Final Hours-of-Service rules flawed but will not impact 2012   

There are two good pieces of news in the final hours-of-service rules. First, daily driving hours were not reduced from 11 to 10. That would have meant a significant hit to productivity for no improvement in safety. Second, the compliance date for the new rules is July 2013, or about 18 months. So there is no impact for 2012, and there is plenty of time to challenge the new rules which I expect the ATA will do. The ATA and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) both oppose the final rules.

The 34-hour restart provision was changed requiring two consecutive rest periods between 1 AM and 5 AM for the restart. This makes no sense and has no scientific backing. If not overturned estimates of lost productivity range from 1 to 3 percent. That means more trucks and more drivers and more dollars to move the same amount of freight and almost certainly results in less highway safety, not more. It also means more drivers on the road after 5 AM during peak highway congestions periods, which is less safe and increases highway congestions, thus increasing emissions. For example, if a driver logs off at 2 AM on Saturday, under the old rules the 34 hours would be up at noon on Sunday and the driver could get under way any time that evening or night to meet a delivery appointment without concern about the morning rush hour. Under the new rules, the driver could not begin driving until 5 AM Monday (a 51 hour break) and would only have a short time to drive before hitting heavy traffic. It makes a Monday AM delivery more challenging so harms service in addition to increasing costs and doing nothing for safety. The original proposal had been midnight to 6 AM so the final rule was at least a little more lenient.

The overall workweek is reduced from 82 hours to 70 hours in a 7-day period, but most industry experts do not believe this will have a significant impact on productivity because most drivers are not working over 70 hours anyway.

If you want to read the whole 212 page “final rule” here is the link. Here is a brief summary from FMCSA.