Trucking Industry Lobbies for Regulatory Rollback

With a new set of ears in the White House and a unified Congress, the trucking industry is ramping up its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Championing a wide range of policy goals, industry leaders are hoping to see environmental and labor regulations scaled back, in addition to pushing for hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on infrastructure projects.

The freight transportation industry is looking to bring a host of issues to the table as it works with the administration of President Donald Trump. Issues like an impending mandate for electronic record logging and a review of the Obama administration’s rules on greenhouse gas emissions will likely be at the top of the industry’s agenda.

Industry leaders plan to approach legislators regarding further possible labor rule changes this Congressional session. Lawmakers could act on a proposal to loosen the hours of service requirements previously in place as early as the end of the year, and an act of Congress could terminate the rights of states to impose stricter break time rules than the federal standards.

Lobbyists with the freight transportation industry see an opportunity to revise and revisit many of the nation’s guidelines when it comes to trucking regulations. It became clear that establishing a line of communication with the new administration is one of the industry’s top priorities when officials met with President Trump in late March.

Lax Safety Measures Can Lead to More Truck Accidents

With 31.4 million trucks registered for business purposes in the United States, the prospect of lower regulatory standards related to safety, training and labor practices could be cause for concern for the drivers and passengers on U.S. roads and highways. In 2014, there were six million traffic incidences were reported nationwide, with 476,000 of them involving buses or large trucks.

The reason why regulations like hours of service restrictions are so important is because truck drivers are often under pressure to meet tight shipping deadlines. This could cause them to drive at excessive speeds or stay out on the road for a long period of time, leading to fatigue. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) cites this as one of the most common causes of truck crashes across the United States.

To that end, the FMCSA requires all truck drivers to keep thorough logs, keeping track of how much time they spend on the road, when they took rest breaks and when they used their sleeper berths, among other items. If drivers fail to properly log this information or violate federal rules, they may create a highly dangerous situation for the people with whom they share they road.