The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued four significant Hours of Service (HOS) rule changes for interstate drivers – effective September 29, 2020.  

The four new rule changes will improve safety, increase productivity, and increase flexibility for truck drivers:

• 30-minute breaks (§395.3(a)(3)) - Drivers can remain "on duty" for their breaks and not have to take a break until completing eight hours of driving time, rather than consecutive time.
• 100 air-mile exception (§395.1(e)(1)) - Drivers must be done working within 14 consecutive hours. Drivers must remain within a 150 air-mile radius.
• Split-sleeper provision (§395.1(g)(1)) - Drivers must spend at least 7 hours in a sleeper berth, plus another break to reach 10 hours total. Neither rest period counts against the 14-hour limit.
• Adverse conditions (§395.1(b)(1)) - Drivers may extend both their driving and on-duty limits by 2 hours.

The Hours of Service Training: Recording Your Hours course is designed to teach drivers when each type of record can be used and how each is evaluated during a roadside inspection. It also helps drivers with planning their trips to avoid violations.

• The eLearning course covers the following topics:
• Trip Planning
• Coercion of Drivers Prohibited
• Supporting Documents
• Recording Duty Status
• Roadside Inspections Expectations
• After completing this course, drivers will be able to:
  • Describe how to use trip planning to achieve successful time management
  • Identify two important components of coercion
  • Explain how supporting documents are used to validate recorded hours
  • Explain when to keep track of their hours using an ELD, manual log, or time record
  • Recognize how roadside inspection expectations differ between ELDs, manual logs, and time records
• Note: Spanish course will be available November 2020
• Intended Audience: Property-Carrying CMV Drivers
• Regs Covered: 49 CFR Part 395
• Length: 30 minutes
• Languages: English (61328), Spanish (61329)
• Copyright Date: 2020

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