Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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commercial carrier journal | february 2016 21 JOURNAL NEWS Amendment would allow 33-foot doubles A U.S. House amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 would, in part, allow for 33-foot double trailers. Introduced Jan. 12 by Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), the amendment would amend the U.S. code to increase the permissible length of doubles from 28 to 33 feet. Congress, with the passage of the FAST Act highway bill in December, removed language in a previous version of the bill that would have allowed for 33-foot doubles. The omnibus appropriations deal that passed in December also didn't include language for 33-foot doubles that had been included in previous versions of the bill. The American Trucking Associations generally has supported measures to increase size and weight limits on trucks, while the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters Union have voiced their opposition to size and weight increases. – Matt Cole 34-hour restart study complete, Darling says A congressionally required study of truck operators and the 2013-instituted 34-hour restart regula- tions has been completed and is now under review by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of the Secretary, said Scott Darling, nomi- nated administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, at a Jan. 20 Senate hearing. Reimplementation of the rules, sus- pended by Congress in late 2014, is contingent on the study's completion and review by DOT, the Office of the Inspector General and Congress itself. Darling couldn't offer lawmakers an exact timeline on the study's move- ment from DOT to OIG and Congress, but Darling called the report "one of the best studies" ever done on hours- of-service regulations. Darling testified before the Senate's Commerce and Science Committee for nearly an hour as the next step in his nomination process. President Obama nominated Darling to head FMCSA last August, a post made vacant by former Administrator Anne Ferro's resignation in August 2014. For Darling to head the agency on a permanent basis, he must be confirmed by the Senate. Prior to that, the Senate's Commerce and Science Committee will vote on whether to send Darling's con- firmation to the full Senate. That vote has not yet been scheduled. – James Jaillet For Scott Darling, left, to head FMCSA on a permanent basis, he must be confirmed by the Senate. Congress removed language in a previous version of the FAST Act that would have allowed for 33-foot doubles.