Last December, President Obama signed into law legislation funding the federal government through September 2015. Contained in the legislation was a provision that temporarily suspended the two restrictions that had been placed on the use of the 34-hour restart: the two 1 a.m.-5 a.m. periods and the once-a-week use requirements. Following President Obama’s signature, the use of the 34-hour restart provision reverted to the pre-July 2013 standard: meaning drivers who need to restart their weekly on-duty clock after having been on-duty for 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days, could simply go off-duty for 34 consecutive hours. Drivers no longer needed to take the restart provision over two night periods and they could use the restart provision more than once per week.

However, the rule’s suspension is supposed to end once Fiscal Year 2015 (September 30, 2015) ends or when the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) submits a report to Congress assessing the safety implications of the 34-hour restart changes. A spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) stated that the study is still being conducted, with findings yet to be analyzed. Once the study has been finalized and submitted to Congress, the suspension will end, although the frame for such a date seems to be elusive.

While most drivers in the ready mixed concrete industry are able to take advantage of the construction materials delivery 24-hour restart exception [49 CFR 395.1(m)], drivers in the industry who drive commercial motor vehicles to haul cement or aggregates are required to use the 34-hour restart. For the cement and aggregate haulers, or mixer drivers who frequently switch to either of these driving functions, these drivers are the select few that are impacted by the change.

To summarize:

1) Drivers using the 34-hour restart still do NOT have to have two periods off-duty between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to fulfill the restart requirement.

2) Drivers can use the 34-hour restart more than once per week.

3) This change is temporary and will only last until DOT issues their study findings (date yet to be determined). 

4) All other provisions of the HOS rules remain unchanged.