Fleets should start HOS Training & Preparation Now

Last week, at the Mid-America Truck Show, FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro again communicated that FMCSA would not delay the July 1 effective date of its HOS rule until after the D.C. Circuit has ruled on ATA's (and other groups') pending challenges to the new rule. Ferro's latest denial was in response to two separate Congressional letters seeking a reasonable 3-month delay, consistent with ATA's earlier request. This second short-sighted response by FMCSA means that carriers, shippers, and FMCSA-funded State enforcement agencies will need to spend time and money on training and adapting systems to a rule whose final form will not be certain until the court issues its decision. 

While ATA remains hopeful for a favorable Court decision, we encourage ATA member fleets, and the broader trucking industry, to begin preparations for a July 1 implementation date of the new restart and rest break requirements. 

Click the following links for an ATA summary of the Dec. 2011 rules, and a chart comparing these HOS rules with those in existence since 2005. Contact Dave Osiecki at dosiecki@trucking.org.