Major changes to federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations have been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review after two years of revisions and thousands of public comments.
Jim Mullen, Acting Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), announced the progress today at the annual meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association in Orlando, Florida.
“We think it is a very big deal,” Mullen said in an interview with FreightWaves at the conference. “It’s essentially the last stage in the final rulemaking process.” The data sent to OMB, Mullen said, “strongly suggests modifications in the final rule, and the core basis of this effort is to provide greater flexibility to drivers but at the same time ensuring, if not improving, their safety.”
One thing Mullen would not say, however, is which of the proposals first suggested by FMCSA in its original notice of proposed rulemaking is making it into the final proposals sent to OMB.
FMCSA issued an initial Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in 2018 that generated over 5,200 comments on potential revisions to the HOS rules to “alleviate unnecessary burdens” placed on truck drivers following the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate.
The next step in the process – a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), issued in August 2019 – generated another 8,000 public comments and presumably is the basis for the final rule sent to OMB.
The NPRM laid out five key proposed changes:
- Increasing flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by tying the break requirement to eight hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on-duty, not driving status, rather than off-duty.
- Modifying the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods: one period of at least seven consecutive hours in the sleeper berth; and the other period of not less than two consecutive hours, either off duty or in the sleeper berth. According to the proposal, neither period would count against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window.
- Allowing one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours, that would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window, provided the driver takes 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the work shift.
- Modifying the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.
- Changing the short-haul exception by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 hours to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.
Max Khan
Leave driving,break,when to sleep and safety to responsible drivers,weed out the irresponsible driver,Will solve lot of issues.
Dalton
By changing to these new rules all you’re doing is turning the drivers into slaves for the companies they will be able to push them harder just like the old days to where everybody is walking around looking like a zombie and falling asleep behind the wheel the only thing you need to change is to do away with the 30-minute break all that does is extend the drivers work day by 30 minutes and make them work longer when they’re tired
mike cole
What are you so proud of you haven’t fixed anything! PRESIDENT TRUMP WHERECARE YOU!!! THERE A LOT OF US DRIVING TRUCKS AND YOU ARE LETTING US GET SCREWED.( WE ALL VOTE) WOULD YOU WORK 10 BREAK 3 OFF DUTY 3HR NEW PROPOSAL THAT 16HRS A DAY WERE NOT GETTING PAID WOULD YOU DO IT.
Kevin
You desk jockeys have no idea what you are doing I will run my way and when I feel I need to stop to nap,shower,eat, I will. We already have the ELD logbook that you government desk jockeys wanted us to be on for safety reasons has not helped safety on the roads if you want safety on the roads then go back to 10 on 8 off and no 30 minute brake or 14 hour work day let us run how we see fit for our self’s but you government desk jockeys say you want roads to be safe IF YOU THINK IT THAT EASY TO DRIVE A TRUCK THEN JUMP IN A TRUCK AND COME OUT HERE AND SEE WHAT ITS LIKE
10 ON
8 OFF
Pete
Shut this shit down or they will keep fucking us
Antônio Duartr
You got the IDEA
Roger Malan
That is what I say been out here 42 years getting tired of all the bullshit and yellow bellies
Roy Taylor
You need to get pick up trucks, small people carriers 1 to 3 cars out of this complete mess of ELD‘s and all the other regulations that were imposed upon them when this law took affect
Lael
You are still not knowledgeable. You sit behind a desk, never been in a truck 24/7. You have no idea what you are trying to make rules on something you have no understanding about. And most of the time accidents are caused by people driving cars and small trucks who have never been to any driving school at all. Driving class in high schools do not count.
Antônio Duartr
These bureauJERKS make their rules based in JUNKsciense discussed in their meetings with nice food and drinks while we leave our lives and families behind
They are all corrupted by the socialization of their on similars whipping our backs to keep their influence, their friends, their high salaries, their huge houses and we get distracted with rules, mechanical problems, DOT citation traps, bills, bills and FUCKING BILLS
BE WELCOME DRIVER TO;
UNITED SLAVES OF AMERICA CDL CLUB
Benjamin
The best possible government solution to give us drivers more flexibility would be to keep your hands off our jobs to which you have far to much control . The greatest flexibility to us is to put us back on paper logs
Antônio Duartr
Is time for drivers to take control of their on lives and impeach FMCSA