Watching the clock

An appeals court will soon decide whether two changes to the hours-of-service rules should remain in effect.

Prompted by a 2018 petition from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and thousands of comments from truck drivers and other industry stakeholders, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration updated the hours-of-service regulations with four major changes.

The short-haul operations provision increased the on-duty limits from 12 to 14 hours and from 100 air-miles to 150. The 30-minute break provision was modified to allow on-duty, nondriving events, such as fueling or inspecting the load, to meet the requirement. The update also included changes to the adverse driving provision and split-sleeper options. All of those changes took effect in September 2020.

However, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and several safety groups argue that the changes in the hours of service to short-haul operations and the 30-minute break negatively affect safety and were made without justification. FMCSA and OOIDA, which is serving as an intervenor in the case, contend that the rule changes provide truck drivers more flexibility and were based on extensive research and more than 8,000 comments.

On April 25, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit listened to oral arguments from attorneys representing the petitioners, FMCSA and OOIDA. The three-judge panel is expected to make a decision in the coming months, but there is no clear timetable for a ruling.

30-minute rest break

The changes to the rest break requirement allow truckers to take their break while on duty as long as they aren’t driving. Under the new hours of service rule, truckers must take a 30-minute break before exceeding eight hours of continuous driving.

Attorneys for the Teamsters and safety groups argue that the changes could allow a driver to work the entire 14-hour driving window without taking a single off-duty break to rest.

“FMCSA states that it does not expect the changes to the 30-minute break requirement to adversely affect safety,” the petitioners wrote in its court brief. “And although it does not directly discuss the health effect of the 30-minute break requirement, it states generally that it has concluded that the final rule’s changes are health-neutral. FMCSA’s determination on safety and health once again fail to meet the requirements of reasoned decision making.”

During oral arguments, one of the three judges asked FMCSA attorney Brian Springer about the possibility of the new rule allowing a trucker be stopped with nondriving tasks for the first six hours and then to drive eight consecutive hours without stopping.

“The agency found that drivers are likely to take breaks when they need rest anyway,” Springer said. “The drivers are often stopping to get food and use the bathroom. When they need time to rest and take a break, they will do so.”

Springer also cited a study indicating that any break from the driving task is what benefits the driver.

Paul Cullen Jr., an attorney representing OOIDA, took it a step further by telling the court that the change to the rest break provision was prompted by the dangers caused by the previous rule.

“FMCSA’s rule was more than rationally based to deal with two negative safety consequences of the prior rule that were described in comments, studies and in testimony from drivers at listening sessions,” Cullen said. “One, drivers were being forced to stop in unsafe locations to comply with the rule, and the second was that the rule extended the workday, causing more stress and pressure to complete their work.”

Cullen said the lack of truck parking across the nation often forced truck drivers to stop for 30 minutes on the shoulder of a highway or an exit ramp to avoid violating the regulation. He added that the search for truck parking could eat up to 90 minutes of a trucker’s day.

The old rule took control away from the driver and made them stop for the break regardless of whether it would position them to drive through bad weather conditions or through rush-hour traffic.

“The rule often required drivers to stop when they weren’t tired,” Cullen said. “Because they stop when they’re not tired and that (time) is taken out of their schedule, they have less discretion to stop at a later time when they are tired. This new rule is a little less one-size-fits-all than the old rule, giving the driver more flexibility to drive when they can and rest when they need to.”

Short haul

Regarding the short-haul provision, petitioners say FMCSA failed to account for the risks of driving later in the duty day.

The agency argues that scientific evidence was weighed in making the incremental changes to the hours of service.

FMCSA said it did not expect any adverse effect on safety, because the short-haul rule doesn’t allow additional drive time during the work day.

Judge Gregory G. Katsas noted that the change to 14 hours now matches the number of hours for long-haul drivers.

Safety concerns?

Although the new rules have been in effect for more than a year and a half, the petitioners did not cite any incidents related to the changes.

OOIDA President Todd Spencer said he is hopeful the court listened to the perspective of the truck driver and sees that the previous rest break rule made a trucker’s work day more difficult and less safe.

“I am hopeful the court recognized the distinction between breaks from driving, which drivers have many of to break up their driving, and the requirement for a flat 30 minutes off,” Spencer said. “Any nondriving activity can provide a break. As implemented, the 30-minute break requirement simply makes a driver’s work day longer than needed.” LL