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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Hours of Service of Drivers

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Truckload Carriers Association filings
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Truckload Carriers Association filed 4 comments on this docket between Jun 30, 1997 and Jul 8, 2003. 677 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 9356d ago.

What Truckload Carriers Association filed (4)

Jul 8, 2003· Truckload Carriers Association - Comments· FMCSA-1997-2350-23388

VIA HAND DELIVERY July 8, 2003 Ms. Annette Sandberg Acting Administrator Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590-0001 Re:Docket No. FMCSA-97-2350; Hours of Service of Drivers; Driver Rest and Sleep for Safe Operations Dear Ms. Sandberg: The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) submits the following letter in the above-referenced docket in support of several petitions for reconsideration that are currently pending before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). TCA is the national trade association representing the truckload segment of the trucking industry. Truckload carriers account for approximately 97 percent of the for-hire freight tonnage annually transported by motor carriers in this country. TCA commends the agency for its efforts overall to address the issue of driver fatigue in one of the most difficult and highly controversial rulemakings that has ever come before the agency (including its predecessors). Nonetheless, the pending implementation of one provision of the final rule regarding the 14 consecutive hours of on-duty period is of such great concern to TCA's members that TCA is compelled to express our concerns to FMCSA. In this regard, it must be acknowledged upfront that while TCA and the trucking industry in general supported a 14-hour on-duty workday, neither TCA nor the industry advocated for a workday defined as 14-consecutive hours. See 68 Fed. Reg. at 22467 and 22471 (discussing ATA's 14-hour proposal). The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to support the pending petitions of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the Arizona Public Service Company that have asked the agency to reconsider §395.3(a)(2)'s prohibition against a driver driving a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle "[f]or any period after the end of the 14th [consecutive] hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty, except when the property-carrying driver complies with the provisions of §395.1(o)" (emphasis and insert supplied). For purposes of this letter, §395.3(a)(2) will hereafter be referred to as the "14 consecutive-hours requirement." Under this rigid requirement, once a driver starts his/her work day the driver's work clock will and must run for 14 consecutive hours without opportunity for a driver to stop the clock. Drivers who feel the need to take a rest break may do so, but the 14-hour clock will continue to run. The only exception to this continuous running of the clock under the final rule is for those drivers who drive vehicles equipped with sleeper berths, in which case the driver will be permitted to stop driving and take two rest periods in accordance with the requirements of §395.1(g). In writing in support of the several petitions for reconsideration, TCA believes there are several safety-related reasons in addition to the reasons cited in the petitions that further demonstrate why FMCSA should grant the petitions and revise the 14 consecutive-hours requirement. First, a substantial number of truckload carriers have a legitimate reason for not equipping their vehicles with a sleeper berth because of the geographical range and scope of their particular business operations. The final rule significantly penalizes these companies and the drivers who work for them. Moreover, this seemingly arbitrary dichotomy in the final rule presents a significant compromise to safety, by taking away rather than creating an incentive for those non-sleeper berth drivers to pull over and take a short rest when they feel it is needed. In other words, by requiring the time clock to continue running no matter what, the final rule will actually induce drivers to continue driving even when it may have been more prudent for them to stop. See, e.g., comments of NASTC, 68 Fed. Reg. at 22470. Such an outcome is clearly at odds with what FMCSA stated in the preamble to the final rule: "Rest breaks ar…

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Dec 15, 2000· Truckload Carriers Association - Comments· FMCSA-1997-2350-23025

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Sep 28, 1999· Truckload Carriers Association - Comments· FMCSA-1997-2350-0836

Filed on regulations.gov — full text not in the inline record.

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Jun 30, 1997· Truckload Carriers Association - Comments· FMCSA-1997-2350-0501

Filed on regulations.gov — full text not in the inline record.

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Abstract

Subject: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Hours of Service of Drivers

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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Hours of Service of Drivers (FMCSA) — Truckload Carriers Association | OpenPolis