Hours-of-service rulemaking delayed

   The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday it has postponed publication of a final rule on hours-of-service for commercial truck drivers at least another month. The agency was required under terms of a court settlement to produce a revised rule by the end of October, but most observers expected the deadline would not be met because the agency had yet to share the draft final rule with the Office of Management and Budget for final review.
   The agency said the parties that brought the lawsuit against the previous rule – namely safety advocates represented by Public Citizen and the Teamsters union – agreed to the extension. It said it will “continue to work toward publishing a final rule as quickly as possible.
   FMCSA and the plaintiffs are scheduled to file a status report with the federal court on Nov. 28.
   The controversial proposal is strongly opposed by the trucking industry, which contends that reducing permissible driving time will require investment in more trucks and drivers. Industry officials say truck-crash fatalities have declined since the hours-of-service rules were last revised in 2004.
   The plaintiffs agreed to suspend their lawsuit in 2009 when the Obama administration agreed to consider revising the rules.
   The situation is unlikely to be resolved when the final rule is published because the American Trucking Associations is expected to file suit against any changes to the current work rules. Public Citizen could also resume its suit if it doesn’t like the outcome.