Federal Officials Finalize New Hours of Service Rule

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Late last month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published its contentious and long-awaited final Hours of Service (HOS) rule. Specifically, the rule:

• Limits the use of the 34-hour restart provision to just once a week covering "at least two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.";
• Requires divers to take a 30-minute break at their choosing after at most eight hours of "on-duty" time;
• Changes the "on-duty time" definition to not include "...any time resting in a parked CMV [commercial motor vehicle]"; and
• Permits penalties for "egregious violations of driving-time limits." The definition of an "egregious violation" is: "A driver who exceeds, or motor carrier that requires or permits a driver to exceed, by more than three hours the driving-time limit..." Such a violation could result in a fine of up to $11,000 for motor carriers, and/or $2,750 for drivers, for each violation.

The compliance date for the 34-hour restart change and the mandatory 30-minute break is July 1st, 2013. For the "on-duty time" change and the "egregious violation" provisions, the effective date is Monday, February 27.

*While NRMCA continues to review the new rule, it should be known that the HOS provisions of importance to the ready mixed concrete industry, including the 24-hour weekly clock reset for construction materials deliveries, the 16-hour short-haul exception, the 100 air-mile logbook exemption and the current intrastate tolerance guidelines, remain unchanged by the new rule. And although the new HOS rule applies to interstate commerce (crossing state lines), as with many other regulations set at the federal level, most states adopt the new regulations making them effective in those states as well. Some states eventually adopt the new regulations on their own terms or risk losing federal transportation money. Please check with your state association to determine if and/or when your state will adopt this new rule.

For more information, contact NRMCA's Gary Mullings or Kevin Walgenbach at gmullings@nrmca.org or kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.