Hours of service

Enforcement of the HOS is generally handled by DOT officers of each state, and are sometimes checked when CMVs pass through weigh stations.

Drivers found to be in violation of the HOS can be forced to stop driving for a certain period of time, which may negatively affect the motor carrier's safety rating.

These facts have started another debate on whether motor carriers should be required to use ELDs in their vehicles, instead of relying on paper-based log books.

According to numerous studies, the risk of fatigue is also greatest between midnight and 6:00 a.m., and increases with the total length of the driver's trip.

[2] The blanket assignment of midnight as the time of day when all drivers gain fresh hours may therefore not be the safest choice possible.

Circadian rhythm effects describe the tendency for humans to experience a normal cycle in attentiveness and sleepiness through the 24-hour day.

The influence of the day-night cycle is never fully displaced (standard artificial lighting is not strong enough to inhibit the release of melatonin),[4] and the performance of night shift workers usually suffers.

Performance declines the longer a person is engaged in a task, gradually during the first few hours and more steeply toward the end of a long period at work.

"[2] The evidence before us clearly does not suffice to enable us to conclude that a duty period as low as 8 hours in 24 is required in the interest of safety.

Later, an added exception for trucks equipped with sleeper berths meant drivers were allowed to "split" their 8-hour off-duty time into two parts.

However, the retention of the split sleeper berth provision would allow drivers to maintain irregular, short-burst sleeping schedules.

This provision was introduced to combat the cumulative fatigue effects that accrue on a weekly basis, and to allow for two full nights of rest (e.g., during a weekend break).

[11][12] In the years since 2005, groups such as Public Citizen Litigation Group, Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT), Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH, which has merged with PATT), and the American Trucking Associations (ATA), have been working to change the HOS again.

The 3-hour difference between the 11-hour driving limit and the 14-hour on-duty limit gives drivers the opportunity to take care of non-driving working duties such as loading and unloading cargo, fueling the vehicle, and required vehicle inspections, as well as non-working duties such as meal and rest breaks.

A driver may be allowed (but not required) to take 34 hours off-duty to reset the weekly total back to zero (also known as a "34-hour restart").

[20] FMCSA rules require that a log book (or ELD) must record for each change of duty status (e.g., the place of reporting for work, or starting to drive), the name of the city, town or village, with state abbreviation.

The driver is required to retain a copy of each log page for the previous seven consecutive days which must be in their possession and available for inspection while on-duty.

[33] PATT suggests that paying all drivers by the hour would reduce HOS violations by removing the incentive to "cheat the system" by driving more miles than are being logged.

Allowing drivers to violate the HOS is an effective cost-cutting measure used mostly by non-union, long haul carriers.

To comply with the HOS, these companies would have to hire more drivers (possibly driving up wages) and purchase additional trucks and trailers.

Because of this competition, carriers who choose to switch from non-compliance could not pass on all of their increased costs associated with HOS compliance to their customers.

The sentences were the result of an investigation which began when one of the trucking company's drivers was involved in a collision on Interstate 93 in Londonderry on 2 Aug. 1995, in which four individuals were killed.

[37] The defendants admitted that they knowingly and willfully permitted employee truck drivers to violate hours of service safety regulations.

The corporation executed a scheme to hide illegal hours of driving from detection by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) safety investigators who conduct periodic examinations of trucking companies' records.

[39] On 18 December 2017, ELD rules were implemented as part of the Congressionally mandated MAP-21 Act, for all carriers subjected to the record of duty status (RODS) requirements.

The final rule adopted several changes to the HOS regulations, including a new provision requiring drivers to take a rest break during the work day under certain circumstances.

On 2 August 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its ruling on the Hours of Service litigation brought by the American Trucking Associations and Public Citizen.

The Court upheld the 2011 Hours of Service regulations in all aspects except for the 30-minute break provision as it applies to short haul drivers.

While the decision does not officially take effect until the mandate is issued 52 days after the decision (unless a party files a petition for rehearing, either by the panel or en banc, or moves to stay the mandate pending the filing of a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court), FMCSA announces the Agency will immediately cease enforcement of the 30-minute rest break provision of the HOS rule against short-haul operations.

[43] The ANPRM is in response to a Congressional mandate and industry concerns that may lead to hours of service rule reforms concerning the air-mile "short-haul" exemption, modification to the 14-hour on-duty limitation, revision of the current mandatory 30-minute break for truck drivers after 8 hours of continuous driving, and reinstating split-sleeper berth options.