The American Trucking Associations (ATA) recently praised Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Bruce Westerman (R-AR) for introducing the Honest Operators Undertake Road Safety Act. The act would provide common sense hours-of-service relief and flexibility for professional truck drivers.
“Now that the trucking industry is coming into full compliance with the electronic logging mandate, the next step in improving truck safety and supply chain efficiency is to use the data these ELDs collect to make needed improvements to the underlying hours-of-service rules,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said. “Congressman Crawford has been a leader on these issues, and a passionate advocate for drivers and carriers of all sizes, so we are proud to support this important legislation that will provide flexibility for millions of drivers while enhancing truck safety.”
Under the act, drivers hauling livestock or agricultural products are exempt from the hours-of-service rules within 150 air-miles of the source of their load. Additionally, drivers that operate exclusively within 150 air-miles of their reporting location and complete their workday in 14 hours are exempt from using electronic logging devices, reducing the number of supporting documents drivers must fill out, and accelerating efforts to provide flexibility in how drivers who take off-duty periods in sleeper berths split their rest time.