OTA Dispatch Issue 3, 2020

Issue 3 | 2020 www.ortrucking.org 9 ourselves. And most amusing to me is the fact that often the loudest voices clamoring for regulation belong to people that have never been near a truck or spoken to a truck driver. Let’s be honest. When a truck collides with an automobile or bicyclist, the laws of physics usually dictate that the truck wins. Grief stricken families of victims understandably want to do something (anything) to respond to their loss and oftentimes enlist the services of an attorney, a lobbyist, the media, and/or friends and relatives to garner the attention of elected officials to stir in them the notion that something must be done to regulate the trucking industry so that this tragedy is not repeated. All these efforts are no doubt well intended but they also have been generally uninformed and/or grossly subject to supposition, incessant debate, and unsubstantiated opinion. In the decades following 1937, this indeed has taken shape as the never- ending song written in an infinite loop motif in a march style that flows in cyclical fashion repeating the same verse over and over. And so, it is today that we find ourselves on the cusp of a once again contested revision to the driver hours of service rules. What is the current fuss all about? Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a final rule in May. It is designed to ease HOS rule compliance and takes effect September 29, 2020. While safety advocates have concerns, trucking industry groups applaud the new rules. In 2018, FMCSA asked for public comment on portions of the rule. Last August, the agency published a detailed proposed rule that received almost 3,000 public comments. The draft rule drew mixed reactions. A coalition of safety advocacy groups addressed concerns about the new rule with the FMCSA. Petitions for Reconsideration of the final rule had to be submitted to the FMCSA Administrator no later than July 1. A petition filed by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, Parents Against Tired Truckers, the Truck Safety Coalition, and the Teamsters requests a stay of the September 29 effective date of the final rule until the FMCSA administrator can further review the petition. The coalition of safety advocates argued, “The final rule is not in the public interest and does not meet the agency’s statutory mission in carrying out its duties to assign and maintain safety as the highest priority. The Agency had failed to address the significant risk to public safety posed by fatigued drivers of commercial motor vehicles at a time when large truck crashes continue to increase.” On the flip side, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said, “The Department of Transportation and the Trump Administration listened directly to the concerns of truckers seeking rules that are safer and have more flexibility— and we have acted.” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear observed that, “This regulation, which, while maintaining the core limitations on drivers’ work and rest cycles, makes smart changes to portions of the rules.” What do those “smart changes” include? ` The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) renewed a five- year exemption, through 2023, from compliance with the 30-minutes rest break requirement in the rule. It applies to qualifying oversize/overweight (OS/ OW) motor carriers and drivers operating mobile cranes with a rated lifting capacity of greater than 30 tons. ` The new HOS rule expands the short- haul exception to 150 air-miles and allows a 14-hour work shift to take place as part of the exception. The short-haul exception previously specified that drivers could operate only within a 100 air-mile radius and work 12-hour shifts. ` The rule expands the driving window during adverse driving conditions by up to an additional two hours. Though it still allows only 12 hours of driving, the rule increases the driving window from 14 to 16 hours for property carriers and 17 hours for passenger carriers under adverse driving conditions. ` The HOS rule requires a 30-minute break after eight hours of driving time instead of on-duty time and allows an on-duty/not driving period to qualify as the required break. The current rule reads that drivers are off-duty during their break and must take a break after being on-duty for eight hours, regardless of their time spent driving. A driver not actively driving for at least 30 minutes counts as the required break. ` The revision modifies the sleeper berth exception to allow a driver to meet the 10-hour minimum off-duty requirement by spending at least seven, rather than at least eight hours of that period in the berth. It also specifies a minimum off-duty period of at least two hours spent inside or outside of the berth, provided the two periods total at least 10 hours, and that neither qualifying period counts against the 14-hour driving window. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced the final rule and said FMCSA’s rule “modernizing” hours of service regulations is estimated to provide nearly $274 million in annualized cost savings for the U.S. economy and American consumers. “The trucking industry is a key component of the national economy, employing more than seven million people and moving 70 percent of the nation’s domestic freight,” she said. Despite those assurances from Chao, the Teamster Union and safety advocacy groups have petitioned FMCSA to reconsider the rule saying it does not adequately address driver fatigue. This is the song that doesn’t end. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue singing it forever just because... And so it goes. My suggestion is we all should call Secretary Chao’s office and express our support for the Agency final rule. DOT Customer Service Center: 202.366.4000