Groups representing segments of the trucking industry have been quick to praise passage of an amendment to the Transportation Department funding bill that would suspend the 2013-imposed restart provisions in hours-of-service regulations for one year.
The amendment was proposed by Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and was supported by a bipartisan vote of 21-9 in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association applauded the committee for the amendment.
“We thank Senator Collins and the supportive members of the committee for their work on this important amendment,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer. “Truckers have long pointed out the negative impacts of the 2013 changes on their ability to get rest, stay out of busy city traffic, spend time at home, and make a family-supporting income.”
OOIDA and others within the trucking industry have clearly communicated all the shortcomings of the analysis of the new rules by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the association added.
“The agency cannot simply regulate based upon guesses,” said Spencer. “And it should not make a regulatory decision and then create data after the fact that supports the decision. Sadly, the problems with the hours-of-service rulemaking are common within the FMCSA and we hope that today’s vote is a sign that Congress will be taking a deeper look into the way the agency conducts its business.”
