Clearing the air on some potential confusion about when procedurally the upcoming suspension of certain hours of service rules will take effect, FMCSA has told Overdrive the stay of enforcement begins as soon as the president signs the bill into law.
Though the bill requires the agency to publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the changes, the 2015 appropriations bill allocates no money to the enforcement of the rules, therefore nullifying them when the bill becomes law.
The agency also said it is working to prepare state and local enforcers for the change.
“FMCSA is preparing a Federal Register Notice, that will also be posted on our website, to advise the public that it is suspending enforcement of the restart restrictions as required by law. We are also working to ensure that the 12,000 state and federal motor carrier enforcement personnel are prepared to revert back to the previous restart,” the agency said in a statement.
The 2015 appropriations bill will suspend two provisions of the 2013 HOS rule: (1) The requirement that drivers’ 34-hour restarts include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods and (2) the provision that limits the use of the restart to once per 168 hours (a week).
