Heavy Duty Trucking, May 2019

HDT MAY 2019 10 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM When facts collide ELD data may shape HOS reform David Cullen Executive Editor dcullen@ truckinginfo com @ David_ L_ Cullen 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 lthough full implementation of the electronic logging device mandate is yet months away data gleaned from currently ELD compliant operators is already informing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations plan to propose changes to the hours of service rule That was the word from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Ray Martinez during his upbeat address to members of the Truckload Carriers Association on March 12 A benefit of the ELD mandate is the opportunity to review hours of service said Martinez speaking at TCAs Annual Convention in Las Vegas Noting that preliminary ELD data shows reductions in HOS violations which means less fatigued and safer drivers he said those positive results have put a spotlight on something HOS that really has not been looked at in 15 years highlighting where changes to the rule may be warranted As time has passed commerce has changed Technology has changed he said And your business has changed So we put out an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking aka a pre rule to ask questions and take comments on four areas of the HOS rule under consideration for revision by the agency When the pre rule was issued back in August FMCSA said it came in response to widespread congressional industry and citizen concerns and seeks feedback from the public to determine if HOS revisions may alleviate unnecessary burdens placed on drivers while maintaining safety on our nations highways and roads At that time the agency noted that while compliance with the ELD rule had reached nearly 99 across the trucking industry it put focus on HOS especially with regard to certain regulations having a significant impact on agriculture and other sectors of trucking In Vegas Martinez reported that the HOS ANPRM has already generated 5200 comments We put it out there to get unvarnished comment And boy did we he said with a smile He then praised the participants remarking that getting over 5000 comments is significant including the quality of thought and thoroughness that were expressed He said the comments focused heavily on known pain points with HOS including the 30 minute rest break and sleeper berth provisions of the rule Martinez said the agency was continuing to evaluate the comments and is very close to deciding whether it can move forward with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would provide definitive text to launch the next phase As that work goes on he stressed that the agency seeks to maintain safety while keeping uniform rules as much as possible for motor carriers and drivers whenever we can Uncertainty is not good for the industry and not good for the enforcement community Turning to other recent developments at FMCSA Martinez reminded the audience that the long awaited final rule to establish a national drug and alcohol clearinghouse for drivers will take effect at the top of next year He noted that the aim of this database effort is to identify commercial vehicle drivers who have committed drug or alcohol violations and make them ineligible from returning to duty Martinez also urged carriers to sign up for the agencys crash preventability pilot program Launched last summer this demo program will enable carriers to dispute the determination of certain truck crashes as preventable The program could result in improved Compliance Safety Accountability scores for carriers if the agency reclassifies the cause of crashes previously deemed preventable He said his hope is for the demo project to generate enough data that we can move forward and build it out When this pilot concludes Id like to make it permanent and include the removal of incorrect adverse determinations from the Safety Measurement System Martinez also advised that the agency is working on an ANPRM to gain comments on WASHINGTON WATCH A benefit of the ELD mandate is the opportunity to review hours of service A