A U.S. Senate subcommittee will hear testimony Dec. 12 on the soon-to-be-published Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim final rule on hours of service.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., chairman of the surface transportation subcommittee, will hear testimony on the rule and related matters from FMCSA, truck safety advocates and the trucking industry.
In July, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling vacated key aspects of the 2005 hours rule, sending it back to FMCSA for more work.
The American Trucking Associations has announced it will be represented at the hearing by Richard Reiser, Werner Enterprises executive vice president and general counsel. ATA supports keeping the rule’s 11- and 34-hour provisions and maintains trucking has had a better safety record since they were instituted.
When the court decision was announced this summer, Lautenberg supported changes to the current hours rule.
“Today’s appellate court decision speaks volumes about the failures of the Bush administration to protect motorists from fatigued truck drivers,” he said at the time. “For the Department of Transportation to spend years working to allow trucks on the road for more than 10 hours at a time is simply unconscionable.”
Earlier this year, Lautenberg held a hearing on driver fatigue and the use of electronic onboard recorders to enforce the hours of service.
