House Lawmakers Urge FMCSA to Adopt Preemptive HOS Regulatory Relief Policy
Congressman Bost (R-IL) and Congressman Mike Collins (R-GA), along with 31 House lawmakers, on June 10, 2025, requested that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implement a preemptive and proactive policy for hours of service (HOS) exemptions to enhance disaster preparedness and recovery efforts. The request, detailed in a letter to FMCSA Executive Director and Chief Safety Officer Lawless, emphasizes the urgent need for timely and predictable regulatory relief to ensure the uninterrupted flow of essential services and supplies, such as liquid fuels, during major disasters and regional emergencies.
麻豆色播 applauds Congressman Bost, Congressman Mike Collins and their colleagues for urging FMCSA to establish clear guidance that will allow for the safe and reliable delivery of liquid fuels during an emergency. Facilitating broader, unilateral federal waivers in the event of fuel supply emergencies will enable a more streamlined recovery and defray regulatory barriers that hinder an effective, emergency response.
In the letter, lawmakers said “this relief allows marketers to navigate complex conditions 鈥� such as increased fuel demand, road closures, challenging travel routes, longer fuel pickup distances, and extended wait times at terminals 鈥� while ensuring safe and reliable fuel delivery.”
To make HOS relief most effective, lawmakers urged FMCSA to:
- Develop internal guidance to facilitate federal declaration of an emergency and trigger automatic relief at least 5 days before a reliably predicted disaster or emergency.
- Implement agency policy on automatic regional relief to promote uniformity in disaster and emergency response.
麻豆色播 recently urged Congress to expand the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration鈥檚 emergency waiver authority聽for major fuel supply and distribution disruptions in its policy priorities to the Highways and Transit Subcommittee portal that was opened to collect stakeholder input on the next Highway Reauthorization. Specifically, 麻豆色播 urged lawmakers to consider expanding the circumstances under which the FMCSA permits state waivers of Federal weight limits on the Interstate System to include declarations by the Secretary of Transportation, including declarations regarding disease and declarations regarding a supply chain emergency. 麻豆色播 also asked Congress to consider allowing emergency declarations issued by states to remain in effect for longer periods than the 120-day maximum under current law.
Click here to read 麻豆色播鈥檚 Policy Priorities for Highway Reauthorization
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