hours of service News Updates

Governors in 10 states hard hit by Hurricane Irene and Missouri River flooding have temporarily waived hours-of-service rules — and in some cases fuel taxes and special size and weight permits — for trucks hauling relief supplies.

American Trucking Associations has sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget asking that current truck driver hours-of-service rules remain in place, citing the trucking industry’s strong safety record.

The Virginia Trucking Association recently warned carriers to read the fine print when they agree to participate in federally funded university studies, claiming that researchers used motor carrier data from a 2009 distracted-driving study in a subsequent study to support a pending hours-of-service rule.

These dunderheads in Washington, D.C., need a check-up from the neck up. How about mandating minimum rates coming out of the ports so the drayage operators can afford to buy newer trucks without federal funds? That’s a good way to save a few million dollars on the deficit, don’t you think?

This never-ending hours-of-service regulatory process reminds me of a quip from a John Wayne movie: “We’re burnin’ daylight.” Trucks continue to roll down our nation’s highways, with drivers more confused than ever on pending legislation.

Proposed changes to the federal hours-of-service rule are unwarranted and would harm small businesses nationwide, a trucking executive told a Congressional panel Tuesday.

Now that the comment period on the latest twist in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s long, drawn-out trek to a permanent hours-of-service rule has expired, it’s time for the agency to reaffirm its support for the very successful regulation that already exists.

BALTIMORE — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expects to complete work on hours-of-service rule revisions by late October, three months later than its original target date, according to Administrator Anne Ferro. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is reopening its hours-of-service proposed rule to public comments in order to allow review of four new studies.