FMCSA granted Hours of Service waiver for all the USA

An emergency proclamation suspending the Hours of Service (HOS) rules 
through the entire U.S. was granted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration (FMCSA), according to their website fmcsa.dot.gov
The federal waiver came as HOS rules were falling over the past few days within a number of states where supply chains are straining under the demands to restock medical and consumer goods that are rapidly being depleted. The waivers on the state level were wide-ranging and across the country. 
“We understand that FMCSA issued an emergency proclamation suspending federal hours-of-service 
(HOS) regulations for operations engaged in emergency relief related to COVID-19,” ATA vice president for safety policy Dan Horvath said in a note to its members. 
FMCSA was not immediately available for comment. But in the note, Horvath said carriers and drivers “remain responsible for ensuring that drivers are receiving sufficient rest and are not operating fatigued.”
The waiver on the federal level and in the states comes as capacity is tightening and demand for trucking is soaring, as shown in the Outbound Tender Volume Index from SONAR. Demand for simple goods like toilet paper all the way up to sophisticated products like medical devices is straining the trucking sector. 
medical and consumer supply chains.

An official with one state trucking association noted that its state’s limitations on what it could carry did include medical equipment and consumer goods. That would cover a lot, but presumably wouldn’t apply to something like a flatbed hauling industrial equipment. Whether the definition of “emergency relief” in the FMCSA rule is narrow or broad will need to be determined by the specifics in the waiver.
As Paul Enos, president of the Nevada Trucking Association said in his letter requesting a waiver from the governor of Nevada: “One carrier who delivers dry goods to a major grocery store chain in southern Nevada, Utah and northern Arizona has seen a 20% increase this week. Retailers have gone through a month and half of inventory in four days.” Enos cited rising detention times as a key reason for a waiver to be needed. Citing SONAR data, Enos told FreightWaves that detention times “are close to their highest annual levels” as trucks encounter docks operating at capacity to resupply 

FMCSA - To Do list:

CDL Downgrade for Drug & Alcohol Violations
STATUS: Proposal is overdue
Would require each state to remove CLP/CDL privileges from drivers who violate drug & alcohol prohibitions.
The States will be checking Clearinghouse before issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading a CDL.
 
States could not restore privileges until driver completes return-to-duty requirements. /SAP/
 

Delayed Med-Card Rule Goes into Effect
STATUS: Compliance deadline approaching June 22, 2021 (delayed twice)
Affects CDL holders. Medical certification data will be sent electronically. Examiner FMCSA Licensing agency MVR. No paper medical cards for CDL holders. No waiting 15 days to get updated MVR. No verifying National Registry listing.
No changes for non-CDL holders
Possible Change to ELDT Rule
STATUS: Proposed on June 29, 2018 Would amend entry-level training requirements for Class B CDL holders who want to upgrade to a Class A CDL Would only affect classroom training . No schedule for final rule
Civil Penalties Going Up ... Again!
STATUS: Final rule coming soon Annual adjustment for inflation Last adjusted on November 27, 2018.
Adjustment made across all DOT agencies Appendices to Part 386
DOT Fast-Tracking HOS Flexibility
STATUS: Sent for Approval Mach 3, 2020 The FMCSA sent the HOS Final Rule to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for approval.
 
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM) on updates to hours of service (HOS) rules to increase safety and provide additional flexibility for commercial drivers.
The proposed rule on hours of service rule offers five key modifications to the existing HOS rules:
 New Entry-Level Driver Training Rule
 STATUS: extended the compliance date from February 7, 2020, to February 7, 2022. New rule applies only to CDL applicants who would receive their licenses after the rule’s effective date.
 
        The Trainer Provider Registry (TRP) is not yet ready for use as the agency wants to ensure a secure and effective registry.
 
        TPR will allow commercial driver training providers to self-certify that they meet the training requirements.
 
  DOT Fast-Tracking HOS Flexibility
 STATUS: Sent for Approval Mach 3, 2020 The FMCSA sent the HOS Final Rule to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for approval.
  
