The American Trucking Association (ATA) this week filed a petition with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asking the court to review the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) recently published final rule changing the hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.
“The rules that have been in place since 2004 have contributed to unprecedented improvement in highway safety. The law is clear about what steps FMCSA must undertake to change the rules and we cannot allow this rulemaking ,which was fueled by changed assumptions and analyses that do not meet the required legal standards, to remain unchallenged,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves in a statement. “FMCSA’s own analyses show that even when they overstate the safety benefits of these changes, the costs created by their rule still outweigh those benefits. We need this issue to be resolved in a credible manner, taking into account the undisputed crash reduction since 2004, so we can focus limited government and industry resources on safety initiatives that will have a far greater impact on highway safety,” he said.
“Improving highway and truck safety is about understanding the behaviors and events that precipitate crashes, and about implementing program and countermeasures that truly address those causes. We trust FMCSA will be a partner with ATA in implementing meaningful countermeasures aimed at the biggest causes of crashes,” said ATA Chairman Dan England.
ATA said once the briefing schedule is set by the court, it may seek support via amicus briefs from other organizations that are affected by FMCSA hours-of-service final rule.
