NTTC asks FMCSA for HOS proposal information

March 12, 2003
The National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC) has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to promptly release or otherwise make available

The National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC) has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to promptly release or otherwise make available to the public its latest proposal regarding hours of service regulations.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has signed a settlement agreement with plaintiffs in a court action alleging that DOT failed to issue certain regulations mandated by legislation, says Cliff Harvison, NTTC president. Harvison made the comments in a letter to the FMCSA acting administrator, Annette Sandberg.

As a part of that agreement, DOT has agreed to issue final hours of service rules by May 31, 2003, and set an effective date for those rules no later than 60 days thereafter, says Harvison.

Harvison asked the FMCSA to immediately release that version of the proposed rulemaking most recently forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget for regulatory review.

“Since it is reasonable to anticipate that the amended regulations will (for better or worse) impact driver productivity, it is essential that the carrier sector be given as much lead time as possible in order to plan for compliance and to evaluate the costs of compliance," Harvison says. "For example, carriers, both general freight and specialized, such as the tank truck sector, will have to review thousands of traffic lanes and specific customer service requirements for potential problems."

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