More HOS changes?

It appears there will be changes to the sleeper berth provision of the new U.S. hours-of-service rule, based on a request from an industry lobby group that the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says raises “genuine issues in need of resolution.”

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) says the sleeper rule discourages naps and full, 10-hour off-duty rest periods and creates illogical inconsistencies in how extra off-duty hours are treated.

ATA illustrated its points in an example showing work-rest cycles over a 28-hour period for four hypothetical drivers (see chart). Three of the drivers are in compliance with the rules, but they drive more hours and get less rest than the fourth driver, whose schedule is illegal.

Drivers are free to take rest breaks at any time, in or out of the sleeper berth. But, ATA said, “there clearly is a strong disincentive to take rest if time spent in the sleeper berth will result in lost work hours or a violation.”

This issue turns on the agency’s policy that the only way to extend the 14-hour limit is to combine two periods in the sleeper berth. Drivers may not combine, say, a two-hour sleeper berth break with an off-duty break.

The policy creates difficulties for drivers on multi-day trips, ATA said. A driver must be careful not to end his trip after an odd number of sleeper berth shifts–or he might have to sleep in his truck to complete the 10-hour berth requirement, rather than go home to sleep.

And the policy sets up an enforcement quandary, in that the legality of a schedule depends on the intentions and future actions of the driver.

For example, ATA said, if Drivers B and C were both stopped for inspection between 9 and 10 p.m., both probably would claim that they intend to take their remaining required time in the berth.

Driver C, who will actually get more rest, would be making a false claim.

To remedy this, ATA is suggesting that the agency add this provision: A driver could extend the 14-hour limit if he has one sleeper berth period of at least two hours, provided he does not exceed 14 cumulative hours of work or 11 hours of driving, and follows his on-duty time with an off-duty time of at least 10 consecutive hours. This would encourage naps, because drivers would not lose work hours, and the 10-hour break would encourage longer and better sleep.

While the agency has indicated that it finds merit in the ATA argument, it has not yet made clear what changes it is considering. Up until now it has resisted making exceptions to the new hours rule. Last September, it rejected pleas from private carriers to ease the general 14-hour restriction by allowing drivers to take their breaks “off the clock.”