Washington, D.C.—If made final, a proposed rule would allow passenger carrier drivers and their companies a bit more flexibility in complying with hours of service requirements.
Largely targeted at interstate trucking, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that has two provisions that directly affect the passenger carrier industry:
- Extend the distance short-haul drivers (who are not required to keep logbooks or ELDs) from 100 air miles to 150 air miles; allowing short-haul drivers to be on duty for 14 hours rather than just 12; and,
- Extend the adverse driving conditions for exception by up to two hours.
An administration willing to listen, combined with the precision and accountability of the electronic logging device, will likely make these deviations possible.
There are two listening sessions scheduled: Aug. 23, 2019, in Dallas, Texas, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, 650 S Griffin St., Dallas, Texas, 75202; and September 2019 (date to be announced later), at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. All meetings are scheduled from 10:00 a.m. until noon.
The sessions will be available via webcast to allow interested parties to participate remotely: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FMCSA-2018-0248
There will be 45 days to comment on the proposed rule once it’s published. Nearly 5,400 comments have been received so far.
