Many argue these new HOS changes increase the likelihood of fatal truck accidents.
They are changing the HOS Rules – again. This month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding its current hours of service (HOS) rules for commercial motor vehicles. Read it here.
Evolving and Ever-Changing HOS Rules for Commercial Truck Drivers
Since 1938, there has been federal regulation of the number of hours a commercial truck driver can operate his (or her) big rig, semi-truck, 18-wheeler, or tractor trailer rig on our roadways. However, “hours of service” rules are ever-evolving – and controversial. For more on recent debates on the government’s control over truck driver driving time, read:
- Commercial Truck Safety and Truck Driver Fatigue: Fatal Truck Crashes, ELDs, and HOS Rules
- Drowsy Driving: Do HOS Rules Make Us Safer from Fatal Truck Crashes?
- New Federal “Coercion Rule” Protects Truckers Being Forced to Break HOS Rules.
August 2019 Announcement: New HOS Rules Proposed by the FMCSA
This latest version of the federal law regulating truck driver time behind the wheel is not a surprise; last fall, the FMCSA invited public comments on existing HOS Rules after complaints that the current regulations are unduly burdensome on truckers. Now, we are seeing the resulting draft of the new HOS laws.
From Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao:
“This proposed rule seeks to enhance safety by giving America’s commercial drivers more flexibility while maintaining the safety limits on driving time.”
The draft is not set in stone as yet. The agency invites public comment on the new HOS Rules within a short time frame (beginning August 14, 2019, and extending for 45 days) with comments to follow a standardized procedure (details here).
The OOIDA (Owner-Operator Independent Drivers’ Association) has already issued its release with a glowing recommendation of these new regulations, calling them “[a] common sense approach … regarding how long truck drivers work and drive.”
The Five Big Changes to the Current Hours of Service Rules for Truckers
There are five (5) changes in trucker regulation in these new HOS Rules. They are as follows:
- The 30-Minute Break Rule
- The 30-minute break rule will be tied to the rule that a trucker cannot drive more than eight (8) hours of driving time without taking at least at 30 minute break, and will allow the truck driver to use “on duty” and not driving status to satisfy the break requirement.
- Sleeper-Berth Exception
- The new HOS Rule will change the current sleeper-berth exception and will allow truck drivers to split their required ten (10) hours off-duty into two (2) time periods: (1) a time span of 7 or more consecutive hours in the sleeper berth; and (2) the other time span of at least 2 consecutive hours, either off duty or in the sleeper berth.
- Neither of these new time spans will count against the commercial truck driver’s 14‑hour driving window.
- Off-Duty Break for Truck Driver
- The new HOS Rules have one (1) off-duty break for truckers that lasts a minimum of a half-hour (at least 30 minutes) but no longer than three (3) hours (180 minutes); and
- This Off-Duty Break will pause the trucker’s mandated fourteen (14) hours of driving, as long as the truck driver takes ten (10) consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the work shift.
- Adverse Driving Conditions Exception to HOS Rules
- The new HOS Rules change the current adverse driving conditions exception and will allow the truck driver two (2) hours as the maximum time during which driving is permitted.
- Short-Haul Exception to HOS Rules
- The new HOS Regulations will change things for truckers driving short hauls by lengthening their maximum on‑duty period by two (2) hours, i.e., from twelve (12) hours to fourteen (14) hours; and
- The new HOS Rules will also extend the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles for short-hauls.
Increased Danger of Serious and Fatal Truck Crashes under New HOS Rules
For many, these new HOS Rules are not good news; in fact, they are likely to make things even more dangerous for commercial truck drivers.
- Truckers’ Union Voices Concern of Increasing Danger to Truckers
Speaking for truckers across the country, International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James P. Hoffa explains:
“In an effort to increase so-called ‘flexibility’ for trucking companies, the FMCSA is abandoning safety and allowing drivers to push themselves to the limit even further. Changes for short-haul truckers, for example, would extend their days from 12 to 14 hours on the job. That means a longer and more exhausting workday for tens of thousands of American workers. The Teamsters are also concerned about language changing the 30-minute rest break and the ability of drivers to press the pause button on their hours of service clock.
“Trucking is already one of the nation’s most dangerous jobs. We shouldn’t be sacrificing the health and safety of drivers just to pad the profits of their big business bosses.”
It’s not just the truckers’ labor union that has concerns over these new HOS Rules. Safety advocates at the Truck Safety Coalition concur.
- Statement of the Truck Safety Coalition on Proposed Rollbacks to the Hours of Service Rules
The Truck Safety Coalition, representing victims of serious truck crash accidents both as survivors and as families and loved ones of deadly truck crashes, shares this alarm. From their perspective:
“The FMCSA’s proposed changes to the hours of service rules for truck drivers will not improve safety. The agency is offering flexibility without regard for the fact that it could be exploited by the worst actors in the industry, including drivers who will operate while fatigued and motor carriers who will coerce them to do so. The FMCSA should immediately rescind these proposed changes and focus their time, resources, and efforts on advancing proven safety solutions such as speed limiters and automatic emergency braking.”
Danger of Deadly Commercial Truck Accidents and Fatal Truck Crashes
As debate continues over the government’s regulation of commercial truck driver’s drive time (as well as its ability to enforce these rules), the reality is that changes are being made while the number of fatal truck crashes is higher than it has been in years.
Will these new HOS Rules make things safer? Some truckers argue that it is government intrusion itself that causes fatal crashes. However, for the truck driver who is paid not by the hour but by the mile, the pressure felt from supervisors, shippers, and receivers cannot be underestimated.
Putting profits over people is all too often the motivation behind corporate powers-that-be who own the trucks and/or the cargo being carried in that semi-truck, big rig, or tractor-trailer truck. Allowing more flexibility in drive time may well correlate to more fatal truck crashes in the future as truckers push the envelope to meet their deadlines.
Within a short period of time, truck drivers on the roads of Indiana and Illinois may be driving with an even higher risk of a deadly accident or fatal truck crash. Please be careful out there!
