A Nov. 30 congressional hearing on the proposed hours-of-service rule indicated most subcommittee members believe it would represent an unjustified financial burden on the trucking industry.

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending held “The Price of Uncertainty: How Much Could DOT’s Proposed Billion Dollar Service Rule Cost Consumers This Holiday Season?”

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has said it expects to issue the delayed final rule before Dec. 28.

Among subcommittee members, the only backing for the proposal appeared to be from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, (D-Ohio) and Rep. Jackie Speier, (D-Calif.), who hosted a pre-hearing press conference in favor of it.

Kucinich used Nagle Companies’ safety record to make a point, as Ed Nagle III, head of the Ohio-based company, was a hearing witness. Nagle’s driver out-of-service record is 10.2 percent, compared with the national average of 5.5 percent.

Nagles said that by the last FMCSA audit, he had fired most of the problem drivers and issued a last warning to the ones who remained. Some of the drivers’ HOS violations resulted from time spent seeking available truck parking after being detained during a pick-up or delivery, he said.