Trucking and logistics, like many industries in the U.S., is constantly changing to meet new business needs and new government regulations. Often in trucking, this means understanding and complying with safety regulations designed to promote the safety of both truck drivers and the motoring public. One of these regulations, the Hours of Service (HOS) rules, aims to do this by regulating the number of hours a driver can spend on the road at any given time before taking an extended break.According to Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, LLC, truckers and carriers alike have expressed concern over lingering safety issues during the last few years brought to the surface as a result of the new ELD mandate. Many of these concerns were raised with the FMCSA.
Recently, FMCSA gathered key stakeholders to figure out exactly how the Agency could update these HOS rules to make the trucking industry as a whole safer and more efficient. On August 22, FMCSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow greater flexibility with HOS.
Here are several of the proposed rule changes, as outlined by Scopelitis:
FMCSA is seeking comments from all industry stakeholders. Although the comment period is set to end on October 7, petitions have already been filed to extend that period by 30-45 days. For instructions on how to comment, visit here. If FMCSA decides to move forward and finalize some or all of these proposals, it may take a year or more for the changes to go into effect.
Questions?
At DriverReach, we understand that a changing industry can be an exciting and confusing time. Our team of experts are on hand to walk through different strategic options for recruiters and drivers to prepare for these proposed changes. Learn more here.
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