President Clinton has signed the $58-billion transportation appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001. It does not include funding for proposed revisions to the hours-of-service (HOS) rule.
The bill allows the Department of Transportation to review its HOS proposal and possibly issue a supplemental rule that will allow for further public comment and input. Therefore, implementation of any rule is pushed back to at least Oct 1, 2001.
This bill provides $55 million for roadside inspections, about $10 million for development of a database to identify truck drivers with bad driving records, and $5 million for a large-truck crash study. The bill includes a provision that will help to create a national impaired-driving standard of .08 blood-alcohol concentration.