U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) is cosponsoring the bipartisan, bicameral Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act, which would update federal trucking regulations.
“This bipartisan legislation provides a long-term solution that will give livestock haulers flexibility to get safely to their destinations without causing unnecessary stress to the animals being transported,” Sen. Moran said.
The senator on April 30 introduced S. 1255 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) to require the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to modify provisions related to hours-of-service requirements with respect to transportation of certain live animals, according to the text of the bill.
“In Kansas, our economy depends upon the ability of farmers and ranchers to sell the goods they produce across the state, nation and world,” said Sen. Moran. “I urge my colleagues to support this common sense measure that will make transportation easier on livestock and haulers and ranchers alike.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) required commercial vehicle drivers to install an electronic logging device (ELD) in their trucks to track driver compliance with the Hours of Service (HOS) rules that went into effect in December 2017.
Sen. Moran said that the inflexible regulations are costly for haulers and could put the well-being and welfare of cattle, hogs and other livestock at risk.
He said the proposed bill would ease the HOS and ELD regulations for haulers of livestock or insects, and would exempt loading and unloading times from the HOS calculation of driving time and grant flexibility for drivers to rest at any point during their trip without counting against HOS time, among other provisions.
In addition to Sen. Moran, S. 1255 has 17 other original cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Jon Tester (D-MT).