Senators join fight to reform of hours of service

Pressure continues to mount on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reform the hours-of-service regulation.

The latest support for increasing flexibility within the hours of service regulations came in the form of a letter from 30 U.S. senators. The bipartisan letter, spearheaded by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., calls on FMCSA to improve the regulations and address the issues within HOS for all drivers, in all segments of the industry.

“We write to express our support for greater flexibility within hour-of-service regulations for commercial motor vehicle drivers,” the letter states.

“In recent months, it has become more apparent that HOS rules do not provide the appropriate level of flexibility for the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles.”

The letter follows efforts at both the congressional and agency level to revamp the hours of service regulation.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association kicked off efforts to retool the current regulation in February, when it submitted a petition for rulemaking to FMCSA.

OOIDA’s petition targets the 14-hour on-duty clock and the 30-minute rest break. The Association asks the agency to consider a revision to the inability of drivers to stop the 14-hour clock.

The petition suggests the regulations be modified to allow drivers to take a rest break once per 14-hour duty period for up to three consecutive hours as long as the driver is off-duty.

“This rest break would effectively stop the 14-hour clock. However, drivers would still need to log 10 consecutive hours off duty before the start of their next work shift,” the petition states.

That petition for rulemaking was followed up by a bill calling for HOS reform, HR5417, the Responsible and Effective Standards for Truckers Act or the REST Act, introduced by Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas in March.

HR5417 aims to change the hours-of-service regulations to allow drivers to pause the 14-hour on-duty clock for up to three hours once per duty period. It also eliminates the mandatory 30-minute rest break. The bill does not seek to increase the number of hours drivers can be behind the wheel.

“The current hours-of-service requirements have not resulted in statistical improvements to highway safety. Rather than decrease, the total number of crashes involving large trucks as well as fatal crashes involving large trucks, has increased since the introduction of the current hours-of-service requirements,” the bill language states.

“Greater flexibility in hours-of-service requirements would better allow professional drivers to rest when they feel it appropriate and avoid congestion, adverse weather conditions, or other road conditions that decrease safety.”

The bill currently has 15 cosponsors, and OOIDA has encouraged members to encourage their lawmakers to sign on in support.

OOIDA President Todd Spencer continues to stress the need to move on hours-of-service reform because drivers are the ones suffering.

“The current regulations force drivers to be on the road when they are tired or fatigued, during busy travel times and adverse weather and road conditions, or when they simply aren’t feeling well,” Spencer said.

In short, OOIDA and its members view current HOS regulations as forcing truckers to comply with a regulatory framework that jeopardizes their safety and the safety of the traveling public.

“Truck drivers’ schedules are at the mercy of shippers, receivers, weather, congestion and other obstacles to operate safely,” Spencer said. “We are in a situation where we have never had more regulations and greater enforcement and compliance with those regulations. Yet, crash numbers are going in the wrong direction. It’s time for a new approach.”