Rep. Hanna Urges U.S. Transportation Chief to Ensure Fair HOS Study

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) recently urged Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to make sure a study of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rule consists of drivers who are representative of the industry.

“It is my understanding that current driver recruitment efforts are focusing on drivers who routinely work between 60 to 70 hours per week and who typically work at night,” Hanna wrote the secretary on April 2. “This small subsect of truck drivers is not representative of drivers who use the restart provision and not representative of drivers who have been impacted by the July 2013 restart restrictions. … More typical truck drivers must be included in the research.”

The New York Republican, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also called on the secretary to ensure the study includes comparative data on safety critical events such as crashes, near crashes and crash-relevant conflicts that happen during the rush hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Additionally, Hanna asked that the Committee on Truck and Bus Safety of the National Academies Transportation Research Board collaborate with relevant congressional committees to select a peer review team for the study. He also took issue with the department’s choice to select the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute for the study, noting that the institute had conducted a “highly criticized” hours-of-service study in 2011.

Earlier this year, FMCSA contracted VTTI to study the recently suspended 34-hour restart rule. Researchers at VTTI say they are seeking about 250 truck drivers to participate in a study.

Responding to industry concerns that the rule was forcing several drives to operate during heavily congested daytime hours, Congress in December required the agency to review the rule’s effect on safety and driver alertness. A fiscal 2015 funding law suspended through Sept. 30 enforcement regarding the restart of a driver’s 60- or 70-hour limit that were required as of July 2013. Truckers, however, still have to adhere to pre-July 2013 hours of service regulations.