*UPDATE* Changes to Hours of Service Rule Finalized by FMCSA

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14 May 2020

*UPDATE*

The Final HOS Rule issued by FMCSA was published in the Federal Register on June 1, 2020. It will go in to effect on September 29, 2020.

*ORIGINAL POST*

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its final rule for hours of service in Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. There are four major modifications being made to the rule:

  • CDL short-haul exemption: on-duty period extended from 12 to 14 hours and air-mile radius extended from 100 air-miles to 150 air-miles.
  • After eight consecutive hours of driving, a 30-minute break is required. A driver can take a break with a status of “on duty, not driving” and it will be accepted rather than “off-duty” status.
  • Drivers can now split their 10-hour off-duty status between 8/2 or 7/3. These breaks will not be a part of the driver’s 14 hours drive time.
  • Adverse weather conditions exception has now been extended by 2 hours for the maximum window when driving is permitted.

These changes are based on proposals from August 2019. They will go in to effect 120 days after being published in the Federal Register. Once published, Lee Trans will include the official registry posting.

The Texas Trucking Association conducted a webinar to go over the HOS changes, here.