A report commissioned by the American Moving and Storage Assn. found that the federal government's proposed hours of service regulations would cost the moving and storage industry an estimated $114 million a year.

The study, done by the National Economic Research Associates, projects that the bulk of the costs -- $72 million - will fall upon owner-operators, who would lose an average of 6% in productivity and $1,798 in earnings a year.
NERA projects that the average annual cost per carrier of the new rules could range from $16,000 to $29,000 to pay for more trucks and hiring and training new drivers and other costs.
NERA, which conducted a similar study for the American Trucking Associations, found that the proposed rule will cost AMSA members 31% more than the other sectors of the trucking industry.
"As we suspected, DOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have underestimated the costs and overestimated the benefits of this proposed rule," said AMSA President Joe Harrison. "The agency's numbers do not take into account the unique structure, operations, and low profit margins of the moving and storage industry."
AMSA, along with the Distribution and LTL Carriers Assn., is petitioning the U.S. Department of Transportation to retain an independent consulting firm to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of any revised or supplemental proposed hours of service rule. The DOT hired consulting firm Booz-Allen some 20 years ago to undertake a similar project before the agency issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the hours of service, says AMSA.