ATA_1Q11_11751 ATA 3/14/11 12:25 PM Page 5
Hours-of-Service FIGURE 1
FMCSA’s CURRENT HOS RULE
FMCSA’s PROPOSED HOS RULE
All Property Carrying Drivers and Motor Carriers
December 2010 All Property Carrying Drivers and Motor Carriers
10 consecutive hours
Same as current rule.
Minimum OffDuty Hours Between Shifts Total On-Duty Window in Each Shift
14 consecutive hours
Total Hours (On-Duty+OffDuty+Rest) Maximum Driving Hours Limit on Consecutive Hours Driving Mandatory Rest Break During Shift Maximum Cumulative OnDuty Cumulative OnDuty “Restart”
Sleeper Berth: Splitting Off-Duty Time On-Board Recorders Federal Exceptions & Exemptions
Significant Changes - 14 consecutive hours with release from duty required at end of driving window; Only 13 hours of the 14 hour window are productive work due to new “rest break” requirements described below; 14 hours window is extendable to 16 hours twice a week to accommodate for issues such as loading and unloading at terminals or ports, however, drivers are still limited to 13 hours on-duty.
24 hours
24-26 hours
11
10 hours of maximum driving time and 11 hours of maximum driving time are proposed for comment; FMCSA’s “currently preferred option” is 10 hours.
None
May drive only if it has been 7 hours or less since last off-duty or sleeper berth period of at least 30 minutes At least 60 minutes of rest break time during each On-Duty Window; may be taken in one block or broken up into two 30 minute rest breaks
None 60 hours in 7 days 70 hours in 8 days* (*for carriers that operate 7 days a week) Voluntary: 34 consecutive hours off-duty resets a drivers cumulative on-duty back to zero (or restarts a drivers 60 hour weekly clock) at any point in a driver’s 7 day cycle Team and Solo Drivers: 2 periods totaling > 10 hours; 1 period must be at least 8 hours in the sleeper berth; second period of time may be spent either in or out of the sleeper berth. Voluntary Use
Same as current rule. Voluntary: The length of the restart period is variable since it must include two consecutive off-duty periods from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Drivers would be allowed to use this restart only once during a seven-day period.
Same as current rule
Same as current rule. Slightly modified Oilfield exemption, and removed 16 hour provision in 395.1(o).
All existing exemptions and exceptions remain.
—Source American Trucking Associations
July 2007 - In response to another legal challenge by two public interest groups and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the rules based on procedural errors made by DOT in the rulemaking process.
005
December 2007 - DOT issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) addressing the procedural issues identified by the Court and retaining the August 2005 HOS rules.
2007
October 2009 - Prior to the confirmation of current FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro, politically appointed DOT officials signed a litigation settlement agreement with the public interest groups and the Teamsters in which DOT agreed to ‘review and reconsider’ the HOS rules.
November 2008 - DOT reissued the August 2005 HOS rules as a Final Rule.
2008
March 2009 The same plaintiffs again filed suit against DOT.
2009
September 2010 - The number of truck-involved traffic fatalities dropped to the lowest level in recorded history reflecting a 33 percent decrease in fatalities since the improved hours-ofservice regulations first became effective in January 2004. December 2010 – DOT proposes changes to the hours of service rules.
2010