The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has begun a rulemaking that could reform four specific areas of current hours-of-service regulations, which limit the operating hours of commercial truck drivers.
The agency requests public comment to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, also known as a “pre-rule,” on these four specific areas “under consideration for revision” by the agency:
- Expanding the current 100 air-mile “short-haul” exemption from 12 hours on-duty to 14 hours on-duty, in order to be consistent with the rules for long-haul truck drivers
- Extending the current 14-hour on-duty limitation by up to 2 hours when a truck driver encounters adverse driving conditions
- Revising the current mandatory 30-minute break for truck drivers after 8 hours of continuous driving
- Reinstating the option for splitting up the required 10-hour off-duty rest break for drivers operating trucks that are equipped with a sleeper-berth compartment
