The reinstatement will not change the wages of those already working under contract. So far, the federal government has awarded $50 million in relief contracts. But it should make the contracting process from here on out more transparent and ensure displaced workers are first in line to rebuild their communities.

The Bush administration put us all in peril with a change to the rules governing the number of hours that truck companies can force their drivers to work. The Bush administration's rule allowed companies to game the system and force truckers to work up to 77 hours in a seven-day period. When the rule was rejected by a federal court, the administration ran to Congress and won a temporary legislative reprieve. Instead of taking the time to devise a better rule that would keep America safe, the administration has been pushing its vision of a free-for-all for trucking companies. The White House endorsed industry's request for a Wal-Mart rule -- special rules for companies not specifically in the trucking business but which hire drivers -- when compiling its latest anti-regulatory hit list, and it used Hurricane Katrina as an excuse to waive hours of service regulations for operations related to Katrina recovery.

Now the heat is on, and Congress is responding. Public Citizen and other highway safety groups have called on Congress to resist pressure from the trucking industry to codify the administration's rules in the Transportation/Treasury appropriations bill. Click here to find out more about the issue, get the latest developments, and take action.

Posted by Robert Shull, 06:02:17 PM