MITA Pushes To Make Changes Before New Year
A MITA-led effort to reinstate a construction industry hours of service exemption for intrastate truck drivers is on it’s way to the governor.
This week, the state Senate followed the lead of the House in passing legislation critical to the heavy construction industry.
House Bill 6663, sponsored Rep Phil LaJoy (R-Canton Twp.), would create expanded hours of service opportunities for intrastate truck drivers. A previous exemption, in place since 1990, allowed expanded driving time but was removed last year under the belief that the state law did not comply with federal regulations.
Last spring, MITA began working on this issue with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) in Washington, D.C. and Marty Leavitt of Sullivan & Leavitt, who represents the Michigan Aggregate Haulers Association. A federal exemption became evident that allowed the state to offer expanding driving time hours for “seasonal construction-related activities” traveling within the Michigan only. After getting the green light from the FMCSA that such an exemption was allowed, MITA worked to introduce legislation to address the concerns of the construction industry while still meeting the federal requirements. With momentum building, MITA has been pushing hard for these changes to be enacted before the new year and before the change in legislative leadership in January.
According to the new rules, a truck driver could be on duty for up to 70 hours in 7 days or 80 hours in 8 days and would be allowed to be on duty for up to 16 hours and to drive up to 12 hours each work day (while staying within the weekly limitations).
The governor is expected to sign this legislation into law.
If you have any questions, please contact Mike Nystrom, Vice President of Government & Public Relations at mikenystrom@mi-ita.com or Keith Ledbetter, Director of Legislative Affairs at keithledbetter@mi-ita.com , or call the MITA office at (517) 347-8336.
