able to meet certain contractual obligations.
“Not every driver or trucking company uses the 11th hour, and we understand we can only advocate and be in favor of what we justify and prove to be safe operating conditions and terms for our fleets,” said Graves.
Another component of the HOS regulations if the sleeper berth ruling for truck drivers. This rule dictates that truck drivers sleep for one seven-to-eight-hour period out of their 10-hour off-duty/sleep time. Drivers previously were allowed to split their sleep time into two periods, with the shorter period being at least two hours long. Remaining unchanged is a requirement that limits drivers to 14 hours of on-duty time in a 24-hour-period, including a maximum of 11 hours of driving time, following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Graves said the ATA plans to continue gathering data on that and myriad other trucking highway safety-related issues that will be used to help the ATA in its request a stay on the court’s decision.
ATA Vice President of Safety and Security Dave Osiecki noted that the ATA is conducting ongoing studies, and he is optimistic that it will be able to generate some new data and be able to critique some of the science that underlies the FMCSA’s decision and “ultimately succeed in bringing the sleeper berth issue back on the table and getting it reconsidered.”