Proposed legislation lands with a "THUD"

Both the House and Senate entered their five-week summer recess without taking action on a piece of legislation that has to have one of the oddest acronyms among the hundreds that are devised each year in the nation's acronym-happy capital: the Transportation Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act of 2014, otherwise known as "THUD." Short and sweet—and surprising, considering that the same folks came up with the verbose title of SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy for Users), which was signed into law in 2005.

Stark differences between the House and Senate versions and the inability of House Republicans to schedule a vote on their offering means a new funding bill is not likely. Before the recess, though, the National Industrial Transportation League (which has on occasion exhibited some sensitivity about its own acronym) urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support an amendment to THUD that would prohibit funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to administer or enforce the new hours-of-service (HOS) rule in regard to rest periods and the use of the 34-hour restart provision.