HOURS OF SERVICE PROPOSAL- What does it all mean?
Posted on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 @ 08:27 AM
The long-awaited Hours of Service regulations are out and the industry waits expectantly for the other shoe to fall. Many doubt they will take effect anytime soon as legal challenges from either or both sides of the issue are likely.
The first changes are scheduled to take place February 27th of this year. The ‘Oilfield Exemption’ is of no concern to us. You might however want to know that driving more than three (3) hours beyond the driving time limit may be considered an egregious violation subject to the maximum civil penalties the DOT may impose.
Of most interest to all of us is the change in the ‘on-duty time’ definition. At first glance it would appear the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had gutted the 14-hour rule. ‘Time spent resting in a parked commercial motor vehicle’ is not considered on-duty time. Heck, we spend hours a day resting in parked commercial motor vehicles… at shippers, consignees, processors, mills… you name it. The DOT threw the 14-hour baby out with the bath water.
Hold your horses. The guidance released with the new regulations contains the following question.
If a driver spends time waiting to be loaded or unloaded resting or conducting personal business can the driver log it as off duty?
To which the FMCSA responded… “The changes to the definition do not alter the existing parts of the definition that define as on duty “[49 CFR 395.2](5) All time loading or unloading a commercial motor vehicle, supervising or assisting in the loading or unloading, attending a commercial motor vehicle being loaded or unloaded, remaining in readiness to operate the commercial motor vehicle, or in giving or receiving receipts for shipments loaded or unloaded.”
Translation… the change is really meaningless. The DOT is not so stupid as to write a new regulation that would essentially eliminate the 14-hour rule. The change is much ado about nothing.
Take for instance ‘Adverse Driving Conditions’ [49 CFR 395.1(b)]… virtually every driver knows part of this regulation “a driver may drive up to two (2) additional hours’. What drivers don’t seem to grasp is the DOT did not grant drivers up to two additional hours every time it snows. The DOT is not that stupid. The regulation contains some very specific conditions… 1- the trip must be one that could normally and reasonably have been completed but for the unforeseen event and, 2- the unforeseen event must have occurred after the driver began the trip. [i.e. a forecasted snow storm does not qualify]. 3- the exemption is to the 10-hour rule. If the extra driving time would put the driver over the 14-hour rule the exemption cannot be used and it goes on to say, 4- for not more than 2 additional hours in order to complete that run or to reach a place offering safety. Someone simply driving two more hours, while passing rest areas or truck stops, could be found to be in violation of the exemption.
Simply said, the DOT is not so stupid as to gut its own regulations.
Bottom line, if it sounds too good to be true… with DOT regulations as with anything else in life… it’s probably not true. Stay tuned for more updates as the Hours of Service controversy continues.