New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker unveiled an amendment to a fiscal 2015 funding bill June 18 that would undo a provision that would suspend for one year a rule that puts limits on the time truckers can operate on roadways.
This week, the full Senate is considering an expansive spending bill that includes proposed funding for transportation programs, and over the past few days, Booker promised to offer his amendment. The exact wording hasn鈥檛 been finalized.
鈥淭ruck accidents are on the rise, and driver fatigue is a leading cause,鈥 Booker said.
Fellow New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez is a co-sponsor. Other co-sponsors, all Democrats, are West Virginia鈥檚 Jay Rockefeller, Connecticut鈥檚 Richard Blumenthal, New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, California鈥檚 Dianne Feinstein and Ohio鈥檚 Sherrod Brown.
The bill鈥檚 managers have indicated Booker鈥檚 amendment will be considered June 19. The amendment would undo a proposal by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that was adopted at a committee hearing by a bipartisan vote of 21-9.
Collins鈥 proposal would call for not funding last year鈥檚 changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration鈥檚 hours-of-service restart rules while the agency studies the rule and justifies its safety claims to Congress.
The rule took effect last summer. It mandates that truck drivers听have a 34-hour resting period between workweeks and include two consecutive听1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. periods during that restart time off.
