May 14, 2020

Earlier today, FMCSA announced its long-awaited hours-of-service final rule, making four significant revisions to the agency’s hours-of-service rules in Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Originally proposed in August of last year, these revisions include:

• Modifying the existing 30-minute rest break requirement such that a break would only be required after a driver accumulates 8 hours of drive time (as opposed to on-duty time), and allowing the break to be satisfied by “on-duty, not driving” time in addition to “off-duty” time.
• Lengthening the maximum on-duty period and air-mile radius for the CDL short-haul exemption to 14 hours and 150 air-miles, respectively.
• Modifying the adverse driving condition exception to extend by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.
• Allowing drivers who take advantage of the split-sleeper-berth exception to split their required 10-hour off-duty period into two periods of 7 hours (sleeper berth) and 3 hours (sleeper berth or off-duty), and counting neither period against the driver’s 14-hour driving window.

Notably absent from the final rule was the revision proposed back in August that would have allowed drivers to pause their 14-hour driving window with one off-duty break of between 30 minutes and 3 hours. According to FMCSA, although such a revision “could provide flexibility for drivers without compromising safety . . . the proposal could have unintended consequences that were not adequately evaluated in the development of the [proposed rule].” Specifically, the agency cited concerns raised by various commenters that drivers might be “pressured by carriers, shippers, or receivers to use the break to cover detention time, which would not necessarily provide the driver an optimal environment for restorative rest.”

The final rule and its revisions are set to take effect 120 days from the date the rule is published in the Federal Register, which we anticipate will occur within the next week or so. Given the contentious history of the agency’s hours-of-service rulemaking proceedings, it would not be entirely surprising if this final rule is ultimately challenged in court by any of the various safety advocacy groups that commented on the rule, which could impact the effective date. Regardless, over the next several days, the Firm will be closely examining the 232-page final rule and the impacts that it will have on our clients.

For more information on how the revisions might impact your operations specifically, please contact Scopelitis Attorneys Tim Wiseman, Brandon Wiseman, Prasad Sharma, Tom O’Donnell, or Jerad Childress.