Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/15/18


The National Pork Producers Council submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), supporting revisions to existing federal trucking regulations that would allow livestock haulers to comply with the rules while maintaining standards for animal welfare.

Meanwhile, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and other representing bee and fish haulers submitted a petition to the DOT also requesting additional flexibility on Hours of Service requirements. The petition asks for a five-year exemption from certain requirements and encourages DOT to work with the livestock industry to implement additional fatigue-management practices.

Current Hours of Service rules that restrict driving time for long-haul drivers often run counter to the need for livestock haulers to get live animals to their destination within a specific timeframe. Once drivers reach the limit, they must wait 10 hours before driving again.

NPPC, in its comments, asked the DOT to expand the driving-time limit for livestock haulers from 11 hours to 14 hours; add an exemption from the driving-time limit for “adverse driving conditions,” which should be defined to include not only incidences of rain, snow, ice and traffic disruptions but also excessive temperatures that would stress animals and prevent trucks from stopping; and allow livestock haulers in trucks with sleeper berths to break up the required 10-hour rest period into three separate periods, provided that at least one is a minimum of six hours.

In its petition, NCBA asked that livestock haulers be granted approval to drive up to 15 hours with a 16-hour on-duty period, following a 10-hour consecutive rest period. Any livestock hauler wishing to operate under the extended drive time would be required to complete pre-trip planning and increased fatigue-management training.

NPPC also asked the transportation agency to streamline the process for restoring “satisfactory” safety ratings for livestock haulers who are otherwise in compliance with the HOS rules’ safety and paperwork requirements. Often as a result of caring for animals rather than strictly adhering to the HOS regulations, NPPC said, some drivers have had their safety ratings downgraded from “satisfactory” to “conditional.” That has reduced the pool of available drivers and increased barriers for livestock haulers to remain in business.

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