House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce Chairman Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) held a hearing on Thursday that explored how a new hours of service rule for truck drivers will impact small businesses.
The new HOS rule, which was established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, includes a 34-hour restart provision that is meant to ensure that truck drivers are rested before continuing.
“The vast majority of firms involved in highway freight transportation are small businesses, and this rule adversely affects most of them,” Hanna said. “In addition to underestimating the rule’s costs to small businesses, FMCSA may also be undermining its goal of improving safety. I’m extremely disappointed that FMCSA chose to move forward with the new rule before completing a required study of the impacts and efficacy.”
The new rule could result in an annual loss of $376 million to the trucking industry, according to a study by American Transportation Research Institute.
“…Safe highways are our goal,” Hanna said. “However, that can only be achieved with effective regulations based on accurate data. I continue to maintain that this rule should be delayed until an independent review is completed on its true impacts and usefulness. The No. 1 business of America is business. We need to stop holding ourselves back with ivory tower regulations that don’t work in the real world.”
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act required FMSCA to carry out a field study on the 34-hour restart provision to gauge its effect on trucking operations. The study was not submitted to Congress by a Sept. 30 deadline.
In response, Hanna has introduced the TRUE Safety Act, which would reinstate a previous HOS rule until a study is completed.