Hours Proposal Cleared by OMB

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's hours of service proposal was cleared by the Office of Management and Budget on Friday, which means that it is on track to be published before the end of the year as the agency expects.

Trucking interests are anxious about the proposal on two counts. They are alarmed by the possibility that the proposal might significantly change drivers' work schedules, and they are worried about FMCSA's ability to process the voluminous comments it will no doubt receive and come up with a final rule by the court-ordered deadline of July 26, 2011.

American Trucking Associations has launched a website to coordinate an industry response to what expects will be a cutback in the 11-hour daily driving limit, an increase in the 34-hour restart provision and addition of at least one mandatory rest break during each shift. (The website is at www.safedriverhours.com.)

Whether or not the agency has made those changes will come clear when the proposal is published, possibly as soon as this week.