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Dear GLD Systems Customer, On Thursday, May 14, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a “ final rule” making four specific changes to its Hours of Service (HOS) rules in Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. These four changes, summarized below, will become effective 120 days (4 months) after the final rule is officially published in the Federal Register which is expected before the end of May 2020. This means the changes will not become effective until September 2020. CMV Short-haul Exemption (49 C.F.R. §395(e)(1)) – FMCSA lengthened the maximum on-duty period and air-mile radius for the CDL driver short-haul exemption to 14 consecutive hours and 150 air-miles, respectively (from the previous 12 consecutive hours and 100 air-miles). Adverse Driving Conditions (49 C.F.R. §391.1(b)(1)) – FMCSA’s rule change allows drivers who encounter unexpected adverse driving conditions to extend their 14-hour driving window by an additional two hours to complete their run for the day. FMCSA also slightly modified the definition to allow the driver more discretion when determining if the adverse driving conditions exception applies. 30 Minute Rest Break (49 C.F.R. §395.3(a)(3)) – FMCSA modified the existing 30-minute rest break requirement such that a break will only be required after a driver accumulates 8 hours of driving time (as opposed to on-duty time), and allowing the break to be satisfied by “on-duty, not driving” time and/or “off-duty” time. Split Sleeper Berth Rule (49 C.F.R. §395.1(g)) – FMCSA’s rule change allows drivers using the split-sleeper-berth exception to split their off-duty periods into two off-duty periods provided one is at least two hours and the other involves at least seven consecutive hours spent in the sleeper berth. In other words, 8-hour + 2-hour and 7-hour + 3-hour splits are now allowed. GLD Systems is aware of each of these changes to the rule and is working toward a future software update to your electronic logging devices in order to comply with the new rulemaking. You will be notified of these updates in advance to allow time for coordination and driver awareness. If you have any questions about this message, please reach out to Support or your Customer Success Manager. If you do not have a Customer Success Manager, please email us at safety@gldsys.com. |
