Sr. Transportation Management Editor — J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
Learn the implications of FMCSA's recently proposed changes to the hours-of-service rules.
Written by:
Mark Schedler
Sr. Transportation Management Editor — J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
This article was originally published on 8/28/19 and was updated on 9/10/20.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) much-anticipated, proposed changes to the hours-of-service (HOS) rules is in response to industry stakeholders’ requests for more flexible hours-of-service (HOS) regulations. Based on the 5,200 comments received, 1,000 of which were from drivers, FMCSA proposed five revisions to the existing rules.
Learn more about the finalized FMCSA hours-of-service rules in our updated compliance brief.
Explanation: The 30-minute break would require either an off-duty or on-duty (not driving) period of at least 30 minutes to prevent more than eight consecutive hours of driving time without interruption.
Implications:
Explanation: Modifying the sleeper-berth exception would allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods, with neither period counting against the driver’s 14-hour driving window. The two periods must still add up to 10 hours but would need to include:
Implications:
Explanation: The rule would allow one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours, that would pause a driver’s 14-hour clock. The driver must take ten consecutive hours off duty at the end of the work shift, so this could not be combined with the split-sleeper exception on a given day.
Implications:
Explanation: The adverse driving conditions exception would extend the maximum driving window by two hours along with the 2 additional hours of driving that is currently permitted. Property-carrying drivers could drive up to 13 hours in a 16-consecutive hour window, and passenger-carrying drivers could drive up to 12 hours out of a total 17 on-duty hours.
Implications:
Explanation: CDL vehicle drivers could work within a 150 air-mile radius and be allowed to return to the work location within 14-consecutive hours. There is no impact to non-CDL vehicle short-haul drivers.
Implications:
Industry stakeholders may comment on the proposed rules for 45 days upon publication in the Federal Register. Following the comment period, FMCSA will again consider those comments before issuing a final rule. The compliance date of a final rule could be as far down the road as late 2020.
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