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NCBA pleased with progress on an exemption for livestock haulers

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is pleased progress has been made to add regulatory flexibility for livestock haulers. Allison Rivera, NCBA’s executive director of government affairs says one-sized-fits-all government regulations don’t always work, especially when it comes to the most humane and safe transportation of live animals. “Adding this backend, 150 air mile exemption to what we already have on the front end, gives us that flexibility that we’ve continued to ask for,” she says. “We are very grateful to Congress for the step forward.”

She tells Brownfield the backend 150 air-mile exemption from hours-of-service has been adopted into the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021.  “Through some tough negotiations we ended up with some language we’re very pleased about, and our producers are very happy to see this backend 150,” she says.  “But there is more work to be done to get this across the finish line.”

Rivera says the exemptions are not compromising the safety of drivers on the road.  “If livestock haulers were out there driving in an unsafe manner, FMCSA, the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, would not continue to give us that much-needed exemption,” she says. 

Rivera says there is a lot of bipartisan support behind the effort.  The Surface Transportation Investment Act now heads to the Senate floor.  Current hours-of-service rules allow for 11 hours of drive time. 14 hours of on-duty time, and then requires 10 consecutive hours of rest.  The HAULS Act language adopted into the Surface Transportation Act would add a 150 air-mile radius exemption under HOS regulations to the backend of hauls for those transporting livestock. 

AUDIO: Allison Rivera, NCBA