Pryor, Crawford Introduce Hair Testing Bills

Last week, Senator Pryor (D-AR) and Congressman Crawford (R-AR), along with the rest of the Arkansas delegation and Congressman Ribble (R-WI), introduced bills in the House and Senate directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recognize hair testing as an optional method to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug testing requirements for commercial truck drivers. The bills seek to remove habitual drug users from the driver pool. The legislation does not require carriers to use hair testing; it simply would add hair testing as an acceptable method for carriers to screen for drug use.

Members Introduce New HOS Legislation

On October 31, Congressmen Hanna (R-NY), Rice (R-SC) and Michaud (D-ME) introduced legislation regarding the current hours of service regulations. The bill would do several things. First, it calls for a review of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) 34-hour restart study, which was mandated in MAP-21 and has yet to be completed. The review, to be conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), would be an independent assessment of the methodology that FMCSA used to create the 34-hour restart rules. In addition, the bill would reinstate the HOS rules in effect prior to July 1, 2013, delaying the current rules until after the GAO report has been completed.