 The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM) on updates to hours of service (HOS) rules to increase safety and provide additional flexibility for commercial drivers.
 The proposed rule on hours of service rule offers five key modifications to the existing HOS rules:
 
        Authorized training providers to be listed online in Training Providers Registry.
* No specific number of hours for CDL but must meet the extensive training curriculum.
* Must prove State training before allowing skills test

 DOT Fast-Tracking -  HOS Flexibility
 
  FEDERAL & STATE UPDATES  
 

The Agency proposes a change to the short- haul exemption available to certain commercial drivers by extending the drivers’ max on-duty period from 12 to
14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles. The Agency proposes to modify the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by 2 hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.
The Agency proposes to increase flexibility for the 30 minute break rule by tying the break requirement to 8 hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on duty, not driving status, rather than off duty.
The Agency proposes to allow one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than 3 hours, that would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window, provided the driver takes 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the work shift..
New-Entrant Safety Assurance
STATUS: Undetermined Operate Safely, Maintain up-to- date records, Conduct periodic inspections,  and perform maintenance on CMVs. Must also Pass the Safety Audit
Speed Limiters Still on the Agenda
STATUS: Undetermined, but not dead yet!
Regulations would require vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds be equipped with a speed limiting device set to a speed no greater than a speed to be specified in a final rule. This will require motor carriers operating such vehicles in interstate commerce to maintain functional speed limiting devices set to a speed no greater than a speed to be specified in the final rule for the service life of the vehicle. YO BE CONTINUED

Protests Breaking Out Throughout the Country from the Transportation Industry

       ON MAY 1, 2020 TRUCKERS gathered in large metropolitan cities to do slow rolls in the downtown to bring awareness for their plight in fighting against the obstacles they are facing in the industry. Record low shipping rates and skyrocketing insurance cost are just the beginning of the issues. These protests escalated and continued to the steps of the White House in Washington DC.

What started May 1st as a small protest against price gouging and coercion by freight brokers has grown into one of the longest and largest driver protests in history, as a Who’s Who of every major trucking protest leader in the last decade, joined the cause and put out an all-call for what is being hailed as the owner-operators’ last stand. 

A protesting Hazmat Trucker, Rumen Georgiec, stated that one of the main focus of the protests is: Regulations on Brokers & Just Pay on Loads. 

 Transparency - that brokers are required by law to attach what the customer is paying  for the load along with the rate confirmation

Just pricing on insurance

-	Just pay on loads, example include a minimum pay per mile based on equipment type (refrigerated trailers spend more fuel because the  trailer uses fuel). Loads to be paid above the national fuel cost per gallon.

As the protests moved to Capitol Hill, truckers use horns to sound ‘Mayday’ message — S.O.S. — in D.C. Over the past three weeks more than 200 drivers have camped around the White House and more are arriving by the hour as the largest and longest trucker protest in recent history. 

President Trump tried to re-brand the desperate cry for help as some kind of joyous tribute but this was rebuffed by the protesting truckers. "This is a protest," Anderson of OOIDA said. "Mr. Trump elaborated that we were here to support him. Our message to him would be this is a protest against bad regulation, broker transparency, truck insurance, so on and so forth. This is not here to support Trump. We're here to get resolution and bring awareness to our problem and fix our problems." 

"There are people here that in fact love Trump, there are people here that in fact do not," Michael Landis, chief executive of the United States Transportation Alliance advocacy non-profit and a truck owner-operator who is part of the protest, told CNN. "This is about trying to get his(Trump's) attention so we can speak directly with him about a lot of issues we're having here in the trucking industry, because we've tried other avenues and have been unsuccessful."

"This is not a protest in support of Donald Trump or a rally for Trump. Not that we're against him by any means. Most of these guys here actually probably voted for him, honestly. But we've been let down by the administration, by (Transportation) Secretary Elaine Chao, and by the FMCSA" he said.

Trump didn’t provide any specifics about what would be done to help truck but the Protests are ongoing on the Steps of Capital Hill in Washington DC and we are constantly keeping you up to date on your Facebook Page at Cellex Consulting Group.