Despite many court challenges and pleas for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to delay the July 1st new Hours of Service rule enforcement, Anne Ferro, head of the FMCSA, says there will be no postponement. “It’s been out for 15 months now. That’s lots of time to prepare. The changes offer safety benefits that reduce cumulative fatigue among truckers, making it a very important rule to move forward on”, Anne Ferro said.
If the new Hours of Service rule is enforced on July 1st, it will force truck drivers to take a thirty minute break before driving over 8 hours. The rule also states that the drivers are limited to a restart once every seven days, and it will have to include two periods from 1am to 5am. Those opposed to the rule, and there are many, want to either have the rule overturned, or have the 11-hour driving day cut to 10 hours and remove the restart. The American Trucking Association requested a delay in January, saying that, “preparing for the rule would cost the trucking industry roughly $320 million.” The FMCSA denies that the cost of implementation will be so high.