New HOS Regulations — Safer Roads, or Just More Expensive?

The new FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin­is­tra­tion) HOS (Hours of Service) rules go into effect July 2013. The question is, who will they affect and how effective will they be?

The new rules were intro­duced to reduce accidents involving motor carriers. Industry advocate ATA (American Trucking Asso­ci­a­tions) has appealed the decision lobbying for the reg­u­la­tions to remain the same. ATA claims the existing rules already are effective in reducing motor carrier accidents. “Since these rules went into effect in 2004, highway fatal­i­ties in truck-involved accidents have fallen 29.9%, even as overall miles traveled for trucks have risen sub­stan­tially,” ATA Chairman Dan England said.

What is the Economic Impact?

It depends. Some dedicated carriers, who already limit driver hours and miles, may be unaf­fected. For example, Cardinal Logistics appre­ci­ates the new rules. “Any law that further pro­fes­sion­al­izes our industry and gets the right people driving on the highway and gets the wrong people off of the highways, we’re a massive fan of,” says Cardinal chairman, Vin McLoughlin.

On the other side, Transport Topics said, “The new proposal will do the most harm by altering the 34-hour restart provision, the portion of the rule that permits drivers to begin a new workweek.”

According to trans­porta­tion analyst John Larkin of stifel.com, “The new restart rule could produce a 17% reduction in the­o­ret­i­cal work time per week for these carriers. If you’re trying to run hard in a tra­di­tional irregular route market, from 700-mile to 1,200-mile length of haul, the new rule really throws a crimp into your pro­duc­tiv­ity.”

Stiff New Penalties*

• Drivers may be placed out-of-service (shut down) at roadside until the driver has accu­mu­lated enough off-duty time to be back in com­pli­ance;
• State and local enforce­ment officials may assess fines.
• FMCSA may levy civil penalties on driver or carrier, ranging from $1,000 to $11,000 per violation, depending on severity.
• The carrier’s safety rating can be down­graded for a pattern of vio­la­tions.
• Federal criminal penalties can be brought against carriers who knowingly and willfully allow or require HOS vio­la­tions, or drivers who knowingly and willfully violate the HOS reg­u­la­tions.
* Provided by fmcsa.dot.gov.

Who Do the Rules Affect?

The new rules affect almost everyone. If motor carrier accidents are reduced — all motorist, insurance carriers, and trans­porta­tion industry vendors will be affected.

If trans­porta­tion costs increase due to the new rules, this would ulti­mately be passed on to consumers.

What are your thoughts on the new HOS rules and how will they affect you and your business?