Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration August 6, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its denial of 128 applications from individuals who requested an exemption from the Federal vision standard applicable to interstate truck and bus drivers and the reasons for the denials. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemptions does not provide a level of safety that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

FMCSA announces that it has received an application from Payne and Dolan, Inc.; Zenith Tech, Inc.; and Northeast Asphalt, Inc. for an exemption from the 30-minute rest break provision of the Agency's hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The requested exemption would apply to CMV drivers of these three companies involved in the transport, placement and movement of materials and equipment needed in the day-to-day operation of road, bridge and parking lot construction and maintenance. These companies believe that compliance with the 30-minute rest break rule is extremely difficult due to several variables associated with the nature of their operations and work scheduling (e.g., work zone time, delivery and repair schedules). FMCSA requests public comment on these companies application for exemption.