WASHINGTON — Following the release of a Final Rule regarding Hours of Service regulations for truck drivers, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association filed a petition Aug. 29 asking for changes in two specific areas of the rule.
OOIDA petitioned for the following:
• The sleeper berth provision from the 2003 rule be retained for team drivers.
• That both the minimum rest periods under the new sleeper berth provision be excluded from the 14 hour on-duty limit for solo drivers, which the group stated would be more consistent with the treatment of the 10 hours off-duty period that does not count toward on-duty time.
The public has 30 days from the time the rules were published to petition FMCSA for changes in the HOS rules.
The new HOS regulations were published after the 2003 rule was challenged by Public Citizen, Parents Against Tired Truckers, and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways. A July 2004 court ruling found that the 2003 HOS “failed to consider the health of truck drivers, as was required by law.”
When asked about its plan to challenge or not to challenge the new rules released Aug. 19, Valerie Collins from the Public Citizen press office said “Public Citizen has not decided whether to take further legal action against FMCSA.”
The only change made to the rules which affects long-haul drivers is the change in the sleeper-berth rule. The new rules require drivers who use sleeper-berths to rest for eight consecutive hours and will no longer permit the use of shorter rest periods that were allowed under the 2003 rules.
Commercial Motor Vehicle drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take at least eight consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus two consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off-duty, or any combination of the two.
According to the Truckload Carriers Association, the two-hour break must be taken consecutively and counts as part of the 14-hour work day unless it’s taken with the eight hours of sleeper-berth time. The two-hour break may be taken before, after, or with the eight hours of sleeper-berth time.