DOT Issues Proposed Hours of Service Changes
Posted on Wed, Dec 29, 2010 @ 12:44 PM
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration!
On December 23rd the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published its proposed Hours of Service regulation changes in the Federal Register. The regulations were approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after a lengthy review.
Keep in mind these are proposed changes. The public comment period is now open.
Some of the most interesting aspects, after all the guessing about what the proposal would look like, are what’s not in it.
- The DOT left the driving time at 11 hours, although they favor returning to 10 hours.
- They let stand the 34-hour reset with modifications but limit its use to once per 7 days.
- They added a mandatory (30 minute minimum) off duty period during driving time.
- They removed “time spent resting in a parked CMV” from statutory on-duty time.
The entire document can be reviewed via links at www.fmcsa.dot.gov where there is also a link to the site where you can submit comments to the DOT on the proposed regulations. Additionally, a much more readable document summarizing the primary proposed changes has been published, and we recommend giving it a read.
Stand by for the reaction from CRASH and the other “highway safety” groups whose repeated lawsuits resulted in the agreement to reissue these regulations.
PLEASE NOTE: These are proposed regulations. They are NOT yet effective. They will not be effective for months and may very well be different from what is now proposed when they do become effective. At a minimum, the DOT must address the 11 versus 10 hour driving time maximum it left open in this proposal.
Area Transportation, as with most carriers, will begin educating its drivers on the changes as soon as the regulations become final.
By Kevin Mullen, Director- Safety
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