Heavy Duty Trucking, June 2018

HDT JUNE 2018 10 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Capitol Hill effort to halt state HOS preemption riding high again David Cullen Executive Editor dcullen@ truckinginfo com David covers legislative and regulatory issues for Truckinginfo com and HDTs monthly Washington Watch as well as writing substantive features for the magazine on management issues equipment trends and more He can be reached at dcullen@ truckinginfo com or 203 371 0040 ome things are not easy to fix especially in Congress where not every contentious issue can be blamed on partisanship or more exactly on a lack of bipartisanship Sometimes theres a group of bipartisan lawmakers supporting a measure that runs up against a group of bipartisan opponents to the same proposal More often than not what happens next is nothing unless you count as action a can getting kicked down the proverbial road And so it has gone for years now with amendments to various bills steadily lobbied for by the American Trucking Associations in hopes of preventing individual states from putting on the books their own meal and rest break rules for CDL drivers that contradict federal regulations In shorthand the issue is often described as preemption as in should the states have the right to preempt federal law when it comes to setting work rules for truck drivers The issue was thought to have been put to rest way back in 1994 through passage of the Federal Aviation Authority Authorization Act which codified aviation policy How a trucking measure got into an aviation bill in the first place we shall leave for another day What matters now is that this legislation turned out to be too weak a fix to stave off state preemption of federal hours of service rules As pointed out in an April 25 letter to House members by ATA President and CEO Chris Spear a provision of that 1994 bill provided motor carriers with a uniform set of rules and regulations across all states This was because Congress in an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort recognized that a patchwork of state laws and regulations disrupts the free flow of interstate commerce and threatens the safety of our nations roads and bridges Spear noted that the FAAA Act of 1994 was passed by a Congress controlled by Democrats and signed into law by a Democrat President Bill Clinton But that 24 year old measure lacked enough bite to convince states to back off preemption Spears letter states that instead there has been ever since an erosion of this 1994 provision with the imposition of state meal and rest breaks that run counter to national uniformity The kicker according to the ATA chief is not just that the state laws are duplicative and are not grounded in safety but that they are not actually being enforced by the states Rather he claims these statutes are being used to fuel spurious litigation designed to extort the trucking industry impairing the safe and efficient movement of interstate goods Riding to the rescue on this issue multiple times since 2015 by offering up riders to various legislation that seek to once and for all prevent states from enacting their break rules for truckers has been Rep Jeff Denham R CA This time out Denhams preemption fix amendment made its way into the latest FAA Reauthorization Act H R 4 which was easily passed by the House on April 27 It should be noted that in keeping with the bipartisan spirit of the original 1994 FAAA bill Denhams rider was co sponsored by two of his colleagues from across the aisle Reps Jim Costa D CA and Henry Cuellar D TX The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters union have come out against the preemption amendment calling it overreach and saying truck drivers are entitled to basic workplace protections At press time the battle to put the preemption rider over the finish line had shifted to the Senate which was soon to take up its version of the FAA reauthorization bill Sen John Thune R SD chairman of the Commerce Science and Transportation Committee indicated in mid May that he hoped the full bill will be considered on the floor before the Fourth of July This aint the first rodeo for this rider But now that its made it halfway across Capitol Hill Im willing to give it at least even odds itll make it the rest of the way WASHINGTON WATCH At press time the battle to put the preemption rider over the finish line had shifted to the Senate S