U.S. House and Senate conferees have agreed to compromise legislation that prohibits the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from issuing a final rule on its controversial trucker hours of service proposal for another year.
The safety agency, however, will be able to continue working on the proposal.

The agreement is contained in the federal transportation appropriations bill for the 2001 fiscal year. It would allow the FMCSA to review its proposal and possibly issue a supplemental rule, but implementation of a new rule would be delayed until October 1, 2001.
According to published reports, the legislation is expected to receive the president's signature, once it passes a final vote in both the House and Senate this week.
The American Trucking Associations, which backed the Senate bill cutting off funding for work on the proposal to succeed at all, praised the compromise. "This is good news for the American motoring public, our motor carriers and their professional truck drivers who work hard every day to make our highways safer," said Walter B. McCormick, Jr., ATA President and CEO. "This flawed DOT plan would have forced at least 100,000 more trucks on the nation's highways during daylight hours and put less-experienced drivers behind the wheel."
Stay tuned for more information on the details of the compromise.