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Sep 10, 2004 3:10 PM

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has warned a US federal court that the Canadian industry will face significant and unwarranted costs if the current US hours-of-service rules are vacated for some interim period.

The alliance estimates that 75,000 to 80,000 Canadian-based drivers operating into the US will need to be trained on the former rules and then retrained on whatever rules are put in place once the current legal proceedings are concluded.

CTA joined the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, American Trucking Associations, and the National Industrial Transportation League in efforts to keep existing hours-of-service (HOS) rules temporarily in place. The organizations are supporting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which has asked the appeals court for more time to re-examine HOS regulations.

The FMCSA action followed a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that overturned the new hours-of-service (HOS) rules, cited that the regulation is "arbitrary and capricious," and listed concerns including driver health issues, an increase in maximum driving time from 10 hours to 11 hours, and sleeper berth exceptions.

CTA has asked the court to grant it amicus curiae (friend-of-the- court-status) so that CTA's arguments supporting the FMCSA motion for a stay are taken into account. In its request, CTA told the court that “no other party to the proceeding represents the thousands of Canadian trucking companies that will be affected by the court’s decision."