i n d u s t r y

Feds Outline Tentative Hours-Of-Service Changes

As the Federal Highway Administration was being blasted in Senate committee hearings for failing to revise hours-of-service regulations, the agency was apparently sending up a trial balloon on just that subject.
     On Sept. 16, the on-line edition of Transport Topics reported Paul L. Brennan, FHWA director of research and standards, had outlined a tentative hours-of-service proposal to an ATA-sponsored conference in Scottsdale, AZ. According to the industry weekly, Brennan described the possibility of a 14-hour work day followed by 10 hours off duty with no distinction between driving and other on-duty functions.
     Brennan reportedly said his agency is considering limits on night driving, perhaps a cap on the time logged between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. during a given period. He also suggested drivers might be required to take 32 hours — two sleep cycles — off after a week or two of work.
     Brennan said a notice of proposed rulemaking should be published within the next two months; a final rule should be in place within two years.
     His comments as reported drew immediate fire from both the industry and its critics.
     Lana Batts, president of the Truckload Carriers Assn., welcomed the 14-10 hour split, but expressed concern with the imposition of any “penalty” for night driving. “Let the driver pick the 14 hours to work. They prefer to sleep at night. That’s why the rest areas are so full during those hours,” said Batts.
     The ATA had no official comment on Brennan’s remarks, but industry critics voiced a number of concerns. Steve Izer of Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT) said, “Trucking companies will force or coerce drivers to drive 14 hours minimum and log any other time as sleep time, as is the case now.”
     Izer also questioned the choice of a conference “closed to anyone not in the ATA inner circle” as a venue for Brennan’s remarks.
     Meanwhile, Izer’s wife and PATT cofounder Daphne Izer was one of the speakers before the Senate Commerce Committee panel in Washington where she urged an end to mileage and trip pay. Speakers from the ATA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticized the FHWA for the delay in formulating new hours of service rules. The NTSB representative said his agency had recommended a new rule nine years ago.
     — John Bendel, Senior Editor