Many Questions Remain Unanswered
FMCSA is still struggling with implementation of the new rules.
Oliver B.Patton
Washington Editor
Putting the hours of service rule into effect has been a bigger job than federal safety officials anticipated.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration figured that nine months — from April, 2003, when the rule was posted, until January 2004 — was plenty of time to plug in the new rule, said agency administrator Annette Sandberg.
"But it has been a full court press just trying to get to the group that we regulate, much less the ancillary groups (such as shippers). It took a fair amount of time just to deal with the petitions this summer, and we really couldn't start answering the questions until we dealt with the petitions," Sandberg said in an interview with HDT (See Washington Report page 12).
The agency was still answering questions as the Jan. 4 deadline bore down. Last month it explained how it will enforce the sleeper berth, restart and out-of-service provisions of the rule — issues that have generated considerable confusion in the trucking and enforcement communities (See sidebar). But even these clarifications are subject to change.
American Trucking Assns. has petitioned the agency for an amendment to the sleeper berth provisions, a petition that the safety agency said raises "genuine issues in need of resolution" (See page 39).
The agency has not said when it will address the ATA petition. The timing is likely to be affected, however, by a legal battle that is now under way. A coalition of safety groups — Public Citizen, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and Parents Against Tired Truckers — has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the rule.
Meanwhile, FMCSA has raised eyebrows in the enforcement community with its interpretation of the provision covering out-of-service time when a driver has violated the 11- or 14-hour rules in a sleeper berth operation (item 4 in sidebar).
In its interpretation, the agency said the new rule is not intended to change current practices, but Stephen Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said that is exactly what the new rule does.
"We are concerned because (the interpretation) is a departure from the initial, agreed-upon understanding," Campbell said. The agency has backed away from a strict construction of the provision, and consequently may have to go back and revise the rule, he said.
CVSA, which represents U.S., Canadian and Mexican enforcement officials, and trucking companies, has had to alter its training curriculum to accommodate the change, Campbell said.
Another area of concern is state enforcement of the rule. Due to legislative schedules, not all states have brought their statutes into compliance with the new rule, and trucking companies are concerned that this may lead to gaps in enforcement.
As HDT went to press, the agency was preparing a policy memorandum on this issue. "We just want to make it real clear to everybody what the standard will be," said administrator Sandberg.
Sandberg is aware that the rule will affect the relationship between carriers and shippers.
"Some in the shipping world say, we don't care, but I think we have a responsibility . . . to get shippers to understand the impact it is having on truckers," she said.
"What used to be a potential break time for a driver who rolls up to a loading dock and has to sit for two or three hours is, now time on their clock. That will cut down the availability of that driver for that period of time, so we do need to get out to the shipping community and have them understand the rules and why we put them in place."
She said that while the agency does not have a program for outreach to shippers, she and other senior officials are visiting shipper groups.
Sandberg said she opposes a move by utility companies to win a legislative exemption from the hours of service rule. Utilities have managed to insert a provision in the DOT appropriations bill that would prohibit any expenditures to implement the rule on their service trucks. The bill is awaiting final action.
"When we've been asked by members of Congress, we have said that we don't believe there needs to be a blanket exemption on utilities," Sandberg said. "I'm very concerned from a safety standpoint, of a blanket exemption, because again, fatigue is attributed to long days and time on task, and most of those folks aren't just driving. They are doing other types of work and getting behind the wheel and driving."
Hours of Service continued...
