Skip to content
Home » Blog » ATA Asks OMB to Consider if 'Legitimate' Reasons Exist for Hours Change

ATA Asks OMB to Consider if 'Legitimate' Reasons Exist for Hours Change



American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves, has written to Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, asking whether any “legitimate reason” exists to change the current HOS rules.

In the letter, Graves points to recently unearthed data about the trucking industry’s safety performance, as well as the underlying science used by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Department of Transportation to alter the 34-hour restart provision of the rules.

“This data, in terms of both numbers and rates, is overwhelmingly positive, is a clear indication how well trucking is performing while operating under the current HOS rules, and further demonstrates FMCSA has no evidence of a safety problem with the current rules,” Graves said of the recently discovered 2009 Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts, which showed historic low levels of truck crashes.

Graves asked OMB to review the data “as you decide whether FMCSA and DOT have any legitimate reason to issue a new rule with significant public policy changes.”

The letter also draws Sunstein’s attention to the “findings” and “recommendations” used by FMCSA and DOT to craft their proposed changes to the 34-hour restart. Those findings come from a single study that the researchers themselves said was not enough to answer all the questions surrounding the rule’s effect on safety.

“An objective read makes clear that this single study is insufficient to justify a policy change,” Graves said, comparing the need for more research to the Obama administration’s recent decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline in lieu of further study.

“Critical highway safety policy decisions by our government deserve no less scrutiny and understanding by government policymakers and the public than environmental and energy decisions,” Graves said.

For more details and background, read Washington Editor Oliver Patton’s story.

Printer Friendly Version
Email This Story
RSS
Bookmark and Share

Government/Regulations: Related News

11/18/2011 – ATA Asks OMB to Consider if ‘Legitimate’ Reasons Exist for Hours Change

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves, has written to Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, asking whether any “legitimate reason” exists to change the current HOS rules….
More

11/18/2011 – ATRI Research Reveals Motor Carrier CSA Perspectives

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released a report detailing impact CSA has impacted the daily operations of trucking companies….
More

11/18/2011 – House Links Highway Funding to New Oil and Gas Revenues


Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, yesterday made it official that the House will link funding for transportation reauthorization to the extraction of oil and natural gas from areas now closed to drilling….
More

11/17/2011 – Maryland Trucking Company Declared Imminent Hazard to the Public, Shut Down — Again

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered Maryland-based Gunthers Transport, LLC shut down after a lengthy investigation found it to be an imminent hazard to public safety. Company owner, Mark David Gunther, was convicted on similar charges in 1995….
More

11/16/2011 – FMCSA Will Rewrite EOBR Rule to Address Court’s Concerns

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will not appeal the court decision vacating the electronic onboard recorder rule scheduled to take effect next June. Instead, it will address the court’s concerns about driver harassment in a later rule….
More

11/15/2011 – Latest Data Show Truck Safety Progress

The latest truck safety data are in, and they show continued improvement. The number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes dropped 31% between 2007 to 2009, from 4,633 to 3,215, said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in a new report….
More

11/10/2011 – Suit Filed Over New Truck Fuel Economy Standards

A legal firm representing a group of small trucking and construction business owners in California has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the federal government’s new fuel-economy standards for heavy duty and medium duty vehicles….
More

11/10/2011 – Washington State Has New Tool to Check for HOS Violations

The Washington State Patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Division is using automated license plate readers to help it find drivers violating hours of service rules….
More

11/10/2011 – Senate Committee First Out of Chute with Highway Bill

Last week the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously reported out a bill that would reauthorize the federal highway program for two years. One move does not make a chess game, but it’s a welcome development…
More

11/9/2011 – Senate Committee Will Vote on Highway Bill This Week

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote on a two-year, $109 billion highway reauthorization bill this week. Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), as the bill is called, is intended to preserve current spending levels….
More

11/3/2011 – Hours Rule Advances to Office of Management and Budget

The revised hours of service rule moved one step closer to publication yesterday when the Department of Transportation sent its proposed revisions to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review….
More

11/2/2011 – Senate Clears 2012 Transport Appropriations Measure, Including Heavier Truck Provision


The Senate yesterday approved a transportation appropriations bill that would, among other things, allow heavier trucks on Maine and Vermont Interstates, and continue funding for transportation enhancements such as bike paths….
More

10/31/2011 – Heavier Trucks Pass Test, Vermont Says

At first glance, the safety results of the heavy-truck pilot test in Vermont are not good news. In the year-long test, accidents were up on both Interstate and non-Interstate roads, a point that the Truck Safety Coalition, which opposes heavier trucks, has been quick to highlight. But in fact the safety data are not conclusive, and the test showed improvements in productivity, fuel efficiency and emissions, says a top Vermont transportation official….
More

10/28/2011 – HOS Deadline Pushed Back a Month


The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced this morning that the new hours of service rule, due to have been published today, will be pushed back at least a month.

