hours of service

Lessons from the Truck Sleeper Berth Compensation Case

By Warren Hoemann, PrePass consultant, former FMCSA chief counsel and deputy administrator In late 2023, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld a lower court decision, ruling that sleeper berth time beyond eight hours in a team driver operation was compensable. The case involved a motor carrier’s truck

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Has Your Electronic Logging Device Been Cancelled? FMCSA Revokes More ELDs.

It’s almost like feeling out of sorts, heading to your doctor’s office, and learning that your long-time family physician has retired. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires most interstate motor carriers to have electronic logging devices (ELDs), in their trucks. Truck drivers, in turn, become accustomed to the particular

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New FMCSA Hours of Service Data Muddled by COVID-19

About three years ago, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published final rules that contained four modifications to federal hours of service (HOS) rules for truck drivers: Short-haul exception – Expanded the short-haul exception from 100 air-miles to 150 air-miles for commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders and allowed a

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The Split Sleeper Berth Rule for Truckers Explained

Truck drivers’ compliance with federal hours of service (HOS) rules has likely become easier with electronic logging devices replacing paper logbooks. However, one part of the HOS regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that causes truckers some problems remains. The so-called “split sleeper berth” rule. For those not

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Revoked ELDs – What Truckers Need to Know & Do

Electronic logging devices have been part of trucking life since 2016. The devices record a driver’s hours of service and display, transfer, or print out that information for roadside enforcement. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a long list of technical standards any ELD must meet. In Canada, an

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FMCSA Seeks to Modify Emergency Exemptions

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to modify the scope of regulatory relief automatically granted in declared emergencies. Existing federal regulations grant an automatic 30-day exemption from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to

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A Look Back at Trucking During 2022

At the beginning of 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration forecast several important rulemakings that did not come to full fruition. FMCSA would, according to the Fall 2021 edition of the Unified Regulatory Agenda, adopt regulations imposing time or mileage limits on the personal conveyance use of commercial motor

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Trucking Things to Know Now, Part 7: Federal Regulatory Updates

Whatever the political headlines of the day, federal agencies continue to add new trucking regulations, adopt new forms, and extend or discontinue previous waivers and exemptions. In this series, “Trucking Things to Know Now,” PrePass provides quick updates on regulatory developments, often with links to more information. HOS Waivers for

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FMCSA Seeks Answers on Truck ELDs

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to improve the clarity of existing regulations on electronic logging devices. The agency also wants to address some technical specification issues in response to trucking industry concerns. An ANPRM is a published notice in the

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Learn from Other Truck Fleets How INFORM Safety Solves Safety Problems

Three carriers. Three different safety challenges. One solution: INFORM Safety. INFORM Safety is easy-to-use data visualization software, available to PrePass customers at no extra charge. INFORM Safety takes the very same data that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses to evaluate motor carrier safety and displays it in

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Feds Looking for Comments on Trucker Hours of Service, Driver Registry and More

Two federal regulatory agencies are asking for input regarding data collection on important trucking topics. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently published four Information Collection Requests (ICRs) in the Federal Register. Each renew existing ICRs that, by law, agencies must

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