By Cian Cashin

With the crumbs of Thanksgiving swept away, Congress returns to “work.”  Our legislators have a lot more than crumbs left on their plates, however.  The same glut of legislative work that was on their platters before the holiday remains – uncured, unkempt, and embodies a political catastrophe to conclude before the end of the year.  Before the recess, the Senate had provided an inconclusive and vague volley at reauthorizing surface transportation programs (MAP-21).  The House had made initial indications that they too were interested in addressing their surface transportation proposal prior to the end of the year. Congressional aides have since indicated that the hopes of accomplishing this are rapidly dwindling. The slow pace of action on MAP-21 has all but stopped due to the fact that the legislation remained contingent on finding a solution for the $12 billion revenue gap in the bill. No solution has come forward, and the bill continues to languish after Committee approval due to the fact that it still needs approval from numerous other Committees (including Banking and Finance) prior to floor consideration. The current extension (PL 112-30) keeps surface transportation programs running through March. Considering how many other measures the nation needs in terms of economic relief, action on reauthorization measures prior to passage of the spending bills is unlikely.  The Congress simply has too much left on its plate.

The debate over the feasibility and merit of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) rules dictating the hours of service that truckers can legally drive without resting continues this week.  The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing this week to bolster the notion that the rules would place serious economic restrictions on transportation companies and private haulers during busy financial seasons such as the holidays – augmenting statements by the American Trucking Associations that the rule would serve as an impediment not only to truckers and companies, but ultimately to keeping consumer prices low in times of economic duress.  The rule has met with numerous challenges. Safety advocates brought suit against the rule in 2008 when the draft rule reduced the maximum allowable driving hours within an on-duty day from 11 to 10.  Regulators were supposed to have the rule in place in July, but extended the comment period in April after the release of new studies on fatigue mitigation. As the debate continues, safety advocates, and those representing the business and economic interests of the industry remain at extensive ends of the spectrum with little narrowing of the ideological divide.