GOP congressmen protest LaHood's truckers' hours of work restrictions

LETTERS from 150 members of Congress to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood are calling on him to drop proposed hours of work restrictions for truckers.


The letters from 122 US representatives and 23 senators support the American Trucking Associations' campaign against the DOT's work-hour proposal, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.


All of the senators and 116 politicians were Republicans. "The rules currently in place are working well and do not need to be changed," the letters said.


The congressional letters were the latest move in an American Trucking Associations (ATA) campaign against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's plan to cut driver hours, said the report.


The ATA wants to keep the current 11-hour driving limit, 14-hour on-duty limit and 34-hour restart provision. The FMCSA is mulling whether to limit driving to 10 hours a day, on-duty work to 13 hours and change the restart provision.


Chiefly in favour of the restrictions are social action groups, environmentalists and the Teamsters union while those against the new rules are the independent owner-operators of trucks, whose hours of work would be restricted.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)