Truckers ask court to delay hours ruling
U.S. trucking companies have asked a federal court to delay a requirement that would reduce by one hour the time truckers can drive continuously.
The American Trucking Association Thursday requested an 8-month stay from a mandate of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court had ordered the daily driving limit be cut to 10 hours for long-haul truckers.
The trade group says eliminating the rule effective Sept. 14 would be expensive and require the industry to retrain drivers and operating personnel, reprint logs, reengineer routes and make other changes.
Safety advocates, who applauded the court’s ruling, say the industry is putting the public at risk by allowing truckers to drive too many hours.
The court action’s had followed by a week an ATA petition with the federal government, asking for revisions to 2-year-old regulations on truckers’ hours, which the court had rejected in late July.
The ATA argued for the 8-month stay to give the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration time to review the court’s ruling and the new rules.
A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokeswoman did not return a call for comment Friday. After the ATA’s appeal last week, the agency said it was still developing a response to the court ruling but would do so in time for the industry to adapt.
The trade group’s members include United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp., JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. and YRC Worldwide.
