These changes, initially debuted May 14th and published June 1st, have been nearly 2 years in the making, with the FMCSA crafting the revised statute after taking over 8,000 public comments into consideration. The groups chiming in included the drivers themselves, safety groups, law enforcement, and industry stakeholders.
The goal of these regulation changes is to maintain highway safety while simultaneously increasing flexibility for truck drivers.
The Final Rule includes 4 major revisions to existing Hours of Service requirements.
- Short-haul operator’s on-duty limits will be increased from 100 to 150 air-miles and from 12 to 14 hours.
- The adverse driving conditions exception will be modified to allow for an additional 2 hours (from 12 hours to 14) for drivers experiencing adverse driving conditions.
- There is one more acceptable sleeper-berth exception split. Previously, drivers had to spend the entire 10 hour off-duty period consecutively, or as an 8/2 split. Now they may also utilize a 7/3 split. In addition to this, neither of the time periods will count against the driver’s 14 hour on-duty window as it will reset at the end of the previous rest period.
- The agency has modified the 30-minute break provision – drivers are now required to take a break after 8 hours of drive time, as opposed to 8 hours of on-duty time. Additionally, on-duty/not driving time can count as the break, instead of mandating it be off-duty time.
It is estimated by the FMCSA that these new rules will save the U.S. economy and American consumers $274 million per year. These savings arise from truckers having increased flexibility via the new 30-minute rest period stipulation.
Jim Mullen, the FMCSA Acting Administrator, stated “The Department of Transportation and the Trump Administration listened directly to the concerns of truckers seeking rules that are safer and have more flexibility—and we have acted. These updated hours of service rules are based on the thousands of comments we received from the American people. These reforms will improve safety on America’s roadways and strengthen the nation’s motor carrier industry.”
This rule change has been in the making since the FMCSA began seeking public comment in 2018. In August of 2019, they announced the rules that were being considered. Of those announced at that time, 4 of the 5 made it into the official Final Rule. A provision that would have enabled the driver to “pause” the 14-hour clock a minimum of 30 minutes and maximum of 3 hours once per duty period was omitted.
The FMCSA has emphasized that these revised rules do not increase driving time and still prevent truck drivers from driving more than 8 consecutive hours without a minimum 30 minute break.
