SPECIFICALLY SPEAKING | TRANSPORTATION
On the CLOCK
Proposed Hours of Service Rule Changes Put More Burdens on Commercial Drivers
By Kevin Foley, Nicole Norcia and AJ Sellers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) is currently reviewing a proposed set of rule changes regarding Hours of Service (HOS), which
will be issued in late July and go into effect
several months later. While the stated reason
behind the changes is to give drivers more
flexibility, the proposed rules may have the
unintended consequence of unnecessarily
complicating driver logs and may lead to a
reduction in hours.
if they have more than two, affecting how
drivers account for their time after the restart. This can occur if the driver is at the
end of the 70-hour cycle, uses a 34-hour
restart, drives the next day and then uses
another 34-hour restart.
One of the more controversial rule changes
is the 34-hour restart timeframe, which restricts how a driver can use his or her time
between a restart. Under the new rule, a
driver must have two rest periods between
midnight and 6 a.m. before restarting
HOS.. This may have the unintended result
of removing tractor trailors from the road
at night and placing them on the road during the day when traffic is already heavy.
The current proposed rules also allow a
driver 11 hours of driving time after 10
consecutive hours off duty, but the FMCSA
indicated they prefer to reduce it from 11
to 10 hours of driving time. This reduction
in conjunction with the other changes will
not only reduce the work day, but can also
reduce a drivers’ work week.
attorneys can also use them as a separate
cause of action directly against trucking
companies that do not monitor their drivers’ logs when an accident is caused by fatigue. As a result, drivers and motor carriers must remain constantly vigilant in
monitoring a driver’s on-duty, driving and
off-duty time and record the same with
precision and accuracy. LM
Kevin Foley is a partner and Nicole Norcia is an
associate at Reminger Co., a law firm with offices
throughout Ohio and Kentucky. Athos J. Sellers,
CDS, is the Director of Safety for Memphis-based
Builders Transportation.
The mandatory midnight to 6 a.m. rest affects anyone with a workweek that begins
before 6 a.m. For drivers who typically
begin the workweek at 5 a.m., they would
need to eliminate two days of their workweek or start the workday after 6 a.m. to
comply with this new regulation.
While the FMCSA’s says it is keeping the
14-hour rule, it effectively reduces it to 13
hours in a driving window by requiring
one-hour rest break. The 14-hour driving
window can be extended two times in a
seven-day rolling period, but the 11- (or
10 hour if reduced) hour driving maximum remains. This simply means
the driver can take a three-hour
break instead of one-hour break
if using the 16-hour window.
This rule will also affect long haul drivers
who will need to adjust their schedules and
drive through the heavier traffic during the
day or add extra evenings to their trip. For
example, if a driver finishes work and arrives at a rest location on Monday at 1 a.m.
he is penalized for beginning a 34-hour
restart. If the rest break starts at 1 a.m., he
will not have accumulated two consecutive
midnight to 6 a.m. periods until Wednesday
at 6 a.m. — 53 hours later.
This proposal has the possibility of reducing a driver’s hours,
increasing the number of drivers needed for comparable deliveries and ultimately increasing costs. If a driver makes a
delivery and is unable to be
relieved from all work responsibilities, he or she cannot use
this time to satisfy the required
break. The driver will then have to
schedule the break either before or
after arriving at the customer and
further limit available work time.
Drivers can only use the restart provision
once in 168 continuous hours (seven days).
They must designate which restart applies
These proposed changes will result in in-
creased costs to trucking companies who
will have to hire more drivers to comply
with the new HOS regulations. Plaintiff
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