FMCSA HOS Proposed Rulemaking - Comments Needed

To view the ANPRM and for information on how to submit and file comments to FMCSA, click here. 

To view ATA's ANPRM whitepaper, click here. 

  

Comments are sought regarding the following: 

 

a. Do you have any data to show that extending the 12-hour period for the short-haul exception to the RODS/ELD requirements to 14 hours would change the safety performance of carriers using the short-haul provision? 

b. How specifically would a 14-hour period change your driver or carrier operations as compared to 12 hours? 

c. What would the incremental change be for your operations/business if the exemption was changed to 14 hours? For example, would your operations expand or would your drivers/carriers move from non-exempt status to exempt status. What would be the economic impacts of that incremental change?

a. Is there adequate flexibility in the existing adverse driving conditions exception? 

b. How often do you currently utilize the adverse driving conditions exception?

c. What are the economic impact of the current exception on your driver or carrier operation? 

d. Should the definition of adverse driving conditions be changed?

e. Should the adverse driving exception apply to the 14 hour work day window, not just the 11-hour driving limit?

f. How would the above changes affect the economic costs and benefits, and the impacts on safety and fatigue of the adverse driving conditions exception?

a. If the 30-minute rest break rule did not exist, would drivers obtain adequate rest breaks throughout a daily driving period to relieve fatigue? 

b. Are there alternatives to the 30-minute rest break that would provide additional flexibility to drivers while achieving the safety benefits goal of the current 30-minute break? 

c. If a rest break is retained, should it be taken off-duty or on-duty while the driver is not driving? 

d. How does the 30-minute rest break impact the efficiency of operations from a driver’s or a carrier’s perspective?

e. How would your suggestions impact the cost and befits of the 30-minute break? 

a. FMCSA has announced a proposed flexible sleeper berth pilot program. Beyond the information that will be collected in the pilot program, do you have any information that would support changing the current requirements? 

b. Are there alternatives that would make the sleeper berth option more effective or less costly? 

c. How often do you use the sleeper berth option currently; how would this change with your suggested regulatory alternatives? 

d. What cost impacts and safety benefits would result from different split sleeper berth options?

a. What specifically would change about your driver/carrier operations by extending the 14-hour driving window?

b. Is there a likely increase in a safety risk from extending the 14-hour driving window? For example, would altering the current rule allowing 14 hours on duty and 10 hours off duty interfere with drivers’ circadian rhythm? Could driver health be affected? 

c. Would a potential increase in safety risk be lessened by the requirements that all additional time beyond 14 hours must be off-duty time?

d. Would allowing OOIDA’s request for an extended break during the work day improve safety by allowing drivers to increase the total amount of off-duty time during and immediately following the work from 10 hours and 30 minutes to 13 hours, without reducing the maximum driving time available within 14-hour window? 

e. Are there other flexibilities or other non-safety benefits that could be realized if the 14-horu window is extended?

a. Is there a likely increase in safety risk from eliminating the consecutive 14-hour driving window? For example, would the absence of a limit on the length of the work shift—the time between the driver coming on duty after accumulating the minimum of 10 hours off-duty and the driver being prohibited from driving—combined with splitting the required 10 consecutive hours off-duty into a number of segments, interfere with drivers’ circadian rhythm? Could driver health be affected? Please provide data on the costs and benefits of this approach.

b. Are there other flexibilities or other non-safety benefits that could be realized if the 14-hour window is eliminated?