FMCSA Hours of Service Final Rule

FMCSA’s top priority is safety on America’s roadways. That’s why the Agency is updating hours of service regulations to improve safety and increase flexibility for the nation’s commercial vehicle drivers.

These updates to hours of service rules offer four key modifications to improve safety, and increase flexibility: 

• The Agency will increase safety and flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by tying the break requirement to 8 hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes, and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on duty, not driving status, rather than off duty. 

• The Agency will modify the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods: an 8/2 split, and a 7/3 split—with neither period counting against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window.
   
• The Agency will modify the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by 2 hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.

• The Agency will change the short-haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

The new rule would not increase driving time and would continue to prevent CMV operators from driving for more than 8 consecutive hours without at least a 30-minute change in duty status.

Learn More:

>Read the Final Rule (PDF)
>News Statement 
>Get To Know The New Rule
>HOS Fact Sheet