With the FMCSA’s new Hours-of-Service (HOS) rule slated to cost truck drivers’ $1.6 billion annually, and the trucking industry $376 million according to the American Transportation Research Institute, a bill has been put forth in the House of Representatives to undo the rule change until further study.
The bill, dubbed the TRUE Safety Act, is sponsored by Richard Hanna (R-NY) and two other co-sponsors and would suspend the rule until the Government Accountability Office could fully study its impact. At a November 21 House subcommittee hearing, Hanna sharply questioned FMSCA Administrator Anne Ferro about the rule.
“What do you say to somebody actually in the business, who didn’t spend two days in a truck but spent a lifetime in a truck, when she (a constituent) says the 1 to 5 a.m. has taken away quality of life, reduced productivity as well as disruption of the drivers’ normal sleep schedules?” Hanna asked during the House Small Business Subcommittee’s hearing entitled Wrong Way: The Impact of FMCSA’s Hours of Service Regulation on Small Businesses. “And yet you’re supposed to be a data-driven organization.”
He further went on to accuse the FMCSA of acting “arrogantly and insensitively.”
Ferro vigorously defended the rule, saying the Agency had acted appropriately and studied the matter thoroughly.
“[It’s] a solid rule. It’s been upheld by the court. It’s based on sound research,” she said. “[The rule] absolutely is data-based, research-based, fully vetted, [with an] unprecedented level of transparency throughout the development of this rule process.”
When asked if she would be open to undoing the rule, Ferro replied, “No, absolutely not.”
According to the FMCSA, the HOS rule would save an estimated 19 lives per year. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) questioned that number, arguing it is statistically invalid and relatively immeasurable. “That’s such a small percentage (1/2 of a percent), we won’t even know these rules are having any effect, will we?” he asked.
“[Those 19 lives] are not a sample, but those are actual lives. Every life is precious,” Ferro replied.
The HOS rule also contains stricter restart provisions for 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Rice asked Ferro if this would potentially force drivers onto roads at more crowded times of the day.
Ferro claimed the restart provisions would not do that. “This rule does not put trucks in traffic any more than they already are in traffic,” she said, adding that only 1/3 of 1 percent of trucks were substantively changed by the new hours provisions.
With more than 50 percent of drivers reporting at least a 5 percent drop in pay due to the new HOS rules according to the ATRI, it will be interesting to see if the rules remain in place. A full house vote has not been scheduled yet for the bill.
