Legislation introduced last week in the U.S. Senate would revise existing trucking regulations to make the rules more flexible for drivers hauling livestock, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
The “Modernizing Agricultural Transportation Act” would establish a working group at the Department of Transportation to examine the federal Hours of Service rules and the Electronic Logging Device regulations. The Hours of Service rules limit commercial truckers to 11 hours of driving time and 14 consecutive hours of on-duty time in any 24-hour period. Once drivers reach that limit, they must pull over and wait ten hours before driving again. Electronic Logging Devices record driving data, to enforce the rules.
The legislation requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish a working group within 120 days to identify obstacles to the “safe, humane, and market-efficient transport of livestock, insects, and other perishable agricultural commodities” and to develop guidelines and recommendations for regulatory or legislative action to improve the transportation of those commodities.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.