Teamsters, Safety Groups File Lawsuit to Reverse Hours of Service Regulations

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined highway safety groups today in filing a lawsuit challenging the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations after waiting five months in vain for the government to respond to their original challenge.

“We refuse to wait any longer for the government to rule on our challenge—we are stepping up the fight against these regulations that put Teamster drivers at greater risk,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

In late September 2005, the Teamsters and the safety groups filed a Petition for Reconsideration asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to re-evaluate several aspects of the new rule. The new rule took effect October 1, 2005 with a transition period for compliance through December 31, 2005.

Today, the Teamsters and safety groups pulled their petition and filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The new rule is almost identical to the old rule and two additional changes the FMCSA made—the sleeper berth modification and the new short haul provision—put Teamster drivers at greater risk, Hoffa said.

The Teamsters filed a separate petition to address the sleeper berth modification, which was denied by the FMCSA on December 5, 2005. Earlier this month, the Teamsters joined a similar lawsuit over that issue to challenge the FMCSA’s denial.

The new sleeper berth provision requires an eight-hour rest period, forcing a team driver to “rest” for eight hours in a moving truck, with engine noise, vibration and other distractions around them.

The lawsuit filed today takes issue with the agency over the new short haul provision—a change that could potentially force hundreds of thousands of delivery drivers, operating within a 150-mile air radius of their reporting station, into a 14-hour on-duty period, with two 16-hour days allowed in a seven-day period.

These drivers would not be required to keep logbooks of their time behind the wheel. The Teamsters fought a similar Wal-Mart backed legislative proposal when Congress considered the highway bill early last year.

The union also opposes the 34-hour restart—a provision that resets the driver’s clock after a 34-hour rest period. In a seven-day period, this puts drivers behind the wheel 14 hours longer with considerably less rest than the old rules. The union also takes issue with the agency for keeping the 11-hour driving time, an additional hour than previously allowed under the old HOS rules.