In The News

Fox gets truckers’ attention, but HOS rule still not expected until October

A Fox Business News report that aired Thursday morning, Sept. 15, prompted a lot of truckers to call here at OOIDA headquarters.

Fox reporter Adam Shapiro correctly reported that the FMCSA could change truckers driving time from 11 to 10 hours and could impose a 34-hour reset. But listeners who caught only part of the report thought Shapiro was saying that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has made its decision on hours of service.

OOIDA Director of Regulatory Affairs Joe Rajkovacz emphasizes that no decision has been made yet. And the fact is, there won’t be a new final hours-of-service regulation until late October according to a court filing by the FMCSA dated May 20, 2011.

The HOS rulemaking stems from a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen against FMCSA. The lawsuit, which commenced in late 2009, has been in abeyance since a deal was struck in mid-2010 that the agency would retool the rule and have a new final regulation by July. As part of the agreement, FMCSA was to file status reports with the court every 60 days.

The “Second Status Report” filed by the agency updated the court on the agency’s deviation from the initial agreement to have a final rule by July.

In April 2011, two new studies were released, which meant an additional comment period. In light of that comment period, FMCSA was not able to publish a final rule by July and now intends to publish a final rule on or before Oct. 28, 2011.

The agency also noted that it ran the revamped timeline by the petitioners in the case, and that “counsel for the petitioners has stated that petitioners do not object to this schedule.”

Adam Shapiro’s report was part of Fox Business Network week-long special entitled “Regulation Nation” that started Tuesday, Sept. 13. FBN told OOIDA's Norita Taylor that the series will explore the ways that various regulations have impacted economic growth in America.

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