March 11, 2005 2:00 PM, EST

ATA Supports Keeping HOS Rules ‘Essentially Intact’

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merican Trucking Associations said in a filing with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that current driver hours-of-service regulations “should remain essentially intact.”

TA said in its Thursday filing that it supports the rules, which were enacted in January 2004, with the exception of improvements it recommended in the use of sleeper berths.

In a docket filing with the agency, which is part of the Transportation Department, ATA said it “believe[s] the new rules are superior to the old rules from the perspective of overall safety.”

In its comments the group included technical information from the American Transportation Research Institute, part of the ATA foundation.

Meanwhile, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report released Friday showed that drivers were spending more time behind the wheel than the HOS rules allow.

Some truckers are using the rule’s restart provision to squeeze more hours into their work days, IIHS said in a statement.

Current HOS rules allow 11 hours of driving in a 14 consecutive-hour period, while the previous ones allowed 10 hours of driving in a 15-hour work period, though drivers could log “off-duty” time not counted against the 15 hours.