Dozens of lawmakers call on FMCSA to give truckers hours of service relief five days before an emergency strikes

Lawmakers are calling on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to streamline its regulatory relief process so that the trucking industry can better respond to predicted natural disasters and other emergencies.

U.S. Reps. Mike Bost and Mike Collins, along with 30 other lawmakers, recently called on FMCSA to provide relief from hours of service (HOS) regulations days before a predicted emergency strikes to allow truckers to provide quicker and more consistent relief.

In a June 10 letter to FMCSA Executive Director Sue Lawless, Bost and others asked FMCSA to adopt a new internal policy for providing HOS relief to allow for “the immediate restoration of essential services and supplies in interstate commerce.”

From the letter:

“To make HOS relief most effective, the FMCSA should adopt a preemptive and proactive approach for exemptions, consistent with the statute and its legislative intent to provide timely and predictable relief during emergencies. Specifically, the agency should:

1. Develop internal guidance to facilitate federal declaration of an emergency and trigger automatic relief at least 5 days before a reliably predicted disaster or emergency.

A preemptive policy is crucial for preparedness and recovery efforts. Marketers must keep stations and homes adequately fueled ahead of an emergency or disaster to support evacuations and prepare for forthcoming logistics complications that could result in shortages. Likewise, heating oil marketers and their customers would benefit from advanced preparation to meet increased demand during severe weather events.

2. Implement agency policy on automatic regional relief to promote uniformity in disaster and emergency response.

Having only state-level regulatory relief in response to state and local emergency declarations often creates an uneven regulatory environment and confusion and delay in regional responses to emergencies and disasters, particularly for multi-state suppliers and retailers. A uniform federal approach to regional emergencies is essential to prevent confusion and compliance challenges caused by the piecemeal adoption of state emergency declarations with varying conditions (e.g., heating fuels covered in one state but not in another, and different start and end dates).“

“When communities are staring down the threat of a dangerous emergency, the last thing they should have to worry about is ready access to fuel for their homes and vehicles,” said Bost. “I grew up in a family trucking business; I know red tape and delays at the federal level often make it harder for truckers to do their jobs and deliver their product when it matters most. This commonsense policy change will help keep families safe and spur a quicker recovery during severe weather and supply chain disruptions.”

“When disaster strikes, our fueling stations need to be supplied and ready to provide first responders and everyone in the impacted zone with the power they need to recover and rebuild,” said Collins. “I am proud to join my colleagues in improving disaster response and getting government bureaucracy out of the way of common-sense solutions.”