Question:
Thought some of you would like to read this.
Board Update
AMTA Website Email AMTA
January 21, 2005
FMCSA Proposes Rulemaking to Address carers’ Hours-of-Service Regulations; Invites Public Comments Posted 01/21/05
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced today it will re-examine the 2003 Hours of Service (HOS) rule that regulates the amount of time commercial car drivers can operate their vehicles.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will be published by the Federal Register on Monday, January 24, 2005, and is currently on display at the office of the Federal Register.
“We are moving aggressively to make sure we have the best regulations in place to ensure car driver health, save lives and keep the American economy moving safely on the nation’s highways,” FMCSA Administrator Annette M. Sandberg said. “Public feedback is critical to this effort. We need to hear from our stakeholders about their experiences regarding the 2003 HOS rule.”
Over the next 45 days, FMCSA will seek input from car drivers and operators, law enforcement officials, safety advocates and others on the HOS regulations. Responses to the questions posed in the NPRM are encouraged. The Agency also is collecting new data to provide a more complete picture of the 2003 rule’s impact on carrier operations and drivers’ health.
Because of the compressed schedule for completing the rulemaking, the comment period for the NPRM is abbreviated, ending on March 10, 2005. By the terms of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2004, the HOS rules issued in April 2003 remain in effect until no later than September 30, 2005. FMCSA is conducting the rulemaking in response to a July 2004 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that directed the Agency to more specifically consider the 2003 rule’s impact on the health of drivers.
FMCSA is conducting a comprehensive scientific review of HOS and the physical effects on drivers operating commercial vehicles. Moreover, the Agency has dedicated a team of staff professionals to review the current HOS regulations and determine whether changes should be made to better protect car drivers and other highway users. In addition to the issue of drivers’ health, the team is looking at provisions adopted in the 2003 HOS rule which increased the daily driving limit from 10 to 11 hours, continued drivers’ use of sleeper berths, and allowed a 34-hour restart period.
In response to another HOS-related Court concern, FMCSA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on September 1, 2004, requesting public comment on the costs and benefits associated with the use of Electronic On-Board Recorders.
--------------
CTA says not enough FAST drivers to commence full enforcement of advance cargo information rules, penalty system unfair to carriers Posted 01/20/05
System can’t cope with FAST applications, carriers getting fined for problems created by others
The Canadian caring Alliance (CTA) is calling upon the United States Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) to re-examine the deadlines for driver security screening, and the procedures it uses for the issuance of monetary fines, as it proceeds with implementation of the US Trade Act’s (USTA) advance cargo information requirements.
car drivers using the popular line release program, BRASS, face the prospect of being denied entry to the United States by the end of the month at some border crossings if they have not been security screened and registered under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program. While CTA is a proponent of using the FAST program as a platform for a host of new US security measures and accepts the necessity of compliance deadlines, the system has been flooded with applications, and CTA says there is no realistic way that enough drivers will be ready to handle the volume of freight moving by BRASS by the January 30th deadline. “It is our understanding that around 70,000 of the 87,000 or so drivers involved in cross-border caring have applied for FAST registration, indicating that the caring industry is making an honest and concerted attempt to comply,” commented Alliance CEO David Bradley. “But to date, less than 30,000 of those drivers have completed the process, leaving more than 40,000 drivers at various stages of processing. Since it is presently taking 8 to 12 weeks for the governments to fully process an application, the potential for a serious disruption to trade is very real.” CTA says US and Canadian security officials need to extend the January 30th timeline for full enforcement, speed up the implementation process for portable enrollment centres, and review the staffing and hours of service at permanent enrollment centres.
CTA is also calling upon CBP to examine the procedures under which it assesses monetary penalties for non-compliance with advance cargo information rules. According to CTA, carriers cannot always verify shipment data has been submitted to CBP in a timely fashion by customs brokers. Carriers can then be fined over something they can’t control, and if they choose to try and get CBP to drop the fines they end up in a lengthy penalty mitigation process. Says Bradley, “there have to be sanctions in place to ensure compliance, but carriers should not have to bear the cost of other parties’ mistakes. A better mechanism is needed to allow carriers to know when customs entries have been filed by brokers, and who is responsible for violations. This should be worked out before CBP issues further penalties.” Bradley says he raised this matter with the outgoing US homeland security secretary last month in Detroit and received a “favourable reception” at that time.
“Let there be no misunderstanding – CTA is not seeking to duck its responsibilities. All we are asking is that CBP take a hard look at some of the practical problems with implementation of the US Trade Act, and make the necessary changes so that trade can flow in a secure and efficient manner.” CTA will continue to work with CBP to resolve these and other security-related issues on a priority basis.

Answer:

FMCSA is seeking your input, how many of you have filed ????

Answer:

Will be taking care of that tomorrow since it is the first day you can make comments, though the comments they are seeking are more in regards to how you feel about the current HOS.
It seems the group that is suppose to be formulating the new HOS all this time has only managed to come up a list of questions they want answered. Once they have gotten feedback they will go to the drawing board.

Answer:



Answer:


The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will be published by the Federal Register on Monday, January 24, 2005,
In the past I've writen and once tomorrow comes we can write again,not that driver input matters.

Answer:

UT and ZZ, Do you honestly feel that chages favouring drivers and owner ops will come about ??

Answer:

Honeslty, no I do not. They (the govt) will take all these comments and toss them out the window and do whatever the people with the most money and lobbyists want them to do.
I think the new HOS will end up being a big blow to driver health and safety, as well as a totally confusing mishmash of mush.

Answer:



Answer:




Answer:



Answer:

This was being discussed on "The Bozo" Friday. Some Hillrod actually called the show and said he was going to let the FMCSA know that the HOS should be changed back to the old way "because it was much easier to figure the hours out when it ws 10. 11 is to hard to do the math. With 10 hours all you have to do when figuring the mileage for the day was take the speed you want to log and add zero, with 11 hours it is too confusing. And it is much harder to figure out how many hours you have left with 11."
I guess a calculator would be too confusing also?
Guys like this commenting is really going to help the cause.

Answer:

PTD, The guy's only got ten fingers .... the only way he can count higher is by standing on a stool.

Answer:

He can probably count to 21 if he's naked

Answer:

I'm going to get on the CB and let my feelings be know. I mean that is where you get the most results right?
PK

Answer:



Answer:


That and whining on Here.