Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) sent a letter last week to U.S. DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx to air his concerns about the scope of and participants in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Congressionally required 34-hour restart study, which has been in the works since January.
Hanna’s letter includes four key points to Foxx and FMCSA that he says should be considered for the study, including — perhaps of most concern for the study’s efficacy — ensuring selection of drivers that “are truly representative of the industry,” Hanna writes.
The agency has focused on recruiting drivers who work between 60 and 70 hours a week and who typically work at night, Hanna says.
“This is concerning because it indicates the researchers do not understand how the 34-hour restart is being used in practice. This small [subset] of truck drivers is not representative of drivers who use the restart provision and not representative of drivers who have been impacted by the July 2013 restart restrictions,” he said in the letter.
The agency has been recruiting drivers for the study since January. The study, required by a 2015 appropriations law passed in December, was designed to pit pre- and post-2013 restart rules against one another. The bill directed the agency to study two groups of drivers — one that abided by the pre-July 2013 rules and one that operated under the 2013-implemented provisions.
Hanna has been one of the trucking industry’s main Congressional allies in pushing back against the 2013 rules, citing the agency’s lack of data and research in producing the rule and its perceived lack of benefits, especially when compared to its potential productivity restrictions.
