The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced that controversial 2013 amendments to the 34-hour restart provisions under U.S. DOT driver hours of service (HOS) regulations have been permanently suspended.
The FMCSA suspended the 2013 restart provisions after a new study concluded that the stricter provisions provided no additional safety benefits over previous HOS restart regulations. Therefore, the only part of the 2013 amendments that remains in place is the 30-minute break requirement within the first eight hours of driving. However, a 2013 court ruling removed the 30-minute break requirement for short-haul drivers that qualify for the 100-air mile exemption from keeping written log books.
The suspension of the 2013 amendments means that commercial driver’s license (CDL) drivers can now end their week, spend 34 hours off duty and start a new week. Also, drivers can once again use the restart more than one time per week without waiting for 168 before using it again. This returns the flexibility needed for heating oil drivers to arrange their schedules to meet customer demand.
The 34-hour restart regulations took effect July 1, 2013, and were suspended on December 15, 2014, following widespread pushback from the industry. As part of a broader hours-of-service overhaul by the DOT’s FMCSA, the regulations required any 34-hour restart to include two 1:00 am – 5:00 am periods and allowed truckers to only take one restart per 168-hour period. Congress suspended 2013 provisions in December 2014 until the FMCSA conducted a new study to determine whether they could go back into effect.
The study concluded that the 2013 regulations did not enhance safety or reduce driver fatigue. FMCSA, in partnership with Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute, studied 235 truck operators for five months. FMCSA has informed Congress that the 2013 restart provisions have been suspended.
