ABF | H.o.s Proposal

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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Publishes Hours of Service Proposal to Improve Safety and Increase Flexibility for Commercial Drivers
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on changes to hours of service (HOS) rules to increase safety on America’s roadways by updating existing regulations for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

“This proposed rule seeks to enhance safety by giving America’s commercial drivers more flexibility while maintaining the safety limits on driving time,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“FMCSA wants drivers and all CMV stakeholders to share their thoughts and opinions on the proposed changes to hours of service rules that we are putting forward today. We listened directly to the concerns of drivers for rules that are safer and have more flexibility—and we have acted. We encourage everyone to review and comment on this proposal,” said FMCSA Administrator Raymond P. Martinez.

First adopted in 1937, FMCSA’s hours of service rules specify the permitted operating hours of commercial drivers. In 2018, FMCSA authored an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to receive public comment on portions of the HOS rules to alleviate unnecessary burdens placed on drivers while maintaining safety on our Nation’s highways and roads. In response, the Agency received more than 5,200 public comments.

Based on the detailed public comments, FMCSA’s proposed rule on hours of service offers five key revisions to the existing HOS rules:

The Agency proposes to increase safety and 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.

The Agency proposes to modify 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. Neither period would count against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window.

The Agency proposes to allow 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.

The Agency proposes to modify the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.

The Agency proposes a change to the short-haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.
FMCSA’s proposal is crafted to improve safety on the Nation’s roadways. The proposed rule would not increase driving time and would continue to prevent CMV operators from driving for more than eight consecutive hours without at least a 30-minute change in duty status.

In Addition, FMCSA’s proposed rule on hours of service regulations is estimated to provide $274 million in savings for the U.S. economy and American consumers. The trucking industry is a key component to the national economy—employing more than seven million people and moves 70 percent of the nation’s domestic freight.

The public comment period will be open for 45 days.

The Federal Register Notice, including how to submit comments, is available here: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmc...-service/474821/nprmfile08-08-2019-131534.pdf

Stay connected with FMCSA via:

FMCSA.dot.gov | FMCSA on Facebook | FMCSA on Twitter
FMCSA on Instagram | FMCSA on LinkedIn | Our Roads, Our Safety on Facebook

###

Updated: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Press Contact
FMCSA Office of Public Affairs
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
United States
[email protected]
Phone: 202-366-9999

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

1200 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, SE

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Here we Go! The ATA and their employer members ,...are lobbying to tweak the HOS to allow companies to force drivers to work more hours...

Just like all the non-Union truckload carriers telling their drivers when and where to take a 34 hour re-start,....they will micro-manage a driver's day to maximize their driving/working time....NO mention of this being "voluntary" for drivers....

The Corporate Answer to the Driver Shortage.......
 
Blah, blah, blah. Just change it if you’re going to. Like they give a rat’s posterior about public input. And keep racing towards autonomy. That’ll fix everything. Smh
 
Here we Go! The ATA and their employer members ,...are lobbying to tweak the HOS to allow companies to force drivers to work more hours...

Just like all the non-Union truckload carriers telling their drivers when and where to take a 34 hour re-start,....they will micro-manage a driver's day to maximize their driving/working time....NO mention of this being "voluntary" for drivers....

The Corporate Answer to the Driver Shortage.......
Add to that when a truckload guy encounters a loading, or unloading delay, through no fault of his, the company will tell him to go off duty for 3 hours, with no compensation of course, and stretch your 14 hour clock to 17....
 
17 hour day as long as you have 3 consecutive hours off duty and still only 11 hours driving. It’s up to us the driver to do what’s legal and what our body is telling us we need. It’s supposed to be all about flexibility for the driver not the company.
 
The only thing I’d like to see changed is no mandatory 30 minute break. I stop a couple of times during my drive. I don’t need 30 minutes off. It just makes my trip longer.
For city LTL drivers, that 30-minute required break is a joke and totally unnecessary IMO. I used to eat between stops and RARELY stopped down during my day. For my route, the break did nothing but make me miss pickups. Which, eventually, I learned not to care about.
 
