The hours-of-service (HOS) rule got a reprieve October 1 from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which decided to give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration until December 27 to respond to an earlier ruling on driving limits.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) voiced its support of the court's most recent decision and said it is confident that the court provided the agency sufficient time to issue an Interim Final Rule that retains the 11-hour driving limit and the 34 hour restart.
ATA said it submitted a motion September 6 asking the court for an eight-month stay of its mandate to eliminate the 11-hour daily driving limit and 34-hour restart provisions of the HOS regulations, citing serious disruptions to the trucking industry. A July 24 court decision vacated the two HOS provisions, citing various procedural issues identified during the rulemaking process, but did not say that those rules were unsafe.
See other coverage on HOS rules in Bulk Transporter online.