FMCSA Is Working on Restart Study, Foxx Says

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will release its study of the 34-hour restart rule when it has finished its analysis and review of the data, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a letter to Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y.

Hanna and several of his colleagues have been pressing the agency for a date certain when the study will be done.

“At this time I cannot predict the date on which the full report will be completed and submitted to Congress, but I assure you that we are working as expeditiously as possible,” Foxx said in a September 18 reply to Hanna.

His letter was released by Hanna’s office.

He said the agency has gathered the data it needs and now is in the last stages of analysis. This work will then be peer-reviewed, Foxx said.

The study was mandated in last year’s highway bill at the request of American Trucking Associations, which objects to the provision requiring drivers to take off two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. during their 34-hour restart.

Earlier this week it was discovered FMCSA would not have the study ready by the September 30 deadline set by Congress.