WASHINGTON — With dust starting to settle after the landmark Supreme Court Chevron decision upended the federal rulemaking process, Republican lawmakers are eager to hear about rules that small-business truckers would like to see challenged.
“I think first and foremost is the speed limiter rule that’s been floated around,” said Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.
The rule, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is looking to cap – potentially at as low as 60 mph for trucks – is scheduled to be published by the FMCSA next year.
“Also, more flexibility in the hours-of-service [rules] would be very helpful, and eliminating the [Department of Labor’s] overtime exemption for driver pay,” Pugh said. “That was put in place in 1938. Truckers right now give away 20, 30 hours a week [due to trucking companies being exempt from having to pay drivers overtime]. That would also help manage the speed and other safety-related issues we’re talking about here.”
With the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine, lower courts no longer have to defer to regulatory expertise – or lack of it – in legal challenges of regulations that agencies have interpreted from congressional statutes that are considered unclear.
“Just in the past two years, we’ve seen some ridiculous rules come down from the Department of Transportation and other agencies, including speed limiters for trucks and greenhouse gas emission rules,” said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., at the hearing on DOT’s regulatory agenda. “Do you think these regulations have been made based on congressional intent?”
“I don’t,” Pugh responded. “I think certain folks want these kinds of things, whether it’s to take away a small business’s advantage to make a profit, like the speed limiter rule that will put small carriers at a competitive disadvantage to large carriers. I think much of this comes from special interest groups who may not have any experience with commercial trucking.”
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., a truck company owner, raised the issue of fraud among towing companies that service heavy trucks. Collins said such companies have been “ripping off the trucking industry for decades.”
Asked by Collins for his comment, Pugh said an OOIDA member recently received a towing bill in Pennsylvania that tacked on a $9,000 “heat and humidity” surcharge and a 10% administration fee in a towing bill that amounted to over $60,000.
FMCSA earlier this year filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission in support of efforts to crack down on tow company price gouging against motor carriers.
Independent contractor rule not a problem
One rule that Pugh and OOIDA would not like to see challenged – a position at odds with counterparts at the American Trucking Associations – is the Biden administration’s independent contractor rule.
ATA has argued that the rule works against the trucking industry’s independent contractor model by potentially raising costs for trucking companies. Under the Department of Labor’s rule, employers have a higher bar to clear in proving that an independent contractor who hauls for a trucking company should not be considered an employee in employment classification disputes.
For OOIDA, however, “we feel it won’t change things,” Pugh said.
“If you’re in a compliant lease working for a carrier with a lease agreement, you will be fine, just like you were prior to the rule. Actually this rule gives more clarity. It’s easier to show that you are independent, in our opinion. So we’re good with the new rule.”
