56
RISKMANAGEMENT
ACT
FEBRUARY 2015
Bill Smith
parses the HOS
34-hour restart provision
& ‘no-defect DVIR’
requirement.
alloweddrivers to take a34-hour restart
withno restrictions onhowoften the
restartmaybeusedwithin the7or 8day
period, andwhich alsodidnot include a
requirement for earlymorningoff-duty
periods. This alsomeans that adriver can
utilize the restartmore thanone timeper
week if necessary, something thatwasnot
allowedunder the current provision.
As the issues at handare somewhat
complicated, Iwill address four questions
we’vebeengettingon regularlybasis.
However, if you find that you still have
questions regarding the suspension,
contactmeor anyone from theNBIS’s
RiskManagement team andwe canwalk
you throughyour concerns.
WHEN IS THENEW34-HOURRESTART
EFFECTIVE?
The34-hour restart rulehas reverted
to itspre-July1, 2013version since the
President signed thebill into law.
HOW LONGWILL THESE CHANGES LAST?
Because the language resides in an annual
spendingbill, its terms expire at the end
of FY2015,which is Sept. 30, 2015. It’s
important tonote that the legislation also
directs theDepartment ofTransportation
to conduct a study comparing the
effectiveness of the34-hour restart rules
inplacebefore July1, 2013with those that
took effect after.
IF AMOTORCARRIER’S TRUCKSHAVE ELDS,
WILL THEYBE ABLE TOUSE THE SIMPLE
34-HOURRESTART IMMEDIATELY?
Carriers are encouraged toworkwith their
ELD suppliers todeterminewhat software
THE
AUTHOR:
Bill Smith
is executive
vice president of claims
and riskmanagement for
NBIS.
B
ack inDecember, there
were twoheadlines in
TransportationTopics, adigital
news sourceput out by theAmerican
TruckingAssociation (ATA), that I think
areworthnotingbecause theyhave a
direct affect onSC&RAmembers: “House
Passes $1TrillionFundingBillContaining
SuspensionofHOSRestart Provision,”
and “FMCSAEnds InspectionReporting
UnlessDriversFindVehicleDefects.”
You’re askingyourselfwhyyou should
care, right?Well, if you’vebeen following
what’s beengoingon the trucking industry
lately, thenyou’veprobablyheardquite
abit of grumbling about the limitations
put on truckers’ ability touse the34-hour
restart. In response to all that grumbling,
theU.S.Housepassed a$1 trillion funding
bill onDec. 11 containing aprovision that
would suspend federal limits on truckers’
weeklywork schedules.
Theprovision, known as Section133,
temporarily suspends enforcement of the
hours-of-service regulation related to the
restart provisions thatwent into effect
on July1, 2013, anddirects theSecretary
to conduct a studyof theoperational,
safety, health, and fatigue aspects of the
restart provisions in effect before and after
July1, 2013.Additionally, the Inspector
General isdirected to review the study
plan and report to theHouse andSenate
Committees onAppropriationswhether
itmeets the requirementsunder this
provision.
Essentially,what theprovisiondoes is
temporarily eliminate the twonew– and
tomany, problematic– restrictions on the
useof the34-hour restart, namely the1-5
a.m. provision and the168-hour rule. This
means that FMCSA and the statesmust
revert back to enforcement of thepre-July
1, 2013, 34-hour restart provisions,which
updates arenecessary to complywith this
legislativelydirected rule change.A short
transitionperiodmaybenecessary, and
it is encouraged that fleets tobepatient
asELD supplierswill need some time to
write anddeploy the softwareupdates.
WILL ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALSKNOWABOUT
THISCHANGE?
Since the lawhas been signed, it is fully
expected that theCommercialVehicle
SafetyAlliance and theFederalMotor
Carrier SafetyAdministrationwill
issue enforcementmemosdescribing
the changes and their impact to law
enforcement personnel. The enforcement
memos/guidancewill bedistributed
byFMCSA as theybecome available.
However,motor carriersmay experience
minordisruptions roadside as law
enforcement adapt to the changes. If a
driver experiences aproblem roadside,
heor she should contact theheadof the
commercial vehicle safetyprogram in that
state’s leadMCSAP agency.
In regards to the last question
concerning compliance and enforcement,
there aredefinitelygoing tobe things
youneed tobeproactive about and
awareof. I’mprobably safe in saying that
the transitionback to theold ruleswill
not be an easyone formotor carriers
anddrivers. I suspect thatmost drivers
will need tobe re-trained so as to fully
understandwhat, exactly, is requiredof
them. But I think thebiggest concern
probably isn’t in re-training theirdrivers;
it’sdealingwith software andhardware
issues.Many
motor carriersuse technology such as
New year,
