The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed a spending bill already passed by the Senate – and the President has promised his quick signature. This broad spending bill includes a rollback of the 34 hour restart provision in the commercial drivers’ Hours of Service regulations.
The current restart provision allows drivers to restart their weekly cumulative limits of either 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days if; drivers take 34 consecutive hours off, this time includes two periods of time from 0100 to 0500, and can only be used once per 7 days.
Until July of 2013, the restart provision was simpler. Drivers could reset their weekly cumulative limits by simply taking 34 hours off.
The budget bill passed by congress states;
“Section 133 temporarily suspends enforcement of the hours-of-service regulation related to the restart provisions that went into effect on July 1, 2013 and directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the operational, safety, health and fatigue aspects of the restart provisions in effect before and after July 1, 2013. The Inspector General is directed to review the study plan and report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations whether it meets the requirements under this provision.” You can read the bill in its entirety here.
This temporarily lifts the two new restrictions on the use of the 34-hour restart, the 0100 – 0500 provision and the 168-hour (7 day) rule. Drivers will be permitted to restart their weekly hours by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty, regardless of whether or not it includes two periods of time between 0100 and 0500. Drivers can utilize the restart more than one time per week if necessary.
This change takes effect as soon as the President signs the legislation. The FMCSA has not announced their plans to implement the rule. This new rule rolls back the restart regulation through September 30, 2015. The law requires the FMCSA make a Federal Register notice as soon as possible once the law is signed.
The law requires the FMCSA perform a study to determine the impacts of this rule on safe, health and carrier operations. The study must be overseen by the DOT Inspector General, and the rule requires the Agency prove a positive net impact of this new restart rule.
LoadTrek users do not need to worry about software or firmware updates. Your company’s LoadTrek administrator can simply change your HOS settings. From the LoadTrek Web Portal, go to Setup / HOS Profiles. Uncheck the box “Enable Reset Window” and select “Save”.
The CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) Website has been updated with the September 26, 2014 snapshot. Starting with this snapshot and then all subsequent snapshots, the SMS integrates the results of adjudicated citations associated with inspections conducted on or after August 23, 2014 that have been processed through DataQs. Check your safety assessment now at: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms.
For more information on the adjudicated citations policy, check out a factsheet, a glossary of key terms and, most recently posted to the CSA Website, a presentation from the August webinars on the adjudicated citations policy and SMS display changes.
NOTE TO CARRIERS: There are two ways to access and view all of your safety data, including any results of adjudicated citations for inspections conducted on or after August 23, 2014 that have been processed through DataQs. Log into your Portal account (https://portal.fmcsa.dot.gov/login) or log into the SMS website with your FMCSA-issued U.S. DOT Number Personal Identification Number (PIN) (NOT a Docket Number PIN). If you do not know or have forgotten your PIN, you can request one via http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/ and follow the instructions on the page.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced today that up to $3.1 million is available for the replacement of older drayage trucks operating at seaports and Class I rail yards in areas of Texas designated as nonattainment under the Federal Clean Air Act.
The primary purpose of the Drayage Truck Incentive Program, or DTIP, is to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and other pollutants, including particulate matter (PM). In many cases, vehicles used for drayage are older, higher-polluting vehicles that are no longer used for longer-haul operations. The concentration of these vehicles operating at seaports and rail yards warranted the establishment of this separate program specifically for replacement of older drayage vehicles with newer, less-polluting models.
DTIP grants are offered to eligible entities that have continuously owned or leased a drayage truck for the previous two years and have operated it at one or more of the eligible seaports or Class I rail yards for at least 200 visits per year for the past two years.
A drayage truck eligible for replacement must have an engine model year 2006 or earlier and must be:
a heavy-duty drayage truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) over 26,000 pounds; or
a yard truck with an engine rated at more than 125 horsepower
A drayage truck eligible for purchase must have an engine model year of 2010 or later and must be:
a heavy-duty drayage truck with a GVWR over 26,000 pounds with a daycab only; or
a yard truck with an engine rated at more than 125 horsepower.
The grants may reimburse up to 80 percent of the cost to purchase the new drayage truck. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until May 29, 2015, at 5:00 p.m., or until all funding is awarded, whichever occurs earlier.
For more information call 800-919-TERP (8377), visit www.terpgrants.org, or e-mail terp@tceq.texas.gov
Enhancements to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability public Safety Measurement System website have gone live.
The agency said the design changes are intended to provide more intuitive navigation, and user-friendly features and descriptions to clarify SMS’s role as FMCSA’s prioritization tool for interventions. They also will consolidate agency safety information so users do not have to go to multiple sites, and provide improved access to detailed information and new performance-monitoring tools.
SMS uses data collected from roadside inspections, state-reported crashes and investigations to quantify the relative safety performance of motor carriers. The agency uses the data to prioritize high-risk motor carriers, allocate its investigative resources and identify motor carriers for other actions such as a warning letter.
The House of Representatives on Saturday night passed a spending bill already passed by the Senate – and the President has promised his quick signature. This broad spending bill includes a rollback of the 34 hour restart provision in the commercial drivers’ Hours of Service regulations.