FMCSA PROPOSES CHANGES TO HOS

FMCSA PROPOSES CHANGES TO HOS.pdf

On August 22, 2019 (84 FR 44190) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed amendments to its hours-of-service (HOS) requirements to provide greater flexibility for drivers subject to the HOS rules without adversely affecting safety.  This would be accomplished by altering the short-haul exception to the record of duty status (RODS) requirement available to certain commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers, modifying the adverse driving conditions exception, increasing flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by requiring a break after 8 hours of driving time (instead of on-duty time) and allowing on-duty/not driving periods as qualifying breaks from driving, modifying the sleeper berth exception to allow a driver to spend a minimum of 7 hours in the berth combined with a minimum 2-hour off-duty period, provided the combined periods total 10 hours (rather than the current 8/2 split), and allowing one off-duty break that would pause a truck driver's 14-hour driving window.  Comments on this notice must be received on or before October 7, 2019.  FMCSA previously announced (84 FR 43097) that it will hold two public listening sessions concerning potential changes to its hours-of-service rules for truck drivers.  The sessions will be webcast to allow interested parties to participate remotely.  The first listening session will be held on August 23, 2019, in Dallas, TX, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, 650 S Griffin St., Dallas, TX 75202. A subsequent listening session will be held in September 2019, at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Media Center in Washington, DC.