Iowa truckers protest proposed rule change

About 40 Iowa truck drivers rallied their rigs in Des Moines this morning and formed a convoy to Kansas City. They’re testifying at a federal hearing in Missouri this afternoon against a plan to cut the hours truckers can legally spend in their trucks each day. Truckers are currently allowed to be on duty 15 hours a day, with a maximum of ten hours behind the wheel. Scott Weiser (WY’-zer) is president of the Iowa Motor Truck Association. The new rules would force the maximum number of hours in a trucker’s day to ten hours, cutting productivity by nearly a third. Weiser says it’s a bad plan for many reasons. While the trucking industry is already short about 100-thousand drivers, Weiser says the proposed new federal rules would require the hiring of at least 180-thousand more drivers. He says the change would also add up to 150-thousand trucks to the roads. The Iowa group proposes replacing the current arbitrary rules with a natural 24-hour work-rest cycle which Weiser says would enable truckers to get sufficient rest.