The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended the exemption for livestock haulers from the Hours of Service rules through the end of November of this year. Nebraska Pork Producer’s Association’s Executive Director Al Juhnke says while the temporary extension is welcome, a permanent exemption for livestock haulers is what’s needed. He says the present HOS rules don’t work well for livestock haulers.

He says the primary concern of livestock haulers is keeping the animals they’re transporting safe.

Juhnke says the safety record for those who transport livestock is very high and part of that reason is that they’ve gone through extensive safety training above what a Commercial Drivers License requires.

Current Hours of Service Rules allow for 11 hours of drive time, 14 hours of on duty time and then require ten consecutive hours of rest.