Transportation Appropriations Bill Stalls on Senate Floor

The Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill stalled on the floor last week when leaders failed to agree on amendments. Prior to the bill being pulled from consideration, Sen. Susan Collins' (R-ME) amendment – which suspends two Hours of Service (HOS) provisions as  part of the 34-hour restart rule (that a driver take two consecutive 1-5 a.m. periods off duty and that 168 hours pass before a new workweek can be started) – was strongly debated. An attempt to strip the amendment received push back from Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) who spoke strongly in favor of making changes to the HOS rules.

While the 34-hour restart doesn’t affect ready mixed drivers as much as other parts of the rule, willingness to make changes to the HOS regulations from Congress is a good sign for making changes that will benefit the industry - such as the 30-minute break provision. NRMCA continues to work to get HOS provisions changed.

Click here to read the Senate transcript of the discussion. For more information, contact Elizabeth Fox at efox@nrmca.org.