FMCSA Final Rule Revisions: September 2020

The FMCSA is revising four of their HOS regulations, beginning September 29, 2020 These new adjustments to the regulations will provide more flexibility without adversely affecting safety.

1)     A 30-minute break will now be required after 8 hours of driving time instead of on-duty time. On-duty, not driving time will qualify so that you can take your break while refueling and unloading. Drivers will still be required to take off a full 30 minutes at one time.

2)     Modifications to the sleeper berth will allow the 10-hour minimum off-duty requirement split to be broken into a 7-hour sleeper berth break and 3 hours of other off-duty time. The old rule requires you to split your 10-hours into a 8-hour segment and a 2-hour segment, Only after a full 10 hours off, will the cycle reset as before.

3)     Expanded short-haul exception: For local drivers, everyone will be able to use the 150 air-mile radius from the home office. It used to be only available to non-CDL drivers using a truck over 10,000 pounds that required an ELD even when the driver was exempt. With the 150 air-mile rules in both property hauling and agricultural use, you can get added flexibility without having to go on federal rules for your next driving cycle. You are also able to cross state lines if you are not too far from home.

4)     The on-duty driving window during adverse driving conditions will be expanded by up to two hours, You can use the hazardous driving exemption of FMCSA 395.1(b)(2) not only to extend your driving hours but your on-duty hours as well. In the federal system that would mean a total of 13 driving hours and 16 on-duty hours.

Datasmart ELD™ software will be available with these changes as soon as they are set into place on September 29, 2020.