A possible oversight from the FMCSA means driver-salespersons won’t be able to enjoy an expanded operating area for a while.
Daren Hansen - Sr. DOT Editor - J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
March 24 , 2021
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A possible oversight from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) means driver-salespersons won’t be able to enjoy an expanded operating area for a while.
When the agency revised its hours-of-service rules in 2020, it expanded the 100-air-mile exception to allow drivers to go up to 150 air miles from home and still use time records in place of logs.
However, the FMCSA failed to grant the same allowance to driver-salespersons — at least for now.
By definition, a driver-salesperson is someone who:
Previously, driver-salespersons were able to take full advantage of the 100-air-mile exception. But under the new hours-of-service rules, they’re still limited to 100 air miles even though other short-haul drivers are allowed 150 air miles.
Being defined as a driver-salesperson is beneficial because such drivers:
Driver-salespersons may still use the 150-air-mile exception, they just can’t drive beyond a 100-air-mile radius when doing so.
The National Private Truck Council (NPTC) — whose members have many driver-salespersons — petitioned the FMCSA earlier this year to amend the new hours-of-service rules so driver-salespersons could drive up to 150 air miles. The FMCSA denied the petition, but only because the suggested change was outside the scope of the current rulemaking process.
Instead, the agency will treat the NPTC’s request as a formal “petition for rulemaking” under §389.31, which allows anyone to petition for rule changes.
If the agency finds merit in the petition, we may soon see a proposal to change the hours-of-service rules once again, to the benefit of driver-salespersons everywhere.
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