New Hours of service rules are going to take effect on September the 29th, 2020. Are you prepared to take advantage of these new HOS regulations? Keep reading to find out!
Generally speaking, these changes appear to be pretty positive from a safety perspective as they should provide drivers additional flexibility in complying with the FMCSA Hours of Service regulations.
Some parts of the industry aren’t very happy with the proposed changes and potential legal challenges are pending. I won’t pass judgement on the different views, but we just want to go over the changes and let everybody know what they are. You can take a look at them and judge for yourself.
Hours of Service Changes: Short Haul Exemption
The first set of upcoming Hours of Service changes affect the the so- called short haul exemption. A lot of drivers who haul locally operate on the hours of service, 100 mile radius limitation exception currently. Well, that’s actually being increased up to 150 miles.
I think that’s a very positive change in the regulations around the DOT hours of service for local drivers. In fact, these new hours of service changes will probably help those carriers who haul under the short haul exemption the most.
So it’s going from a 100 air mile radius, as it stands currently, to a 150 air mile radius.
The second change with the short haul exemption is that drivers will now have to complete all of their Duty Day in 14 hours.
That is an extension of two hours from where it currently stands and will now match the duty period for most over the road truck drivers.
No other changes to this portion of the rule is taking place yet, although I think those are pretty major changes.
Hours of Service Changes: 30 Minute Break Requirement
The second major change taking place on September 29 deals with the 30 minute break requirement. Currently, the 30 minute break requirement states that if you are operating a vehicle in interstate commerce, you have to take a 30 minute break within eight hours of coming on duty.
The new hours of service changes require that a driver take take a 30 minute uninterrupted driving break after you start driving.
So that’s a pretty big change! This could be a good deal for drivers as many aren’t driving more than eight hours a day to begin with. For those drivers that do hit this mark, I believe that we should see those violations associated with this regulation decrease pretty substantially.
Hours of Service Changes: On Duty-Not Driving
An even more important change to this part of the HOS regulations is how you spend that break time. Previously, drivers only had the choice to take the required 30 minute break as Off Duty or in your Sleeper Berth.
With the upcoming Hours of Service changes a driver can continue to use off duty or the sleeper berth for their break. Now the FMCSA is giving a driver the ability to be “On Duty, Not Driving” as well.
With the new changes, a driver can start their day by driving for a short period and then pull over and take care of fueling for instance.
Anytime you’re on duty, not driving that time can now be counted as your 30 minute required break.
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Hours of Service Changes: On Duty Not Driving Activities
Previous DOT hours of service regulations only allowed a commercial driver to be in the sleeper berth or off duty for their required 30 minute break.
With the new HOS rules, drivers can also complete On-duty not driving related activities during this time if they would like.
All of these activities can now be used to complete your required 30 minute break:
- Loading, unloading, or supervising the loading or unloading of a truck
- Handling any paperwork at a terminal facility.
- Being in the truck and prepared to move.
- Servicing or repairing a truck or trailer
- Inspecting a commercial motor vehicle
- Conducting a pre trip or post trip vehicle inspection
- Having your Annual DOT Inspection completed
- Taking a meal break or restroom breaks
- Completing required training
- Attending a virtual safety meeting
To learn more about these upcoming Hours of Service changes, check out the FMCSA’s HOS Presentation here.
Want to learn more about changes to the adverse driving conditions exception or the split sleeper berth provision changes?
Check out the second part of this blog series here!
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For more information about how we may be able to help you with this or similar issues, please reach out to us at www.MySafetyManager.com.
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