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 NASSTRAC Files Comments on Hours of Service  
 Release Date 3/20/2008     
   
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  Contact: NASSTRAC Communications Manager, 952/442-8850, ext. 206, News@NASSTRAC.org
   
  NASSTRAC Files Comments on Hours of Service
   
  MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Continuing an involvement dating back to 2000, NASSTRAC again filed comments on March 17, 2008 with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration supporting FMCSA’s proposed rules on truck driver Hours of Service. NASSTRAC is a shipper’s association that provides advocacy, education, connections and solutions for professionals involved in all areas of transportation.

The latest proposed rules essentially preserve the status quo, which has led to falling highway crash and fatality rates for commercial trucks, taking into account increases in vehicle miles driven. Though FMCSA procedures have been challenged successfully by safety advocates, the HOS rules themselves, which have been in effect since 2004, properly balance the need for safety and the needs of truckers, shippers, and the economy as a whole for timely delivery of goods.

Central to NASSTRAC’s comments is the importance of trucking in just-in-time supply chains. Reductions in Hours of Service as sought by safety advocates would disrupt just-in-time manufacturing and distribution. The nation would need more trucks and congestion to serve current and future needs. Alternatively, shippers would have to create and warehouse unnecessary “safety stock,” transforming low-inventory “just-in-time” operations into high-inventory “just-in-case” operations, and reversing decades of efficiency gains.

FMCSA’s decision is expected by the end of 2008, and another court challenge by safety advocates is regarded as likely. For more information or to view NASSTRAC’s most recent filing, visit http://www.NASSTRAC.org, then click “Recent Filings” under “News.”




   
  NASSTRAC provides education, advocacy, connections and solutions for professionals involved in all areas of transportation, ranging from full truckload and LTL to containerization and global logistics.