Trucking hours-of-service final rule under review at OMB

Major changes to federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations have been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review after two years of revisions and thousands of public comments. Jim Mullen, Acting Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), announced the progress today at the annual meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association in Orlando, Florida. “We think it is a very big deal,” Mullen said in an interview with FreightWaves at the conference. “It’s essentially the last stage in the final rulemaking process.” The data sent to OMB, Mullen said, “strongly suggests modifications in the final rule, and the core basis of this effort is to provide greater flexibility to drivers but at the same time ensuring, if not improving, their safety.”