“FMCSA will continue to work toward publishing a final rule as quickly as possible,” the agency said in a statement. “The parties to the settlement agreement will file their next status report with the Court on November 28, 2011.”…
More

10/28/2011 – Ag Groups Praise Legislation Clarifying Agricultural HOS Exemption

A group of agricultural associations has come out in support of legislation that clarifies the applicability of the agricultural hours of service exemption….
More

10/27/2011 – FMCSA Moves Closer to Final Unified Registration System; Would Help Address “Chameleon” Carriers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to change its approach to putting together a Unified Registration System, but intends to stick with the key components it already has proposed in this sweeping overhaul of the way it keeps track of the entities it regulates….
More

10/25/2011 – CARB Diesel PM Filter Retrofit Deadline Looms; Some Fleets Still Have Compliance Options

The deadline for meeting California’s Truck and Bus regulation diesel particulate filter retrofit requirement is January 1, 2012, but fleets can still apply for staggered implementation schedule or flexible phase-in option….
More

10/24/2011 – LaHood Asks Ayotte Not to Move Against Hours of Service Rule

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is urging Sen. Kelly Ayotte not to proceed with her amendment to block the rewrite of the hours of service rule. In a letter yesterday, LaHood defended the work of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in drafting the revised rule….
More

10/24/2011 – Senate Committee Plans Vote on Highway Bill


The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plans to debate and vote on its two-year surface transportation bill Nov. 9. The committee’s strategy is to produce a two-year measure funded at current levels, plus inflation. This will require about $12 billion more than will be available from the Highway Trust Fund, a difference that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a member of EPW and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has said he believes can be found….
More

10/20/2011 – Senate Bill Would Block Rewrite of Hours of Service Rule


New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte introduced a measure to block the pending rewrite of the hours of service rule.

Offered as an amendment to the 2012 transportation appropriations bill, which the Senate is working on this week, the provision would cut off funds to enforce or implement the new rule….
More

10/14/2011 – CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Kicks Off Next Week

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is calling on all drivers to help reduce aggressive and distracted driving and save lives across North America with its annual Operation Safe Driver campaign mobilization week October 16-22, 2011….
More

10/14/2011 – GAO Takes on Highway Funding Questions

If you count all the money spent on highways in the last federal transportation program, each state got more than it put in to the Highway Trust Fund.

That’s because Congress had to make substantial cash infusions from the General Treasury into the trust fund, which did not have enough money to meet its obligations….
More

10/14/2011 – Mexican Carrier Gets Authority in Cross-Border Pilot

Transportes Olympic SA de CV has been cleared to be the first Mexican carrier in the Department of Transportation’s cross-border trucking pilot program. However, another Mexican carrier that has cleared a pre-authorization audit, Grupo Behr de Baja California, must undergo additional review before it gets permission to operate….
More

10/14/2011 – LaHood Says One Term Only

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has made it known that he will not be seeking a second term at that post. He said he would step down at the end of President Obama’s current term, whether he is re-elected or defeated in the 2012 presidential election….
More

10/13/2011 – LaHood to be One-term Wonder

Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood made it known today that he will be leaving his current post in 2012. In questions that came following a speech at the national press Club in Washington, LaHood told reporters that he would not seek a second term as Transportation Secretary, nor would he be running for any other public office — including the Governorship of his home state of Illinois….
More

10/13/2011 – Infrastructure Bank Going Nowhere in House


Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica convened a hearing yesterday on President Obama’s proposal to create a national infrastructure bank, and opened the event by making the situation perfectly clear.

“I’m afraid that the national infrastructure bank is dead on arrival in the House,” he said….
More

10/13/2011 – Deaf Truck Drivers Can Now Apply for CDL Exemptions

The National Association of the Deaf says more than 20 deaf and hard of hearing truck drivers who submitted applications for an exemption from the DOT hearing requirements are now being considered for full Commercial Driver’s Licenses….
More

10/11/2011 – ATA Urges State Department to Move Forward on Keystone XL Pipeline

The American Trucking Associations has asked the State Department to issue a presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The project will provide jobs, as well as affordable access to reliable energy, for and the entire U.S. economy, ATA says….
More

10/7/2011 – Teletrac Wins FMCSA Contract for Cross-Border Long-Haul Trucking Program

The Department of Transportation has selected Teletrac to provide fleet tracking and Hours of Service software to FMCSA for its United States – Mexico cross-border, long-haul trucking pilot program….
More

10/6/2011 – Boehner, Cantor Call on DOT to Halt HOS Rewrite


The top Republican leaders of the House have joined the chorus calling on the Department of Transportation to withdraw the pending hours of service rewrite and stick with the current rule….
More

10/6/2011 – Shipper Group Launches Video Campaign for Heavier Trucks

The Coalition for Transportation Productivity has launched a digital video campaign to rally support for federal truck weight reform legislation known as the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA), S. 747, H.R. 763….
More

10/6/2011 – FMCSA to Study Individual Driver Differences, Performance Capabilities, Risk Factors

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration intends to investigate the differences among characteristics of individual commercial drivers that may or may not factor into crash propensity….
More

10/6/2011 – Tank Carriers Seek Relief from Pending Rules


Tank carriers are asking the Department of Transportation to drop a pair of rules-in-progress on grounds that they are unnecessary and ineffective.

John Conley, president of the National Tank Truck Carriers, the industry’s national association, asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to consider withdrawing two proposals that fit President Obama’s description as putting “an unnecessary burden on businesses.” …
More