Truck drivers will continue to be able to drive 11 hours within a 14-hour duty period and use the 34-hour restart under an Interim Final Rule made public Tuesday
by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The agency issued the new hours of service rule in response to a July decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacating the two key provisions, effective Dec. 27. In order to ensure no gap in coverage, the IFR temporarily reinstates those two provisions while the agency gathers public comment on its actions and the underlying safety analysis before issuing a final rule.
In July, the court remanded the Hours of Service rules to FMCSA, ruling that the agency must provide better explanations of its justifications for adopting the 11-hour drive time and 34-hour restart provisions of the rule.
The IFR was developed, the FMCSA said, after new data showed that safety levels have been maintained since the 11-hour driving limit was implemented in 2003.
The agency noted that, in 2006, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 1.94 - the lowest rate ever recorded. Similarly, since 2003, the percentage of large trucks involved in fatigue-related fatal crashes in the 11th hour of driving has remained below the average of the years 1991-2002. In 2005 alone, the agency said, there was only one large truck involved in a fatigue-related fatal crash in the 11th hour of driving. In 2004 there were none.
Meanwhile, consumer advocates, who sued to reduce the amount of time truckers can stay behind the wheel, said the FMCSA continues to fail to improve truck safety, putting motorists and the public at risk.
"FMCSA is continuing the sweatshop conditions for truck drivers rolling down our highways, which endangers Americans all over the country," Joan Claybrook, president of Washington-based consumer watchdog Public Citizen, said in a statement.
Public Citizen opposed any stays, arguing that the FMCSA used the same tactic two years ago to maintain the old requirements. If the administration ultimately issues a final rule inconsistent with the court order, the group will pursue further legal action, Claybrook said.
Jim Hoffa, the Teamsters union general president, said in a statement, "It's clear the Bush administration has more loyalty to its corporate supporters than to the men and women who actually drive on our roads."
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety President Adrian Lund said the FMCSA "still believes the way to address the problem of fatigued drivers behind the wheels of big truck rigs is to allow them to drive even more hours than past rules allowed. This is contrary to what the appeals court told the agency, not once but twice, and it's contrary to what's rational."
But the FMCSA said all rules are based first on safety, and that despite "allegations and innuendoes that the rule is not safe," the data show it is.
American Trucking Associations President and Chief Executive Bill Graves said his association welcomes the new rule on hours of service, claiming the rule retains the key components of the 2004 rule. "In just four years it has led to significant decreases in the number of fatal large truck crashes, the fatal large truck crash rate, the number of injuries from truck-involved crashes, and the injury crash rate," Graves said in a statement.
Also supporting the IFR was the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Rick Craig, OOIDA's director of Regulatory affairs, said, "We agree with the agency's decision and appreciate its efforts toward ensuring that professional truckers aren't hamstrung by regulations that limit their discretion and unnecessarily keep them on the road, tired or not."
For more information, go to www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2007/hos.pdf.