Summary of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Hours of Service Proposal Issued May 2, 2000

Key elements of the proposal are as follows:

• Five Types of Operations - The proposal defines five types of operations, with separate rules for each. The types are:
  • Type 1 - Long haul operations that require the driver to be away from his/her normal work reporting location for 3 or more consecutive days;
  • Type 2 - Long haul operations that require the driver to be away from his/her normal work reporting location overnight, but for less than 3 consecutive workdays;
  • Type 3 - Operations that require the driver to operate a commercial vehicle during 2 separate scheduled duty periods on the same workday. The 2 duty periods are separated by at least a three-hour off-duty period during the workday.
  • Type 4 - Operations in which the driver returns to his/her normal work reporting location and is released from work within 12 consecutive hours after beginning work.
  • Type 5 - Operations in which driving is incidental to other primary work activities.

  
  Note: Drivers could move between the different types of operations listed above after the appropriate off-duty time at the end of a workday or workweek for the previous type of operation.

• On-Duty Limits Each Workday - Type 1 & 2 drivers may be on-duty no more than 12 hours within a 14 consecutive hour period in any workday. Type 3 drivers may be on-duty no more than 12 hours within a 15 consecutive hour period in any workday. Type 4 drivers may be on-duty no more than 12 hours within a 12 consecutive hour period in any workday. Type 5 drivers may be on-duty no more than 13 hours within a 15 consecutive hour period in any workday.
• Off-Duty Requirements Before Beginning Each Workday - Type 1 & 2 drivers must remain off-duty for a minimum of 10 consecutive hours of each workday. The only exception is that Type I team drivers may take their 10 hours off-duty in a sleeper berth in no more than 2 periods of at least 5 consecutive hours each. Type 3 drivers must remain off-duty for a minimum of 9 consecutive hours of each workday, and must have at least 3 hours off-duty between the two separate duty periods. Type 4 drivers must remain off-duty for 12 consecutive hours of each workday. Type 5 drivers must remain off-duty for a minimum of 9 consecutive hours of each workday.
• On-Duty Limits Each Week - Type 1-4 drivers may be on-duty up to 60 hours in any workweek. Type 5 drivers may be on-duty up to 78 hours in any workweek. The only exception is that Type 1 drivers on trips requiring two or more consecutive workweeks away from their normal work reporting location may average two weekly maximum on-duty periods, (i.e., 120 hours over 14 days). The longer period may be no more than 72 hours on-duty before the end of the workweek.
• Required "Weekends" in Each Workweek - In each workweek, all driver types must be provided an off-duty period of at least 32 to 56 consecutive hours that includes at least two consecutive midnight to 6am periods, before the start of the next workweek. Type 1 drivers, for every two consecutive workweeks, must be provided with two such "weekends" with a combined total of at least 112 hours. These mandated "weekends" do not restart a drivers cumulative work clock back to zero.
• Mandatory On-Board Recorders - Type 1 & 2 drivers must accurately record their driving and on-duty time using on-board recording technology. The proposal does not define a particular type of recording technology, rather it defines both design and performance standards that the technology must meet. Type 1 & 2 drivers would have to be trained on the proper operation of the recording device. Type 3-5 drivers must keep, or the carrier must keep for the driver, accurate time/work records containing five defined data elements. Logbooks would no longer be required for any type of driver.
• On-Board Recorder Implementation/Phase-In - Carriers with more than 50 trucks would have two years from the effective date of the rule to equip their fleets with recorders. Carriers with 20 to 50 trucks would have three years, and fleets with fewer than 20 trucks would have four years to comply with the on-board recorder requirement. Logbooks would continue to be required until carriers fully implement recorders in their fleets.
• Hours of Service Exemptions and Exceptions - Only carriers and drivers who transport agricultural commodities within a state are exempted from the new daily and weekly rules if the transportation takes place entirely within a 100 air mile radius of the source of the commodities, or the distribution point for farm supplies, during the planting and harvesting seasons in that state. Additionally, ground water well drilling operations would be exempted from the 32 to 56 hour "weekend" requirement discussed above, so long as drivers were provided with at least "24 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of each workweek." The remainder of the existing exemptions and exceptions would be removed. These include: the State of Alaska driving and on-duty rules, the adverse driving and emergency conditions exceptions, the oilfield operations, utility service vehicles and construction materials/equipment exceptions, the retail store deliveries provision, and the natural gas or oil well location sleeper berth exception.
• Impact on State Hours of Service Rules - All states would be required to achieve full compatibility in their state hours of service laws and regulations for both intrastate and interstate transportation within three years after the effective date of the new rules. However, states could continue to exempt from the rules drivers of vehicles less than 26,001 pounds, and could maintain any hours of service exemptions for specific industry segments that have been in place since prior to April of 1988.

Additional Information:

If finalized, the new rules would be effective six months after they are published. The exception to this would be the on-board recorder implementation/phase-in, as discussed above.

**Currently rules: 10 hours driving and up to 15 total hours "on duty" before you must take a break. A break must be at least 8 consecutive hours "off duty". Once an 8-hour break is taken, a driver can begin to drive another 10-hour shift meaning that a driver can be on the road up to 16 hours a day.