In this vote, the House defeated an amendment offered by Michael Conaway (R-TX) to H.R. 3 that would have altered the safety rule governing how much down-time between shifts is required of drivers transporting oil and gas equipment and machinery. H.R. 3 was a bill to reauthorize the nation's surface transportation (highways, etc.) laws. Presently, in order to ensure that drivers of heavy equipment have adequate rest and thus do not pose a fatigue-induced danger on the roads, drivers and the companies who hire them must follow the rule of no more than 11 consecutive hours of driving and no more than 14 consecutive hours on-duty. Conaway's amendment would have removed this rule with regard to truck drivers in the oil and gas industries in favor of less stringent requirements that were in place prior to January 2004. Progressives, together with a number of other Democrats and Republicans, opposed the amendment, stating that road safety must be the top priority regardless of industry and that reinstating the old rule would permit truck drivers to be back on the road after only two hours of rest. Republicans who supported the amendment argued that the current restrictions place an undue, inefficient burden on oil and gas companies, and that returning to the old rule would not compromise highway safety. Progressives won this amendment by a vote of 198 to 226, with a number of both Democrats and Republicans crossing party lines due in part to both regional and oil and gas industry interests. Thus, the House bill went forward with this safety requirement for oil and gas industry drivers intact.