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December 20, 2000 10:40 AM, EST

Transport ministers may approve a plan that includes more restrictive hours-of-service regulations for overseas truckers and a weekend ban on trucks travelling international roads.

Gilles Gantelet, a spokesman for the European Union, said the proposal could be approved at a Dec. 20 meeting of the EU’s Transport and Energy Commission.

The proposal, introduced Nov. 22, includes truck drivers in the 48-hour-per-week work limits the EU imposes on most other workers.

Under the plan, truckers could drive up to 60 hours every week as long as the four-month average came out to 48 hours per week. Owner-operators would be exempted from the regulations for three years after company drivers had to comply. The commission has not agreed upon an implementation date yet.

For the full story, see the Dec. 18 print edition of Transport Topics. .