Editorial: Stay the Hours-of-Service Ruling

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he government has asked the federal appeals court that overturned the new hours-of-service rules for truck drivers to stay its ruling while the Department of Transportation works to craft a replacement rule.

American Trucking Associations and several other trucking groups filed motions to support that request last week, warning of the dire consequences that could result if the rules are rescinded.

The court’s ruling was disappointing, especially since the new rules seem to be working, on many levels.

The new hours-of-service rules have encouraged shippers to load and unload trucks more quickly, allowing for increased productivity and better utilization of equipment, which have reduced the potential damage caused by a reduction in the allowable hours a driver may work.

And the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told the court last week that in the first six months the new rules were in effect, accident rates involving trucks had declined.

That lowered accident rate should encourage the court to let the new rules stand, pending a revision that meets the court’s demand for the rules to take into account their effect on driver health.

As ATA warned — in its joint filing representing the Distribution and LTL Carriers Association and the Truckload Carriers Association — any immediate change in work rules could cost the freight industry “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

And those costs would be in addition to the money spent to abide by whatever FMCSA finally implements in response to the court’s ruling.

he filing warned that “the instantaneous revival of the former HOS rules [if the court rejects the bid for a stay] would cause chaos and would diminish highway safety.”

The National Industrial Transportation League, the largest U.S. shippers’ group, also announced its support of a stay.

To show its good faith, FMCSA kicked off its campaign to meet the court’s mandate by publishing an “advance notice of proposed rulemaking” in the Federal Register last week, the first step in the process to create a revised rule.

FMCSA told the court that the studies and comment process would probably mean that a new rule wouldn’t be ready for formal review until well into 2005.

We urge the court to grant the requested stay, to ensure an orderly process that both meets the court’s mandate and ensures the continued efficient, and safe, flow of freight over America’s highways.

For the full story, see the Sept. 6 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.