New HOS from the DOT and the FMCSA?
Posted by Karen Thomas on Tue, Sep 27, 2011 @ 11:49 PM
What does an hour mean to you? It's an episode of “60 minutes.” It generally comprises one period in a given National Hockey League game. One hour may be the regulatory timeframe in which one can down as many pies or hot dogs as humanly possible in competitions of the same name-sake. Truck drivers days are also dictated by their hours of service. The law (according to the Department of Transportation) mandates that commercial drivers operate in a set number of hours in an effort to maintain safe roads.
It was in 1938 that the first version of the Hours of Service (HOS) were enacted. Since that time, the act has been changed three times. Science has influenced recent rulings, relying on research into the human circadian rhythm (the tendency for humans to follow a natural 24-hour cycle with 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep). A driver is limited to 11 hours of actual driving within a 14-hour period, after which he/she must rest for 10 hours. The rules do not explicitly require that a driver must sleep, only that a driver must take a period of "rest" within the sleeper berth or off duty (i.e., at home). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucking_industry_in_the_United_States#cite_note-39
Most recently (as of 2005), professional truck drivers have had to operate under the following HOS rules:
49 CFR Part 395 puts limits in place for when and how long commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers may drive. These regulations are based on an exhaustive scientific review and are designed to ensure truck drivers get the necessary rest to perform safe operations. FMCSA also reviewed existing fatigue research and worked with organizations like the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies and the National Institute for Occupational Safety in setting these HOS rules.
Source: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/index.htm
As of this year, the HOS rule is a point of discussion once again.
The DOT and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is proposing to:
• A stated preference by FMCSA to limit the number of driving hours to 10 within a 24-hour period instead of the current11.
• The requirement that a 34-hour restart must include two periods between 12 midnight and 6 a.m. and that a 34-hour restart could be used only one time in a seven-day period.
• A requirement that a driver take at least a 30-minute break after being on duty for seven hours. The driver would be required to rest for a total of one hour within the 14- or-16-hour driving window, effectively reducing the on-duty time each day from 14 to 13. The proposed rule does allow most drivers to extend the driving window to 16 hours twice a week.
According to Thetrucker.com, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and three other Republican Congressman have called on the Obama administration to keep the current Hours of Service rules in place, issuing a pledge to intervene if changes are made when the new Final Rule is released.
The four said they would “aggressively oversee any attempt by the U.S. Department of Transportation to impose new regulatory burdens on the trucking industry by making changes” to the current rules. A committee spokesman said the panel would watch developments closely, and consider all possible courses of action should the rule changes as proposed move forward.
Source: http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2011/9/27/4GOPlawmakerssaytheywillinterveneifFMCSAchangesHOSrules.aspx