For city LTL drivers, that 30-minute required break is a joke and totally unnecessary IMO. I used to eat between stops and RARELY stopped down during my day. For my route, the break did nothing but make me miss pickups. Which, eventually, I learned not to care about.
Your company giving you to much workload made you miss the pickups , human beings go to lunch
 
A one hour meal period between the third and sixth hour
If that's what you want , more power to you. Regardless, a MANDATED break at a specific time for a specific length that is put in place by a GOVERNMENTAL or LABOR regulatory body is silly. If I want to only use 30 minutes in the seventh hour because I had a big breakfast I should be able to do so. Human beings are different , MANDATING they all do the same thing that doesn't affect the safety or well being of others is communism.
 
The law, I assume, is to protect those without a bargaining agreement or those stuck at (very) unscrupulous carriers. I’m a turn running Linehaul guy. I don’t need or necessarily want my 30, but I use the time to walk. Twelve hours/day doesn’t leave much time for exercise as we all know and we’re not getting any younger.
 
If that's what you want , more power to you. Regardless, a MANDATED break at a specific time for a specific length that is put in place by a GOVERNMENTAL or LABOR regulatory body is silly. If I want to only use 30 minutes in the seventh hour because I had a big breakfast I should be able to do so. Human beings are different , MANDATING they all do the same thing that doesn't affect the safety or well being of others is communism.

The fact that the Department of Labor is....constantly tweaking the H.O.S.,...should tell everyone that they are doing a...balancing act.....between common-sense safety,...and company lobbyists.......

H.O.S. was originally a legal means for individual drivers to protect their health and safety,...from rapacious and unscrupulous trucking company management......Every "tweak" they make.......seems to benefit companies.......11 hour of driving now,......company-micro management of driver's time,.......Companies taking away the "voluntary" provisions of the 34-hour re-start,.....and telling employees when to use it,.....merely to maximize driver's time behind the wheel....

How about if we go back to the "10 hours driving-5 hours on duty" rule,....but let drivers go back to...filling out paper logs,...that can't be scrutinized and managed in "real time" ...like electronic logs?

Electronic logs aren't about safety,.......they are about company management of driver time.....
In spite of electronic logs,.....driver Fatal Occupational Injuries have been rising in the last couple of years,.....according to the Dept. of Labor. Fatigue still is a big factor.......
So,.....they are no better and no safer,....than paper logs.

Put the logging of time back in the hands of the guys doing the work........Make their "signature" on the paper log be....grounds for Perjury,.......and make it a Felony for any company official to....order or direct...a driver to....take a break, or alter a log....

Sometimes Technology is not the best answer,.....when dealing with Human Beings.....
 
The fact that the Department of Labor is....constantly tweaking the H.O.S.,...should tell everyone that they are doing a...balancing act.....between common-sense safety,...and company lobbyists.......

H.O.S. was originally a legal means for individual drivers to protect their health and safety,...from rapacious and unscrupulous trucking company management......Every "tweak" they make.......seems to benefit companies.......11 hour of driving now,......company-micro management of driver's time,.......Companies taking away the "voluntary" provisions of the 34-hour re-start,.....and telling employees when to use it,.....merely to maximize driver's time behind the wheel....

How about if we go back to the "10 hours driving-5 hours on duty" rule,....but let drivers go back to...filling out paper logs,...that can't be scrutinized and managed in "real time" ...like electronic logs?

Electronic logs aren't about safety,.......they are about company management of driver time.....
In spite of electronic logs,.....driver Fatal Occupational Injuries have been rising in the last couple of years,.....according to the Dept. of Labor. Fatigue still is a big factor.......
So,.....they are no better and no safer,....than paper logs.

Put the logging of time back in the hands of the guys doing the work........Make their "signature" on the paper log be....grounds for Perjury,.......and make it a Felony for any company official to....order or direct...a driver to....take a break, or alter a log....

Sometimes Technology is not the best answer,.....when dealing with Human Beings.....
Eleven hours of anything is too much , the new age super truckers on these sites consider eleven a half days work
 
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