According to a Federal Register notice published Dec. 10, the Oregon Trucking Association says the break requirement “makes it impossible for log trucks to provide a sufficient volume of logs to the mills when operations are time-limited by fire restrictions.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting public comment for 30 days for the request.
OTA says environmental regulations limit timber haulers, who are even more restricted between July and October, when they’re barred from forests after 1 p.m. Log haulers, OTA says, need all of the available time after 1 p.m. to get their loads to the mills.
In response to previous requests for exemptions to the break requirement, the agency has agreed to allow Department of Energy and some Department of Defense contractors to use non-working “attendance time” to satisfy the rule. Also, livestock haulers, per a request by the National Pork Producers Council, were granted a 90-day waiver of the rule during the summer to protect animals from the heat.
To comment on the OTA’s request for an exemption for log haulers in Oregon, use docket No. FMCSA-2013-0451. Comments can be made via:
