By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

QUINCY, Ill. — The key to successfully and safely transporting animals over the road is to keep trailers in motion, to provide as much ventilation as possible while reducing drive time, according to the livestock industry.

This is the impetus behind a petition involving more than 60 livestock and farm groups recently submitted to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), calling for an expansion of daily drive time allowed for livestock haulers.

While current regulations cap drive time limits at 11 hours per day with a 14-hour on-duty limit, the groups – including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. (NCBA), Livestock Marketing Assoc. and American Farm Bureau Federation – are calling for 15 hours of drive time and 16-hour on-duty period, following a 10-hour consecutive rest period.

“We are concerned that the 11- and 14-hour rules were not drafted with livestock haulers in mind and thus do not accommodate the unique character of their loads and the nature of their trips,” and “place the well-being of livestock at risk during transport and impose significant burdens on livestock haulers,” the petition reads, in part.

The hours-of-service (HOS) regulations currently in place for truckers are antiquated and do not reflect the realities of hauling livestock and other live cargo, according to cattle and hog farmer Tim Maiers, who owns and operates Maiers Ag Service in Adams County, Ill.

“You cannot leave livestock or live animals on a trailer for 10 hours when you are forced to stop. Bad weather, road conditions and other factors sometimes prohibit haulers from reaching their destinations on time,” he explained. “The groups are looking for a permanent fix that would still address road safety, while prioritizing animal safety.”

The groups concede the majority of livestock hauls can be concluded within the timeframe currently allowed without significant stops that limit airflow.

“However, unfortunately for livestock located in or heading to states outside the center of the country, this is not the case,” the petition states. “Leaving animals on a trailer and exposed to suffer the elements, lack of ventilation and potential injury is unacceptable.”

Under current regulations, drivers often feel pressured to press on when feeling fatigued. Under the groups’ proposal, drivers would be granted leeway to take short breaks that do not count against their daily driving limit, placing greater discretion in the hands of the operators.

“The clock should not dictate when these drivers need to stop,” said Maiers. “They are looking for a common-sense approach on how to address when to stop and when to continue on, based on the situation.”

From his farm in Payson in western Illinois, he usually hauls his cattle to a livestock market in Bowling Green, Mo., a trip of only around one hour. Buyers at the market, however, are often faced with transporting cattle they purchase in Missouri long distances – say, to Texas – and he thinks the current rules restrict the market for Midwest cattle.

“Livestock travel quite a bit across this country and livestock haulers have a good safety record,” he noted. “We are now asking for a more common-sense approach to this.”

Maiers was referring to a 2014 FMCSA analysis that found livestock haulers, while accounting for 6.6 percent of all commercial drivers from 2013-15, were involved in fewer than 1 percent of truck-involved fatal collisions.

“Livestock haulers are highly-trained professionals who take careful steps to ensure the safety of everyone on the road,” said Kevin Kester, NCBA president and a fifth-generation rancher. “Through this petition, we hope to work with DOT to build on our industry’s strong safety record and provide haulers with some additional relief from overly-restrictive HOS requirements.”

The petition was received by the DOT and FMCSA on Oct. 15. Other groups signing included the American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Assoc. and National Aquaculture Assoc.