back to the future

Although the new truck drivers' hours-of-service (HOS) rule has only been in effect for a few months, some truckers have decided they're ready to turn back the clock. The International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) has asked Congress to support a bill that would allow short-haul truck drivers to operate under some of the old HOS regulations instead of the new rule that took effect in January.

The association, made up of private warehouse and third-party logistics providers, argues that the new rule, which reduces the maximum on-duty time from 15 hours to 14 hours per shift, creates a hardship for short-haul truckers. "This imposition of an inflexible, 14 consecutive hours on-duty limit gives no consideration as to how much of the on-duty time an operator may actually spend in non-driving activities," said IWLA President and CEO Joel Hoiland in a statement. "A larger proportion of a short-haul driver's time is spent waiting for loads to be taken on or off his truck."

The IWLA advocates adopting a proposal by Rep. John Boozman that would allow short-haul operators to comply with HOS under the old rule, which did not count non-driving activities as on-duty time.