| The Madness of the
Hours Of Service Rulemaking |
| 12.19.2007
- Lamont
Byrd, the Teamsters Director of Safety and
Health addressed the Senate surface transportation subcommittee.
It was reported that Mr Byrd made the following statement: |
| "The FMCSA is
more concerned about the economic viability of the trucking industry
than about the safety and health of the drivers in this
rulemaking," |
|
| Here at the Road Drivers
Weekly News we submit that Mr. Byrd and the Teamsters need to
direct their statements where it belongs. In the court
system. |
| Legislators and rule makers
are doing what industry leaders want them to do. The Teamsters
and the Public Citizen Organization were sucessful on this issue
in the courts. Mary Peters, the Secretary of Transportation
(that was appointed in September 2006 by President Bush) and the
FMCSA is a redundant arm of presidential rhetoric. |
| Teamsters
General President Jim Hoffa was very direct with his statement
on the issue: |
| "The
Bush administration doesn’t care if unsafe Mexican
trucks or exhausted truck drivers endanger everyone
traveling on our highways." |
|
| John H. Hill, Administrator
for the FMCSA also addressed the Senate surface transportation
subcommittee. In his submitted report he came to the following
conclusion: |
| We will examine
comments to our recently published IFR (interim final
rule) and will pursue any evidence that suggests that
the 11-hour allowable driving time and 34-hour restart
is resulting in any increase of CMV fatalities. Our
responsibility to the traveling public demands that we
promote safety. |
|
| Today, the FMCSA Strategic
Plan 2006-2011 was introduced by John H. Hill, FMCSA
Administrator. I yawned at the introduction as it is nothing
more than more bureaucratic nonsense. |
| So the madness continues.
Since the 2003 implementation, still no final rule, that was
mandated to be in place by 2008. Just another head banger. |
|
|
| reports
sources: |
| http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/testimony/tst-121907.htm |
| http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/fmcsa-strategic-plan-102907.htm |
| http://www.dot.gov/bios/peters.htm |
