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.

Every driver needs to know how to complete manual logs. Most often a manual log will be a paper grid log. Short-haul drivers who find themselves in a situation where they do not qualify for the 150 air-mile radius exception and ELD users who experience a malfunction of their device need to know how to manually record their duty status.

The Hours of Service Training: How to Complete a Manual Log course is designed to help drivers understand which fields are required and which are optional to accurately prepare their record of duty status and how to complete a recap to avoid violations.

• The eLearning course covers the following topics:
• Driver's Manual Log
• Record of Duty Status
• After completing this course, drivers will be able to:
  • Identify required fields on a manual log
  • Prepare a record of duty status using a manual log
  • Describe how to complete a recap to determine the number of hours a driver has available before hitting the 60- or 70-hour limit
• Note: Spanish course will be available November 2020
• Intended Audience: Property-Carrying CMV Drivers
• Regs Covered: 49 CFR Part 395
• Length: 20 minutes
• Languages: English (61334), Spanish (61335)
• Copyright Date: 2020

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