December 11, 2007
WASHINGTON — Big trucking companies got their wish on Tuesday when federal regulators maintained existing limits on drivers' hours, rather than endorsing a court order sought by consumer advocates that would have required one less hour behind the wheel each day.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an interim final rule that maintains the current 11-hour driving limit, under which truckers are required to rest for 10 hours.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in September delayed until Dec. 27 a requirement that would reduce the continuous driving limit to 10 hours with eight hours of rest. FMCSA Administrator John Hill said the agency's data show that the number of crashes involving fatigued drivers has remained constant in recent years, and that crashes in the 11th hour of driving have been negligible.
Consumer advocates sued to reduce the amount of time truckers can stay behind the wheel continuously because they say the industry is putting the public at risk.
"FMCSA is continuing the sweatshop conditions for truck drivers rolling down our highways, which endangers Americans all over the country," Joan Claybrook, president of Washington-based consumer watchdog Public Citizen, said Tuesday.
The Teamsters union agreed and said there has been no peer-reviewed study published that shows the new rule is safer than the previous one.
"It's clear the Bush administration has more loyalty to its corporate supporters than to the men and women who actually drive on our roads," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said in a release.
Hill said all rules are based first on safety, and that despite "allegations and innuendoes that the rule is not safe," the data show it is.
American Trucking Associations President and Chief Executive Bill Graves in October said he expected the court stay would give federal regulators enough time to issue an interim final rule maintaining the 11-hour limit. The public has 60 days to comment on the interim final rule.
Public Citizen opposed any stays, arguing that the FMCSA used the same tactic two years ago to maintain the old requirements. If the administration ultimately issues a final rule inconsistent with the court order, the group will pursue further legal action, Claybrook said.
The government and the ATA in September separately requested the court issue longer stays of its decision with FMCSA backing industry assertions that reducing the limit would be expensive and require it to retrain drivers and operating personnel, reprint logs, reengineer routes and make other changes.
ATA members include United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp., JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. and YRC Worldwide.