HOS review extended by White House

Byline: – By Jami Jones, senior editor LandLine Magazine

The journey toward a new hours-of-service regulation may have hit at snag at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Instead of having the rule clear OMB on Oct. 26, its review has now been “extended.” The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had planned to have the rule cleared by Oct. 26 and ready to publish on Nov. 4 in the Federal Register.

OMB does not indicate on its daily report how long the review could be extended.

FMCSA submitted the notice of proposed rulemaking to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget on July 26.

Typically, that would have been the first opportunity for the public to get any sort of hint as to what the agency is doing with the HOS regs. However, the abstract provided by FMCSA does not offer any insight as to what the agency is proposing for HOS. Instead, the abstract outlines FMCSA’s obligation to revisit the rule because of a settlement agreement and the way the agency is approaching the HOS revision.

The OMB deadline was part of a settlement agreement between FMCSA and Public Citizen, which was signed on Oct. 26, 2009.

Once OMB signs off on the regulation, it will then be published in the Federal Register. That will be the first time that the public will get full disclosure of the agency’s plans on what – if any – changes will be made to the current HOS regulations.

The settlement agreement allows for FMCSA and Public Citizen to file a joint motion 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register to determine what path the lawsuit will follow.

The settlement also contained a provision that FMCSA agreed to publish a final rulemaking on HOS within 21 months of signing. That means the final rule would be published in July 2011.

International Conference on Commercial Driver Health and Wellness

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CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver starts this Sunday

Beginning this Sunday, Oct. 17, and continuing through Saturday, Oct. 23 is Operation Safe Driver, put on by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

The selective traffic enforcement program emphasizes enforcement in high-crash corridors with high traffic volumes, moving violations, driver infractions and aggressive driving behaviors.

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Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act

Senators Mark Pryor and Lamar Alexander have introduced a bill that would require the use of electronic onboard recording devices for commercial carriers. The bill, the Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act (S.3884) was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Sept. 29, 2010. If passed, the bill will require the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue regulations to mandate EOBRs within 18 months of enactment. EOBRs can monitor hours-of-service regulations and some believe the use of them can significantly reduce issues related to FMCSA's new CSA 2010 initiative. As the industry waits on pending hours-of-service regulations, many experts believe that the use of EOBRs will grow and make paper logbooks obsolete. The bill has the support of several big carriers, many of whom have joined forces to form the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security.

CSA "Red Flag Violations"

These 11 driver violations identified during roadside inspections are investigated if the driver’s employer is later subject to a carrier intervention:

Violating Part 395 Out-of-Service (OOS) Order .
Possessing, using or being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Possessing, being under the influence of, or using alcohol within 4 hours of going on duty.
Allowing driver to operate with more than one Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
Operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) with more than one CDL.
Operating without a valid CDL.
Driving while disqualified.
Driving without a valid operator’s license.
Driving while disqualified.
False entry on medical examiner’s certificate.
Operating an OOS vehicle before making repairs.