The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) sent a letter to key senior members of the Senate and House appropriations committees asking them to support maintaining language in the final FY2015 appropriations bill that would set aside the current 34-hour restart rule in hours-of-service regulations.
This was done in response to a message sent to both houses of Congress from Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx asking them to reject the bill’s language as they consider the year-end spending plan.
In its letter, OOIDA says that the provision is a common-sense approach to the concerns of thousands of safe and professional drivers who say the current restart rule has forced them on the highways during the most congested and dangerous hours of morning traffic. The provision was authored by Sen Susan Collins, R-ME, and approved on a bipartisan basis by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Association considers the claim made by those opposed to the Collins Amendment saying truckers will otherwise work 80 hours or more per week to be a misleading scare tactic. This article from OOIDA’s membership magazine, Land Line, debunks that claim: http://landlinemag.com/Magazine/2014/Oct/Section2/Scare-Tactic1.pdf.
As part of an overall safety agenda, OOIDA launched the “Truckers for Safety” campaign, urging policymakers to take action on many common-sense improvements, including finalizing long-overdue training standards for new truck drivers. You can learn more at http://www.truckersforsafety.com.