Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration August 20, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces that it has received an application from the Association of American Railroads and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (the Associations) on behalf of themselves and member railroads for an exemption from the following hours of service (HOS) provisions: (1) Driving a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV) without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty, (2) driving after the 14th hour after coming on duty, (3) driving more than 11 hours during the 14-hour period after coming on duty, (4) driving if more than 8 hours have passed since the end of the last off-duty or sleeper-berth period of at lest 30 minutes, and (5) driving after accumulating 60 hours of on-duty time in 7 consecutive days (60-hour rule), or 70 hours of on-duty time in 8 consecutive days (70-hour rule). The exemption would enable railroad employees subject to the HOS rules to respond to unplanned events that occur outside of or extend beyond the employee's normal work hours. FMCSA requests public comment on the Associations' application for exemption.