The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced that the public comment period on the commercial motor vehicle drivers' hours-of-service Interim Final Rule has been extended until March 17, 2008, to provide interested parties an opportunity to provide further comment and supporting data.

On December 17, FMCSA published in the Federal Register (72 FR 71247) an Interim Final Rule (IFR) and Request for Comments regarding hours of service for commercial motor vehicle drivers. It was issued in response to a July 2007 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The IFR retains the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations allowing commercial motor vehicle drivers up to 11 hours of driving time within a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the workday, following 10 consecutive hours off duty (11-hour limit). This interim rule also allows motor carriers and drivers to restart calculations of the weekly on-duty time limits after the driver has at least 34 consecutive hours off duty (34-hour restart). The IFR is effective December 27, 2007, and comments are due no later than March 17, 2008.