Emergency declaration raises questions about increased HOS flexibility

If America’s truck drivers have safely delivered relief loads under an emergency declaration waiver for more than two years, then why are strict hours-of-service regulations needed?

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., posed that question to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a House committee hearing on Tuesday, July 19.

Starting in March 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provided regulatory relief from some of the hours-of-service regulations to truckers who were hauling emergency freight, such as livestock, medical supplies, vaccines, cleaning supplies, groceries needed for emergency restocking and fuel.

The emergency declaration was first issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the latest version of the declaration runs through the end of August – nearly two-and-a-half years later.

“Do you feel as though that you are endangering the lives of any American on the roadway with the hours-of-service waivers that are being given to truckers hauling something related to COVID, or Clorox wipes, or automobile parts?” Mast asked.

“I think the waivers are justified or we wouldn’t enact them,” Buttigieg said. “I think that over time we’re going to learn from the data what affect looking back the waivers have had. But, of course, if we didn’t believe they were a responsible way to strike the balance, then we wouldn’t use them.”

Mast noted that a truck driver carrying freight on the emergency list does not have any more qualifications than a driver hauling non-emergency freight.

“I think you and I could agree that a trucker is not a safer driver because they are carrying Frosted Flakes, which might be on the waiver list, versus laundry detergent,” Mast said about the emergency declaration.

The congressman then pushed for all truckers to receive the flexibility that has been granted under the declaration.

“Let’s make it permanent and extend those protocols to truckers that are carrying anything,” Mast said. “They shouldn’t have to go through the red tape of determining whether they are carrying Frosted Flakes or laundry detergent.”

Although Buttigieg said he believes truckers have safely delivered emergency freight, he fell short of saying that all trucks on the highway should receive a waiver.

“So I think the response to that is the difference in believing that something is a responsible balance and believing that something has no safety impact at all,” Buttigieg said. “I think we’re agreed that it was the responsible way to strike a balance, especially in response to a crisis that has claimed the lives of a million Americans. I would want to see more data to suggesting that there was no safety impact at all before I could endorse your conclusion.”

Buttigieg, however, said that he would review the data to see if more flexibility is appropriate. LL