Following the lead of three House of Representatives members, a New Hampshire Republican Senator has introduced companion legislation to a proposed House bill that would temporarily block the so-called “34-hour restart” rule until an independent study could be conducted.
On December 20, Senator Kelley Ayotte (R-NH) introduced S.1891, the TRUE Safety Act, which is a companion bill to one of the same name in the House (H.R. 3413). That bill was authored on October 30 by Representatives Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Tim Rice (R-S.C.) and Mike Michaud (D-ME). Both bills would rescind the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)’s revised hours-of-service rule that included new limitations on use of the 34-hour restart.
The revised HOS rule, implemented in July 2013, limits the use of the restart to once in a seven-day period and requires that it includes two off-duty periods between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The bill calls for the Government Accountability Office and the DOT Inspector General to conduct studies to assess the quality of data and methodology used by FMCSA to justify the changes.
Ayotte’s bill reads in part:
(3)
Federal regulations governing the hours of service for commercial truck drivers must be based on full and fair scientific research, analysis, and operational testing;
(4)
the restart rule that became effective on July 1, 2013, was based mainly on a one-month sleep study conducted in a laboratory setting;
(5)
the new restart rule will cost the trucking industry up to $376,000,000 annually, reducing productivity, impacting driver pay, and increasing the cost to deliver goods; and
(6)
the restart rule should not have become effective prior to completion of the thorough operational study required under section 32301(a) of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act or MAP–21 (Public Law 112–141; 126 Stat. 786).
(Source: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1891/text)
The bill comes on the heels of intense questioning and criticism from House members of FMSCA Administrator Anne Ferro in a House Small Business Subcommittee meeting regarding the HOS rules. Ferro vigorously defended the rule changes in the Nov. 21 meeting.
Despite the backing of national trucking and shipping groups, the bills have just a 4 percent chance of passing subcommittee and a 1 percent chance of passing the full chambers, according to govtrack.us.
