The National Propane Gas Association recently reported Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is proposing several changes to its federal hours of service regulations including changes to the short-haul operation exemption, which has been a top priority for NPGA. FMCSA proposes to improve the short-haul operation exemption by extending the maximum on-duty time from 12 to 14 hours, and expanding the maximum air-mile radius from 100 to 150 air-miles, this would mirror Texas’
intrastate
short haul exemption.
The current federal short-haul operation exemption detailed at 49 C.F.R. 395.1(e) relieves drivers from the requirement to maintain a Record of Duty Status (including use of an electronic logging device) and supporting documentation.
Currently, the criteria to fall within the
interstate
short-haul exemption are:
• The driver operates within a 100 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location;
• The driver returns to the work reporting location;
• The driver is released from work within 12 consecutive hours;
• The driver has at least 10 consecutive hours off-duty separating each 12 hours on-duty;
• The driver does not drive for more than a total of 11 hours
during a 14-hour period.
FMCSA also proposes additional modifications to other hours of service regulations. The proposal includes:
• Extending the maximum adverse driving conditions exception by two hours;
• Altering when a 30-minute rest break is required for long-haul drivers;
• Adding flexibility to how long-haul drivers may split the sleeper berth break;
• Increasing the pause window for an off-duty break for long-haul drivers
Please direct any questions or comments to NPGA’s Sarah Reboli, Deputy Counsel, Regulatory Affairs at
SReboli@npga.org
.
