As the new hours of service took effect on September 29th, FMCSA launched an online HOS violation navigating tool. It will help carriers and drivers to better understand the new regulations. The navigation tool allows users to enter their duty statuses into a log and identifies potential violations.
The long-awaited HOS changes were finally announced on May 14 earlier this year. This final rule includes four revisions that pertain to issues truckers have voiced concerns about:
- increasing flexibility in the 30-minute break rule
- modifying the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods — an 8/2 split, or a 7/3 split — with neither period counting against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window.
- modifying the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted
- changing the short-haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.
For more detailed information click here
Educational Tool for Hours of Service (ETHOS).
“Sept. 29 is an important day for our nation’s commercial drivers — the start of the revised hours-of-service rules providing greater flexibility to drivers and carriers without impacting safety,” FMCSA Deputy Administrator Wiley Deck said. “Our team has worked hard preparing for this launch. [ETHOS] is a prime example of that effort. Its simple, scenario-based system is user-friendly and very helpful, particularly given the uniqueness of runs and driver situations.”
Click HERE to check ETHOS
When drivers and carriers enter their duty statuses into ETHOS, the Agency says the web-based tool will identify where potential violations of the following rules may have occurred:
• 11-hour driving limit (property) or 10-hour driving limit (passenger)
• 14-hour driving window (property) or 15-hour on-duty limit (passenger)
• 30-minute break (property)
• Sleeper berth provision
Note : The 60/70-hour limit regulations are not covered by ETHOS.
,, That’s often a very easy way to understand the hours-of-service rules as compared to providing a driver with regulatory text and saying ‘Here’s what you can and cannot do,’” Dan Horvath, vice president of safety policy for American Trucking Associations, said. “When you take that regulatory text and put it in the context of an actual logbook for that driver’s day, it’s a lot easier to understand, it’s a lot easier to train, and that way, everyone’s on the same page. Having an example of something that drivers and safety directors are using on a daily basis is going to be much more beneficial to the industry in understanding it.”
Note ** The HOS violations navigating tool identifies only potential violations and should not be relied on to monitor HOS compliance. Additionally, the page notes that FMCSA does not retain data entered in the application.