Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking feedback on two pilot programs intended to increase flexibility for truck drivers who must comply with federal rest requirements.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sept. 15 announced the programs, which would change hours-of-service requirements by:
- Splitting drivers’ 10-hour off-duty, sleeper berth period into combinations, including six/four and five/five.
- Pausing the 14-hour on-duty period for no less than 30 minutes and no more than three hours.
As part of an Executive Order recently issued by President Donald Trump, Duffy in June announced a “package of new initiatives, pilot programs and regulatory updates designed to improve the lives of America’s truck drivers.”
Participation in both programs is limited to 256 drivers. Drivers of passenger-carrying trucks wouldn’t be eligible for the split-duty pilot, which the agency believes “provides the flexibility to take extra rest, avoid driving during traffic congestion and mitigate the impacts of unreasonable ‘detention times.’”
Federal regulations mandate that drivers who decide to split time in the sleeper berth take one rest period of at least seven hours. The flexible sleeper berth pilot program would reduce the requirement to five hours.
The agency adds: “Drivers selected for participation would provide FMCSA with data for a four-month period, divided into a ‘baseline’ period of one month, during which they would comply with the current sleeper berth regulations, and another period of three months, during which they would operate under an exemption allowing additional flexibility in how they may split their sleeper berth time.
“The agency would use the data collected to compare drivers’ safety performance and fatigue levels between the baseline and exemption periods.”
The “split duty period pilot program” would also be conducted over a four-month period.
FMCSA “must submit a report to Congress concerning the findings, conclusions and recommendations, including suggested amendments to laws and regulations that would enhance motor carrier, CMV and driver safety” when each pilot program concludes, the agency says.
Comments on the programs are due Nov. 17, with “protocol development” set to begin early next year.
