May 6, 2011

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today placed four additional research studies in the official rulemaking docket for the Hours-of-Service (HOS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The four studies are: The Impact of Driving, Non-Driving Work, and Rest Breaks on Driving Performance in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations; Hours of Service and Driver Fatigue-Driver Characteristics Research; Analysis of the Relationship Between Operator Cumulative Driving Hours and Involvement in Preventable Collisions; and Potential Causes Of Driver Fatigue: A Study On Transit Bus Operators In Florida. FMCSA is reopening the HOS NPRM comment period to allow for public review and discussion of these studies. As FMCSA is committed to receiving and analyzing all public comments on the studies before it completes its work on the final rule, the agency will extend the final rule publication date. FMCSA has advised parties to the settlement agreement of the need for an extended rulemaking schedule. The research studies are available on the FMCSA website at www.fmcsa.dot.gov or www.regulations.gov. For more information, contact Candice Tolliver at (202) 366-9999.

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