HOS unites truckers, shippers

   The Department of Transportation’s hours-of-service rule is directly aimed at the motor carrier industry, regulating how long a truck or bus driver can spend behind the wheel on any given day or week. But the interest by shippers in the rule, which was modified a few weeks ago to shorten weekly duty limits, shows how transportation issues don’t exist in isolation, but are part of integrated supply chains upon which businesses depend.
   On Feb. 1, at least 10 industry associations will participate in a “Stand Up for Trucking” event in which members will fly into Washington for a series of legislative briefings and coordinated meetings with key members of Congress and their staffs. Participants include NASSTRAC, representing transportation and logistics managers for companies that purchase freight transportation services; the American Trucking Associations; Transportation Intermediaries Association; National Industrial Transportation League; Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Forest Resources Association.
   Other issues on their collective mind are passage of a new surface transportation reauthorization plan to guide infrastructure investment for several years and efficiently raising more money to maintain the system.
   The overall message of the coalition is that safety needs to be improved without undermining the productivity of the carriers that support economic activity. — Eric Kulisch