Transportation Secretary Chao reports HOS reform rulemaking heading to OMB

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said owner-operators and small-business truckers hoping for flexibility in hours of service should get some good news soon.

Chao made an appearance at the Mid-America Trucking Show in her hometown of Louisville, Ky., to announce that a notice of proposed rulemaking has been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. The proposal was sent to OMB on Thursday.

No timetable was provided on the review process, and Chao declined to give specific details about the nature of the proposed changes, citing the regulatory review process.

“You wanted flexibility. We listened. We asked for your participation, and you participated,” Chao said.

In August, FMCSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding possible changes to the hours of service. The agency hosted five public listening sessions, and a common response from OOIDA and truck drivers was that there needed to be more flexibility within the rules.

More than 5,200 comments were received on the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for hours of service reform. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association was one of two groups of truckers Chao credited by name when referring to those who had spearheaded the campaign for reform.

“It’s encouraging that the DOT has stayed true to their word and are moving quickly on hours of service reform,” said Lewie Pugh, OOIDA executive vice president. “Of course, we would like to have heard Secretary Chao say exactly what the hours of service is going to be, but that would have also been uncommon in this stage of the process.”

While hours of service was the biggest news, Chao also announced that the Transportation Department has identified funding for additional truck parking spaces. This announcement also drew rounds of applause from the attendees.

“When the DOT talks about funding being dedicated to parking, we hope it’s used to pour pavement and not just to do more studies of a problem that we all know has existed for way too long,” Pugh said.