Safety groups challenge HOS in federal court.
Safety and trucking groups are challenging provisions of the hours-of-service rule in court, though for different reasons.
Four safety groups – Public Citizen, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, Parents Against Tired Truckers and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety – were joined by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in asking a federal court Feb. 27 to review the part of the rule which allows drivers to drive 11 consecutive hours before taking a mandatory 10-hour off-duty break.
Before 2004, drivers were allowed to drive 10 hours, but when the rule was revised the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration upped the total number of driving hours while increasing the required rest period.
“That FMCSA chose to expand driving hours is astounding given its statutory mandate to make safety its highest priority and Congress’s specific directive to the agency to reduce fatigue-related incidents,” said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. “We fully expect the court to find once again that this rule violates the agency’s clear assignment to put safety first.”
Three of the safety groups, Public Citizen, CRASH and PATT, have challenged the law before. The groups won when the court ruled that FMCSA had failed to take driver health into consideration when drafting the rule in 2003. But actions by Congress and the agency mitigated the effects of that court ruling.
The agency reissued the rule Aug. 25, modifying regulations concerning sleeper berths but leaving on-duty driving provisions unchanged.
