Congress, in passing the FAST Act a few months ago, may have inadvertently killed the “34 hour restart rule” Apparently, and according to CCJDigital.com,
The restart-specific language in the 2016 appropriations act was only intended to continue the stay of enforcement on two provisions pertaining to the 34-hour restart: The requirement that it include two 1 a.m. to 5 .m. periods and that its use be limited to once per week.
Instead, congress inserted language that neuters the provision. Now trucking regulators cannot “implement, administer, or enforce sections 395.3(c) and 395.3(d) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations…“
Oops.
The 34-hour restart rule is probably a good thing. And the ATA is urging Congress to fix this mistake quickly. The Truckload Carriers Association is urging their members to continue unchanged until we know more…
This story, however funny it is (and there definitely is element of humor to it) is also scary. With all those representatives and senators and with each of them having staffs, how did they all miss this? What else did they miss? How often do they miss bigger stuff? But in all seriousness, who is regulating the regulators?
Thanks for reading.