A Senate amendment introduced this week would stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from implementing its plan to revise the federal hours-of-service rule.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) filed the amendment in a funding bill that would require that “none of the funds made available under this heading may be used to finalize, enforce, or implement the Hours of Service regulations” proposed by FMCSA late last year, the amendment states.
American Trucking Associations last month asked the Obama administration to keep the current hours-of-service rules in place, citing the trucking industry’s safety record.
The funding bill the amendment was attached to would provide money for transportation and housing programs for the Department of Transportaton and other agencies for 2012.
“This is yet another heavy-handed federal regulation that would disrupt business operations and increase costs for the trucking industry and consumers, and New Hampshire’s truckers are rightfully concerned about the impact of these changes,” said Ayotte, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
“My amendment would prevent [FMCSA] from implementing these rules which, by DOT’s own admission, are cost-prohibitive and whose impact on safety is unclear,” she said in a statement.
House Republican leaders John Boehner (Ohio) and Eric Cantor (Va.) earlier this month asked the Obama administration to withdraw the proposed hours-of-service rule.
