The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied a request by the National Propane Gas Association for an exemption from various driver hours of service regulations between December 15 and March 15 each year. The agency analyzed the application and public comments and determined that the exemption would not achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such exemption.

The application requested the exemption to allow drivers to drive up to 12 hours per day and be on duty up to 15 hours per day, without weekly limits, and to replace the 34-hour restart with a 24-hour restart, during winter months with prior notice by NPGA to FMCSA.

Several commentors, including motor carrier trade associations, opposed the application.

On April 19, 2023, FMCSA denied a similar exemption request from NPGA, finding that NPGA failed to provide both an analysis of the safety impacts of the requested exemption and countermeasures to ensure that the exemption would achieve the requisite level of safety. The agency said the current application also did not provide an analysis of the safety impacts of the requested exemption.

The only safety countermeasures NPGA described are an online Fatigue and Wellness Awareness Course and a statement that drivers would abide by all other Federal regulations when not responding to an emergency. Given the hazardous nature of the material being transported and breadth of the exemption requested, FMCSA could not determine that the exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such exemption, and denied the application again.