A new battle in the long legal war over truckers’ hours of service (HOS) is taking place in a federal appellate court in Washington, D.C. today. Nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is attempting to force the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to require what it calls “meaningful limits” on the hours truckers may drive – limits that Congress called for nearly 20 years ago, in an effort to improve transportation safety.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is using National Sleep Awareness Week as an opportunity to remind the transportation industry of the importance of adequate sleep. NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said fatigue is a serious safety issue across all modes of transportation.

This morning, Secretary Ray LaHood announced to the employees of the U.S. Department of Transportation that after serving for four years in President Obama’s Cabinet, he would not be staying on for the second term. The Secretary sent the following email to DOT employees across the country, informing them of his plans:

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman is testifying about pipeline safety today before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Hersman will provide an overview of the NTSB’s ongoing investigation into the cause of a natural gas transmission pipeline rupture that occurred in Sissonville, West Virginia on Dec.11, 2012.

Although Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety regulations will still take precedence, a new FAA proposal for addressing flight attendant workplace safety will allow OSHA to enforce certain occupational safety and health standards currently not covered by FAA oversight.

Here are the top EHS-related news stories of the week from www.ISHN.com:

The National Transportation Safety Board today released its 2013 Most Wanted List, with six of the ten issues focusing on highway travel where most transportation fatalities take place and includes the number one killer on the list: substance-impaired driving.

The U.S. Department of Labor has settled its whistleblower case against Tennessee trucking company Mark Alvis Inc., owner Mark Alvis and dispatcher Jack Taylor for terminating an employee who refused to operate a vehicle because he was ill, fatigued and did not have sufficient remaining hours to complete a delivery.
 

ICC Compliance Center (ICC) is proud to announce its 25 year anniversary as a premier provider of hazmat compliance solutions for regulatory transportation and workplace safety. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is offering courses in disaster response, post-accident communications, and accident investigation in the coming months at its training center just outside Washington: