DOT Won't Release Hours Research

The Department of Transportation will not allow trucking and the public to see and comment on the scientific research on which it is basing the new hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers before a proposal is unveiled.

Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater replied to a petition from American Trucking Associations by saying that the research was already publicly available. He also said there had been, and will continue to be, ample opportunity for public comment and involvement in crafting regulations to replace the existing, 62-year-old hours of service rules.

Reforming the rules that govern truckers’ working hours is one of the biggest regulatory issues to hit the industry since deregulation, so trucking had wanted to see the science DOT was using to write its proposal. The refusal of that request should clear the way for the appearance of the long-awaited rulemaking.

ATA sent a petition to DOT Aug. 5 asking the agency to give the public the opportunity to review the research it was basing the new rules upon (8-9, p. 2).

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