A federal court has ordered the case that resulted in the current revision of hours-of-service to continue to be held in suspension.
On Jan. 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., granted the joint motion of the defendant, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the petitioners, which are Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Truck Safety Coalition and Teamsters.
The order directed the agency to file status reports at 60-day intervals, beginning March 29. It also requires the parties to file motions to govern the case’s future proceedings within 30 days of the publication of a final rule.
In 2009, the petitioners challenged the 2008 HOS. The court granted the parties’ joint motion to hold the case in abeyance, pending the issue of a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding HOS. The same court overturned the 2003 rule, issued in 2004 and 2005 rule, issued in 2007.
The joint motion states “if FMCSA promulgates a new rule that is substantially different from the 2008 rule, that may obviate the need for judicial review of the current rule.”
