New driver hours-of-service rules may be issued sooner than expected, according to information from Intermodal Insights, a publication of the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).
Recent indications from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are that the agency may attempt to split the rule into parts, issuing less controversial parts first and leaving the rest for later. Sources say some portion of a new rule could be issued sometime this year, according to IANA. This differs from past indications that the agency was at least a year away from issuing any new HOS regulation.
The FMCSA recently hired a consulting firm (ICF Consulting) to assess the costs and benefits of several options; however the firm has not yet been told by the agency what those options are. The agency now appears ready to move forward with some portion of an HOS rule before the cost-benefit study has been completed, according to IANA.
Meanwhile, a number of trucking organizations have issued a request under the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to internal FMCSA documents related to its HOS deliberations. The trucking community has been frustrated by the agency's failure to clearly state its intentions with regard to the rulemaking.