WASHINGTON – ATA President and CEO Bill Graves has asked Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to push for a stay of the Court of Appeals ruling on Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations, stating there was “no compelling safety reason” to eliminate the two provisions the Court challenged. ATA released a letter from Graves to Secretary Peters at a recent press conference at the National Press Club.

On July 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the 11-hour driving time provision and the 34-hour restart provision of the HOS regulations. The Court’s decision did not say the new rules were unsafe. It said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) did not follow procedures in approving the new rules.

The number of deaths from large truck-involved crashes declined by 4.7 percent in 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That year was the first full year for which the 2005 HOS regulations were in effect, and the decrease is the largest drop in 14 years.

“ATA asks that you and your staff work with FMCSA and the Department of Justice to, first and foremost, file a timely motion with the Court requesting either a stay of the decision or a remanded (to FMCSA) without the court vacating the 11-hour driving rule and the 34-hour restart provision. There is no compelling safety reason for these two elements of the rule to be vacated,” Graves said.

The 2005 HOS regulations should be reviewed in their totality, according to Graves. While they ALLOW one additional hour of driving time, they MANDATE two additional hours of rest. The reality is that trucking is as safe as ever operating under these new rules.