The pre-2013 34-hour restart rule is now in effect. On Tuesday President Obama signed the 2015 appropriations bill, which contains a provision suspending the more restrictive restart that went into effect as part of the hours of service rules enacted in July 2013.
December 17, 2014
American Trucking Associations won its fight against the 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service rule. On Saturday night the Senate passed and sent to President Obama a bill that replaces the controversial restart with an earlier, less restrictive, version while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does more research on the issue.
December 14, 2014
Trucking interests are close to victory in their fight to suspend the current 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service rule. The appropriations bill negotiated by the Senate and House will cut off funding for enforcement of the restart while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration studies its impact.
December 10, 2014
Few truck drivers feel they are harassed by their employers or shippers, and drivers who use electronic logs experience no more harassment than those who use paper logs. Those are the key findings of a survey by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
November 13, 2014
The fight over the 34-hour restart broke out again Thursday. A safety advocacy group released research indicating that the public does not want truck drivers to work longer hours, and trucking groups jumped in.
October 17, 2014
A Senate hearing on truck safety was dominated by the ongoing struggle over the 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service rule. Anne Ferro, in what was probably her last congressional testimony before she steps down as chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, defended the restart.
July 30, 2014
The American Trucking Associations is trying to get Congress to cut off funding for the restart provision of the hours of service rule -- a maneuver that has provoked a sharp response from Anne Ferro, chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and concern among some carriers and the enforcement community.
May 21, 2014
Transportation leaders in the House are asking the Government Accountability Office to review two studies used by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in its hours of service rule.
April 2, 2014
The clock has started for comments on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed electronic log mandate. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register Friday March 28, starting a two-month period when the agency will accept comments.
March 27, 2014
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed electronic log mandate, unveiled Thursday, takes on a broad range of issues that have dogged the 15-year effort to draft a rule. HDT's Oliver Patton reports on what's in the 256-page proposal that would require drivers who fill out paper logs to eventually switch to electronic logging devices, or ELDs.
March 13, 2014
The Department of Transportation is worried that states will start slowing their highway and transit programs even before this summer when the Highway Trust Fund is slated to start running out of money.
March 12, 2014
A field test of the 34-hour restart provision of the new hours of service rule shows that the restrictions improve safety. The test found that the provision, which requires drivers to take two successive periods off between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. during their once-a-week restart, is more effective at combating fatigue than the earlier rule, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
January 30, 2014
UPDATED (2) -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working on a field test of alternatives to the current sleeper berth rule.
December 20, 2013
A trio of House legislators introduced a bill that would suspend the 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service rule, pending an assessment by the Government Accountability Office.
October 31, 2013
UPDATED--The ready-mix concrete industry is asking for an exemption from the 30-minute break requirement in the new hours-of-service rule.
August 20, 2013