NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 13
by next year. This database will identify any person who has previously tested positive on a pre-employment drug exam required by the federal govern- ment before being employed as a truck driver. However, unless HHS recognizes hair testing as an approved methodol- ogy, no positive hair test results will be included in the national clearinghouse database. The legislation introduced in November will enable those drug test results to be reported to the clearing- house. “This bill is a win-win for the
trucking industry, law enforcement and the safety of Arkansas families. By keep- ing drug addicted drivers from behind the wheel of rigs across the country, we can reduce liability costs while prevent- ing accidents to keep our roads and highways safer,” said Rep. Crawford.
MORE STUDY, PLEASE U.S. Representatives Richard Hanna
(R-N.Y.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Michael Michaud (D-Maine) have introduced a bill to delay the 34-hour restart provi- sion of the new hours-of-service (HOS) rules until an investigation of the meth- odology used to formulate the rules that have been in effect sine July 1,2013, is conducted. The True Understanding of the
Economy and Safety Act (TRUE Safety Act, H.R. 3413) would reinstate the previous HOS rules made final by the April 28, 2003 rule, and instructs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) decided to mandate truck- ers to take 34 straight hours off-duty before resetting their weekly work clock. Furthermore, the bill prohibits FMCSA from re-implementing the new 34-hour restart provision until six months after the GAO report is submitted to Congress.
The highly controversial HOS regu-
lations were published in the Federal Register on Dec. 27, 2011. The most contentious changes to HOS regulations included a mandatory 30-minute break sometime during the first eight hours of driving, and the requirement of two con- secutive rest periods between 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. during the 34-hour restart. FMCSA denied several requests
made by the industry and members of Congress to delay the scheduled July 1 implementation date until 90 days fol- lowing a ruling from a federal appeals courts over the American Trucking Associations’ challenge of the rule. FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro explained that “the agency continues to believe it is inappropriate to sacrifice several months of safety benefits from the timely implementation of the rule,” and added that the requests lacked “adequate support for delays.” On Aug. 2, 2013, the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling that upheld the
more numberS are the laSt thingS a trucking company needS to worry about.
Speed limitS. weight limitS. fuel coStS.
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bellandcompany.net / 501.753.9700 14 ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2013
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