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The implementation date for
revised Hours of Service rules is January 4, 2004.
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New rules apply to all property
carrying drivers. Drivers transporting passengers (bus/coach drivers) will
continue to be regulated by current Hours of Service rules.
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Drivers will have to take 10
consecutive hours off duty prior to driving. Use of sleeper berth splits
will be permitted. This rule continues as presently applied, except that
two separate periods in the sleeper berth must now total 10 hours--not 8;
and neither period in the sleeper berth can be less than two hours in
length.
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No driver may drive after having
been on-duty for 14 consecutive hours; but the revised Hours of Service
rules do allow a short-haul driver exemption that allows a driver to drive
after 14 hours, but not after 16 hours, one day a week--provided the driver
is released from work at his normal work reporting location on the day where
he worked 16 hours, and on the five preceding days. The 11-hour driving
time limit still applies with this new exemption.
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The newly revised Hours of Service
rules promote a 24-hour work/rest cycle, but do not require it.
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A driver may drive up to 11 hours
in any 14 consecutive hour on-duty period.
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The new rule does not require a
rest break during an on-duty shift.
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Existing weekly on-duty limits are
maintained. A driver may not drive after having been on-duty 60 hours in
any 7 consecutive days. For 7-day-per-week operations, the rule remains
that a driver may not drive after having been on-duty 70 hours in 8
consecutive days.
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A driver may “Restart” either
his/her 7 or 8 day cycle by taking 34 consecutive hours of duty. This is a
driver’s choice; the new rules do not mandate this off duty time.
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On-board recorders are not
mandated, but the new rules allow carriers and drivers to use on-board
recorders.
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There is no requirement for a
carrier to notify a driver of his/her schedule.
