Story by: Mario Pawlowski CEO at iTrucker

According to an official press release from  fmcsa.dot.gov, “FMCSA revises the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations to provide greater flexibility for drivers subject to those rules without adversely affecting safety.”

The new rules are as follows:

(1) expands the short-haul exception to 150 air-miles and allows a 14-hour work shift to take place as part of the exception

(2) expands the driving window during adverse driving conditions by up to an additional 2 hours

(3) requires a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving time (instead of on-duty time) and allows an on-duty/not driving period to qualify as the required break

(4) modifies the sleeper berth exception to allow a driver to meet the 10-hour minimum off-duty requirement by spending at least 7, rather than at least 8 hours of that period in the berth and a minimum off-duty period of at least 2 hours spent inside or outside of the berth, provided the two periods total at least 10 hours, and that neither qualifying period counts against the 14-hour driving window.

Read and download the full PDF document from FMCSA  HERE

Watch the video of U.S. Secretary Elaine Chao Announcing New Hours of Service Rules for America’s Truckers below:

Source and credits: fmcsa.dot.gov / iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski