WASHINGTON — Trucking won its biggest legislative victory of the year Oct. 3 when a key congressional panel officially prohibited the Department of Transportation from altering the industry’s work rules for at least 12 months.
The panel ordered DOT to work with the trucking industry and safety groups to devise a new plan for reforming the hours-of-service regulations that have governed trucking for more than 60 years.
“This victory achieves the American Trucking Associations’ objectives of stopping the current potentially disastrous proposal, while keeping intact the process for achieving sound hours-of-service reform,” said a spokesman for ATA, which spearheaded the industry’s opposition.
The joint conference committee adopted a transportation appropriations bills that includes the work rules prohibition and sent it for formal ratification by the House and Senate.
For the full story, see the Oct. 9 print edition of Transport Topics. .