34 • OIL
&
ENERGY
New Hours-of-Service
Regulations Go into
Place at Last
By Matthew Wrobel, Foley Services
ON JULY 1, 2013, THE MOTOR CARRIER
industry officially changed over to the new
hours-of-service regulations. The product of
a decades-long battle between the trucking
industry, safety advocates and the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the
rules are one of the biggest rewrites we’ve
seen in a long time.
Below is a synopsis of what has changed in
this latest version of the industry’s most con-
tentious rules. Note that the complete rules
are available in the now-updated 49 CFR, Part
395, available at
.
11 HOURS OF DRIVING TIME
There is a little confusion about this
provision. In the original NPRM, FMCSA
had indicated that they wanted to restrict
this to 10 hours but conceded to carrier
demands that the 11 hours of driving time
remain on the books.
14 HOURS OF
ON DUTY TIME
This includes the time
a driver begins to work or
is required to be ready to work, until the
driver is relieved from work and all respon-
sibility for performing work. It includes
driving time, inspection time, loading and
unloading time, etc.
DRIVERS MUST TAKE A 30-MINUTE BREAK
AFTER BEING ON DUTY FOR 8 HOURS
In a nod towards practicality, FMCSA
has left in flexibility as to when drivers take
the break, however, they cannot be on duty
for more than 8 hours without taking a
30-minute break.
34-HOUR RESTART RULE
LIMITED TO ONCE A WEEK
The rules still allow you to ‘reset’ your
hours of service by taking a 34-hour break.
However, you can only do this once every
168 hours (seven days).
34-HOUR RESTART PERIOD MUST
INCLUDE TWO PERIODS OF OFF DUTY
TIME BETWEEN 1 A.M. AND 5 A.M.
This was a concession to both carriers
and safety advocates. The safety advocates
want drivers to have two nights sleep but
FMCSA has reduced the amount from the
proposed midnight to 6 a.m.
These rules were originally announced
in 2011. A small portion actually went into
place last year. Most importantly, the 2012
rules clarified what constitutes On-Duty
Time. Many drivers may be pleasantly
surprised at the practicality of the new
definition. The following three provisions
went into effect in 2012 but were a part of
the same rulemaking.
ON-DUTY TIME
On-duty time no longer includes any
time resting in a parked CMV. In a moving,
property-carrying CMV, on-duty time does
not include up to 2 hours in passenger seat
immediately before or after eight consecu-
tive hours in sleeper-berth. This provision
also applies to passenger-carrying drivers.
PENALTIES
Driving (or allowing a driver to drive)
three or more hours beyond the driving-
time limit will be considered an egregious
violation and subject to the maximum civil
penalties. This provision also applies to
passenger-carrying drivers.
OILFIELD EXEMPTION
“Waiting time” for certain drivers at
oilfields must be shown on logbook or elec-
tronic equivalent as off duty and identified
by annotations in “remarks” or a separate
line added to “grid.”
If you have any questions about the new
hours-of-service regulations, Foley Carrier
Services is providing answers on our blog at
.
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