December 15, 2000 

I.          STATEMENT OF INTEREST  

These comments are submitted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. (“OOIDA” or “Association”) in response to the notice of proposed rule making, (NPRM); request for comments, Hours of Service of Drivers; Driver Rest and Sleep for Safe Operations, 49 CFR Parts 350, 390, 394, 395, and 398. , Docket No., FMCSA-97-2350; formerly FHWA-97-2350 and MC-96-28.

The notice announces the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's proposal to revise the hours-of-service regulations to require motor carriers to provide drivers with better opportunities to obtain sleep, reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driving while drowsy, and reduce CMV crashes.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 1973 under the laws of the State of Missouri, with its principal place of business in Grain Valley, Missouri.  The more than 58,000 members of OOIDA are small business men and women in all 50 states and Canada who collectively own and operate more than 90,000 individual heavy-duty trucks and small truck fleets.  Owner-operators represent nearly half of the total number of Class 7 and 8 trucks operated in the United States.   It has been estimated that owner-operators account for approximately forty (40) percent of all inter-city truck traffic in the United States and that the number of owner-operators totals in the hundreds of thousands. 

The mailing address of the Association is:

Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc.
311 R.D. Mize Rd.
Grain Valley, Missouri 64029
www.ooida.com

OOIDA is the international trade association representing the interests of independent owner-operators and professional drivers on all issues that affect small business truckers. 

The Association actively advocates the views of small business truckers through its interaction with state and federal government agencies, legislatures, the courts, other trade associations, and private businesses to advance an equitable environment for commercial drivers. OOIDA is active in all aspects of highway safety and transportation policy, and represents the positions of small business truckers in numerous committees and various forums on the local, state, national, and international levels.  The revision of hours of service regulations directly affects the livelihood of owner-operators and professional drivers, including OOIDA members.

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