I found the following. Has anyone else heard about this??
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has overturned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's hours-of-service rule that went into effect Jan. 4. The ruling, which favors of Public Citizen and other groups that sued to block the rule, vacates the rule and leaves big questions about the future of the regulations that govern the hours truckers work and rest.
"We agree with petitioners that the rulemaking was arbitrary and capricious, because the FMCSA failed to take account of a statutory limit on its authority," the court ruled. "We therefore grant the petition for review and vacate the rule."
The court has remanded the rule back to the agency.
FMCSA spokesman David Longo said he didn't know what the immediate impact of the ruling would be on the enforcement of the rule. "FMCSA is still in the process of reviewing the decision and will make a statement once that review is complete," he said.
It's not clear how the ruling will affect enforcement, said Richard Henderson, director of government affairs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the organization that represents and educates police groups that enforce the rule. He said he doesn't know
whether drivers will continue to operate under the new rule or revert back to the old rule.
FMCSA has several options: it can accept the ruling, appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask for the full circuit court to review it. Industry insiders said FMCSA has been considering scenarios for months, including what would happen if the new rule were vacated. The new rule is probably dead and will probably be replaced by the old rule until FMCSA can revise the regulations, the insiders speculated.
The appeals court issued the ruling July 16. According the ruling, "the agency failed to consider the impact of the rules on the health of drivers ... Because the agency has wholly failed to comply with this specific statutory requirement, this single objection from petitioners is sufficient to establish an arbitrary-and-capricious decision requiring vacatur of the rule."
“We’re ecstatic,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “This is a sweeping victory. The courts have finally told FMCSA that they have to put the health of drivers first. That’s always been their mission; they just haven’t carried it out.”
Claybrook noted that the ruling criticized "deficiencies of the rule” other than drivers' health. The court found troubling:
· Increasing driver time from 10 to 11 hours a day;
· Retaining the sleeper-berth exception;
· Not requiring electronic on-board recorders;
· Including a 34-hour restart provision.
Justification for retaining sleeper-berth exception "was not rational," the ruling stated. "We have grave doubts about whether the agency’s explanation for retaining the sleeper-berth exception would survive … review.”
Claybrook said there is no evidence that the new rule is worse or better than the old rule because it’s only been in effect for a little while. “Our concern is that drivers are put under an enormous amount of pressure by trucking companies to meet just-in-time requirements and so on,” Claybrook said. “When they get tired, the get into crashes.”
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., has overturned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's hours-of-service rule that went into effect Jan. 4. The ruling, which favors of Public Citizen and other groups that sued to block the rule, vacates the rule and leaves big questions about the future of the regulations that govern the hours truckers work and rest.
"We agree with petitioners that the rulemaking was arbitrary and capricious, because the FMCSA failed to take account of a statutory limit on its authority," the court ruled. "We therefore grant the petition for review and vacate the rule."
The court has remanded the rule back to the agency.
FMCSA spokesman David Longo said he didn't know what the immediate impact of the ruling would be on the enforcement of the rule. "FMCSA is still in the process of reviewing the decision and will make a statement once that review is complete," he said.
It's not clear how the ruling will affect enforcement, said Richard Henderson, director of government affairs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the organization that represents and educates police groups that enforce the rule. He said he doesn't know
whether drivers will continue to operate under the new rule or revert back to the old rule.
FMCSA has several options: it can accept the ruling, appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask for the full circuit court to review it. Industry insiders said FMCSA has been considering scenarios for months, including what would happen if the new rule were vacated. The new rule is probably dead and will probably be replaced by the old rule until FMCSA can revise the regulations, the insiders speculated.
The appeals court issued the ruling July 16. According the ruling, "the agency failed to consider the impact of the rules on the health of drivers ... Because the agency has wholly failed to comply with this specific statutory requirement, this single objection from petitioners is sufficient to establish an arbitrary-and-capricious decision requiring vacatur of the rule."
“We’re ecstatic,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “This is a sweeping victory. The courts have finally told FMCSA that they have to put the health of drivers first. That’s always been their mission; they just haven’t carried it out.”
Claybrook noted that the ruling criticized "deficiencies of the rule” other than drivers' health. The court found troubling:
· Increasing driver time from 10 to 11 hours a day;
· Retaining the sleeper-berth exception;
· Not requiring electronic on-board recorders;
· Including a 34-hour restart provision.
Justification for retaining sleeper-berth exception "was not rational," the ruling stated. "We have grave doubts about whether the agency’s explanation for retaining the sleeper-berth exception would survive … review.”
Claybrook said there is no evidence that the new rule is worse or better than the old rule because it’s only been in effect for a little while. “Our concern is that drivers are put under an enormous amount of pressure by trucking companies to meet just-in-time requirements and so on,” Claybrook said. “When they get tired, the get into crashes.”
