Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 34-hour restart clarification misses another funding bill B oth chambers of Congress on Sept. 28 passed a short-term spending bill to keep the govern- ment funded through Dec. 9. The stopgap spending law warded off a government shutdown, but the bill did not include a provision to clarify the future of hours-of-service regu - lations pertaining to truckers' use of a 34-hour restart. The measure now is likely to be taken up in the 2017 U.S. Department of Transportation appropriations bill or a similar omni - bus spending package for the 2017 fiscal year. Congress earlier had been eyeing the must-pass appropriations bill as a way to attach policy riders, such as the measure to correct an ill-worded 2015-passed bill that put the 34-hour restart in jeopardy. But with time waning, lawmakers skipped padding the short-term package. Time will be tight for lawmakers to pass a dozen 2017 appropriations bills and hammer out an hours-of- service provision. Lawmakers have treated the appropriations process similarly in recent years, passing mid-December omnibus spending packages to fund the government through the next fiscal year. Hours of service – specifically, rules surrounding the 34-hour restart – was included in both December 2014- and 2015-enacted appropriations legislation. – James Jaillet More than 900 drivers placed out-of-service during CVSA Roadcheck I nspectors during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's annual 72-hour International Roadcheck campaign placed 21.5 percent of trucks inspected out-of-service, along with 3.4 percent of drivers, according to numbers released last month by CVSA. Of the 62,796 inspec- tions performed across North America, 42,236 were North American Standard Level I inspections, the most comprehensive inspection level. Brake violations led the way in out-of-service orders, accounting for 45.7 percent of all out-of-service orders issued during the three-day event held June 7-9. Other vehicle-related violations included tires and wheels (18.5 percent of OOS orders), lighting devices (11.8 percent) and cargo securement (6.1 percent). Suspensions, steering mechanisms, frames, driveshafts, coupling devices, fuel systems and exhaust systems each accounted for less than 5 percent of OOS orders. For drivers, hours of service and false logs accounted for 46.8 percent and 16.4 percent of out-of-service orders, respectively. Drivers shut down for drugs and alcohol were down from 2015's Roadcheck numbers, from 2.1 percent to 1 percent this year. Other driver-related violations included improper endorsement (7.7 percent) and disqualified driver behind the wheel (6.2 percent). In all, 908 drivers were placed out-of- service. Also, 13 percent of trucks hauling hazardous materials were placed out-of-service. The top hazmat violations were placarding (33.8 percent), shipping papers (27.6 percent) and loading and securement (26.2 percent). Tire safety was the focus of this year's event, and tire and wheel violations represented 18.5 percent of out-of-service violations. In the United States, 13.7 percent of out-of-service orders were for tire violations. In 2015, 21.6 percent of vehicles and 3.6 per- cent of drivers receiving Level I inspections were placed out-of-service. – Matt Cole Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit ccjdigital.com/ news/subscribe-to- newsletters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a daily e-mail newslet- ter filled with news, analysis, blogs and market condition articles. commercial carrier journal | november 2016 9 In 2015, 21.6 percent of vehicles and 3.6 percent of drivers receiving Level I inspections were placed out-of-service.