ATA President Bill Graves said Friday that he expects a court’s 90-day stay will give federal regulators enough time to issue an interim final rule maintaining an 11-hour limit for truck drivers’ hours of service, the Associated Press reported.
Safety groups sued to reduce the amount of time drivers can stay behind the wheel continuously ATA countered that safety actually improved last year under the existing rule, AP said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last month delayed until late December a requirement that would reduce truckers’ hours by one hour, AP reported.
The group Public Citizen — which has sued over the rule before — opposed any stays, arguing that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration used the same tactic two years ago to maintain the old requirements.
If the administration issues a final rule inconsistent with the court order, Public Citizen would pursue further legal action, the group’s president, Joan Claybrook, told the AP Friday.
FMCSA is planning to issue guidance prior to the Dec. 27 deadline, but no final decisions have been made, an agency spokeswoman said, AP reported.
The agency and ATA last month separately requested the court issue longer stays of its decision that the daily driving limit be cut to 10 hours for long-haul truckers followed by eight hours of rest. Under the 11-hour driving limit, truckers are required to rest for 10 hours.
(Click here for previous coverage.)
