In March of 2019, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced some reforms in hours of service regulations for commercial vehicle drivers. This has been done for their benefits and the proposed rules were published on August 14. Below are the highlights as per the new revisions.

30 minute break

One of the major hurdles that you face whilst managing fleet is when you have to consistently replace equipment and optimize costs to improve quAfter continuously driving for 8 hours, a driver can take a break of 30 minutes as per the new rules and regulations. This beak can be satisfied with a non-driving period where the driver can be off duty. As per the FMCSA, this change can help drivers more efficient and reach their destination before time

Split sleeper berth

This revision allows the driver to split their off-duty hours into two periods. Generally, it’s of 10 hours out of which 7 hours can be allotted in the sleeper berth and another period of at least two hours can be considered as off-duty or in a sleeper berth. This change can allow drivers to transfer one hour from their longest rest period to a short period.

Split duty provision

This revision can allow a driver to take a minimum of 0-minute off-duty break or a max break of 3 hours which would cause a driver’s 14-hour driving window. This is considering that the driver takes a 10-hour off-duty break at the end of a shift. As per FMCSA, a drive can utilize this time to rest without losing any driving time.

Unfavourable weather conditions

In adverse weather conditions, the driver can the current 14-hour on-duty limitation by an extra 2 hours. This revision decreases the chances of adverse weather-related accidents. The driver can find a parking space and wait until the bad weather blows away.

Short haul exemption

For those drivers who do quality, duty hours can be extended from 12-14 and the air-mile radius can be increased from 100 to. This can increase the numbers of drivers.

All the above-mentioned rules and regulations are not in effect yet. For further details, please contact our team at Trux Solutions.