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: Basics course is designed to cover the fundamentals of hours-of-service regulations and what it means to be regulated. Drivers will learn what types of activities they are expected to keep track of and which are considered on-duty or off-duty. They will learn the importance of tracking rest cycles and the amount of work they've completed, which will help them determine if they are safe and legal to drive.

• The eLearning course covers the following topics:
• Who is Regulated?
• Purpose of the Hours-of-Service Regulations
• Working Time
• Your Impact on Your Hours-of-Service CSA BASIC Score
• After completing this course, drivers will be able to:
  • Identify who the hours-of-service regulations apply to
  • Recognize the purpose of the hours-of-service regulations
  • Differentiate between on-duty and off-duty activities
  • Explain how hours-of-service violations affect driver and carrier CSA scores
• 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 (61324), Spanish (61325)
• Copyright Date: 2020

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