Legal Drive Time Hours
In addition, TruckerNation required the FMCSA to allow drivers to enjoy multiple rest periods of 3 hours or more, instead of having 10 consecutive hours of rest, and eliminated the 30-minute break requirement. On June 1, 2020, the FMCSA revised four provisions of the hours of operation policy to provide drivers with more flexibility without compromising safety. Road transport companies will have to comply with the new HOS regulation from 29 September 2020. However, many commentators, including TruckerNation, OOIDA, ABA and industry associations, supported allowing drivers to end the shift elsewhere, citing various benefits, including reduced driving time and distance travelled, reduced fleet wear, adaptation to the diversity of the trucking industry, maximizing allowable uptime, resulting in more productive and flexible schedules. and no negative impact on safety. Many industry associations stated that returning to the same location does not necessarily lead to safer driving habits and that modern technologies allow businesses to monitor their drivers` departure and stopping locations through tracking and electronic communications applications. Short-haul drivers with occasional assignments that require a long distance (i.e. More than 300 air miles round trip), were still allowed to take on such tasks, provided they prepared RODS for those days. And under existing regulations and rules adopted today, they can continue these operations for up to 8 days over a period of 30 consecutive days without incurring the costs of installing and using ELDs. The Agency believes that the flexibility provided by this final rule should be sufficient and that the greater distance proposed by some commentators goes well beyond what should be considered short-haul flights. The FMCSA agrees that radar and technology may not be entirely accurate and therefore leaves discretion to the driver/dispatcher in this final rule. The FMCSA is not aware of any problems with the application or compliance with the adverse driving conditions exception. Only one commenter supported the proposed change, but recommended that greater emphasis be placed on the 7-hour sleeping area requirement, citing research affirming the health and safety benefits of drivers sleeping 7 hours.
On the other hand, the Kentucky Driver`s Association noted that circadian rhythms vary from person to person and that greater flexibility leads to better driver recovery. Other commentators said the NPRM takes into account the fact that drivers can often only sleep 7 hours at a time and don`t need 8 consecutive hours of sleep. In addition to simplifying the motor carrier`s ability to comply with hours of service and enforce them for its drivers, the Agency agrees with commentators who stated that the changes to the short-haul operation provision would also simplify enforcement, as the distance between air mile radii will be consistent for both CDL and non-CDL drivers. FMCSA`s response: The latter rule amends the adverse driving conditions exception to allow for an extension of the driving window of up to 2 hours, which is equivalent to the 2-hour extension of the driving time allowed by the current regulations. While some commentators have argued in favour of extending the current definition of “adverse driving conditions” to include circumstances such as unforeseen traffic conditions from Start Printed Page 33414, a close examination of the definition shows that these road conditions are already covered. The hours of service rules currently define “adverse driving conditions” as “snow, sleet, fog, other adverse weather conditions, a road covered with snow or ice, or unusual road and traffic conditions, none of which were apparent from the information known to the person handling the runway at the time of the start.” The definition specifically refers to “unusual road and traffic conditions” that would cover most of the concerns raised by commentators. The FMCSA does not consider it necessary to explain further the traffic situation, as they are generally covered. However, the definition is amended to clarify and recognize that the adverse driving conditions exception may apply in certain circumstances based on the knowledge of a driver (in addition to the dispatcher). Schneider National Holdings, Inc. noted that the cost analysis of the proposed rule did not take into account the compliance costs associated with law enforcement and driver training, compared to the 2005 rule. Under the current definition, the signaller must not have been aware of adverse driving conditions at the beginning of the journey.
The agency asked whether driver ignorance should be used as a precondition for exemption. The FMCSA also asked whether the requirement of lack of prior knowledge at the time of shipment should be removed. Commenters seeking flexibility for the use of sleeping areas beyond the NPRM. Many commentators, mainly individuals and drivers, have argued that the proposed changes do not offer enough flexibility in terms of shared sleeping space. In their comments, the following points were generally highlighted: amending the sleeping area exception to allow a driver to meet the minimum requirement of 10 hours of absence from work by spending at least 7 hours of that period in the berth, combined with a minimum duty period of at least 2 hours spent inside or outside the berth, provided that both periods are at least 10 hours in total. When used together as specified, none of the reference periods will count within the 14-hour window. Commentators discuss the implications for VMT. Several commentators, including the OOIDA and many other industry associations, have argued that this provision would allow drivers to drive more safely in adverse driving conditions and not travel long distances. Currently, drivers can drive for up to 2 hours of overtime, but they may be forced to drive within the 14-hour window. Widening the control window would allow them to drive more carefully. As discussed later in this document and in the IRA for this Final Rule, the FMCSA provides that individual drivers may notice a change in their hours of work (while driving and not driving) or in vehicle-kilometres travelled (VMT), but this final rule will not result in an increase in aggregate freight movements or VMTs. The aggregate VMT is determined by many factors, including market demand for transportation services.
The FMCSA does not anticipate that the changes to this final rule, which will result in annual savings for carriers of 0.03% of total truck revenues of nearly $800 billion in 2018, will be enough to stimulate demand in the freight market, but recognizes that cargo loads can shift from one carrier or driver to another. After weighing the potential impact, the FMCSA determined that this final rule does not affect driver fatigue or safety. Table 2 summarizes the changes to this rule. Other people who have applied for and been granted similar exemptions from the 30-minute rest period include the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) for drivers transporting livestock, the ACPA, the American Trucking Associations, Inc. (ATA) for invoiced dangerous goods shipments, the Department of Energy for special transportation (often nuclear), the National Tank Truck Carriers, the Oregon Trucking Associations, the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association, and the U.S. Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command of the Department of Defense. In its report released www.fmcsa.dot.gov/advisory-committees/mcsac/task-19-1-hos-report October 15, 2019, the CCSCM stated that it would need more information to understand the potential impact of the proposed changes. In addition, MCSAC expressed concern that rule-making may not result in quantitative improvements in safety, although the preamble to the NPRM suggests that rule-making would increase flexibility without compromising safety.
The CCSC discussed the history of certain periods of service (SO) to understand the organization`s rationale for the current requirements and the reasons for the proposed changes, highlighting the need to consider the data and information submitted by commenters to the regulations before making final decisions on changes to the hours of service rules.
