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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Ohio 2020 PUCO HOS Coronavirus Relief 3-13-2020 (final)

Public Utilities
Commission

Mike DeWine, Governor
Sam Randazzo, Chairman

Commissioners

M. Beth Trombold
Lawrence K. Friedeman

Dennis P. Deters

Daniel R. Conway

Notice

To: Interested Carriers

From: John Williams, Director
Transportation Department

Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

Date: March 13, 2020

Re: Regulatory Relief from Hours-of Service Requirements for Intrastate Operation of Commercial Motor Vehicles Transporting Relief Supplies to assist in the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Response

To aid in the relief effort, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio hereby grants regulatory relief from the hours-of-service requirements pursuant to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 4923.02(C) and Rule 4901:2-5-05(A)(3) of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) for the intrastate transportation of relief supplies including consumer goods and medical supplies. The regulatory relief granted in this notice pertains only to the hours-of-service regulations found in 49 C.F.R. Section 395.3.

Rule 4901:2-5-05(A) of the Ohio Administrative Code, provides for regulatory relief for motor carriers operating in intrastate commerce during a time of emergency. On November 4, 1999, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio adopted and approved a "Policy for Regulatory Relief in Emergency Situations" to implement this rule.

The regulatory relief exempting motor carriers from hours-of-service requirements granted in this notice does not alter a motor carrier's duty to monitor its drivers; maintain records of duty status, and ensure drivers are not ill, fatigued, impaired, or otherwise unable to operate a commercial motor vehicle safely. This regulatory relief does not provide an exemption from the commercial driver's license requirements (refer to 49 C.F.R. Part 383), the controlled substance and alcohol use and testing requirements (refer to 49 C.F.R. Part 382) and/or the financial responsibility (insurance) requirements adopted by the Commission.

Unless otherwise directed, drivers must keep a written or electronic copy of this notice in each vehicle affected by this grant of regulatory relief. This regulatory relief will not apply to vehicles that do not have a copy of this notice.

This grant of regulatory relief is effective immediately and expires at 11:59 PM, March 27, 2020.

Once this grant of regulatory relief expires, drivers must comply with the off duty requirements in 49 C.F.R. Section 395.3 concerning 60/70 hour rules, or take a 34 hour restart, to return to active duty status.

I encourage all operators with Ohio intrastate authority to identify and communicate other actions that they believe should be taken to facilitate efforts to address, for the benefit of Ohio’s citizens, the risks associated with COVID-19. All such suggested actions should be communicated directly to me as soon as possible using my e-mail address which is john.williams@puco.ohio.gov

I also encourage all operators with Ohio intrastate authority to educate themselves about strategies to manage the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19 and share this information with others. In this regard, the Ohio Department of Health’s website provides some very useful and common sense information at https://coronavirus.ohio.gov

Please contact the PUCO Transportation Department at (614) 466-0369 with questions regarding this matter.

John D. Williams, Director

Date: March13, 2020

Last updated: Sunday, March 22, 2020