Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Aug. 28, 2020:
FMCSA seeks driver feedback on pilot program for more 14-hour pause flexibility beyond new rule
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking public comment on a pilot program to allow additional hours of service regulatory relief by allowing participating drivers to pause their on-duty driving period with one an off-duty period up to three hours. If that sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone in that assessment. FMCSA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance chief, Joe DeLorenzo, spent much of an hour’s worth of a presentation and conversation with Overdrive as part of the GATS Week series of events two days ago explaining just where drivers can find such a pause in the split-sleeper-berth changes of the new hours rule.
At once, those rules cover off-duty periods of at least two hours only. This public comment period looks for feedback on off-duty breaks of as few as thirty minutes — and not more than three hours — to be allowed to pause the 14-hour on-duty window as long as the driver takes 10 hours off-duty at the end of the work shift (thus outside split-sleeper-berth cycles). Participation in the proposed pilot program, proposed to operate for three years or less, would be limited to a certain number of CDL driver who meet the criteria specified for participating. The goal: to gather statistically reliable evidence to analyze the safety and feasibility of such a modification to the hours of service.
Read more about the proposal via this link, and drivers looking to comment on the program should use docket number FMCSA-2020-0098 at Regulations.gov. At press time Friday, August 28, the official notice had not posted there yet. Check back for further updates.
Multi-state mileage-based user fee pilot program in the works
The Eastern Transportation Coalition, formerly known as the I-95 Corridor Coalition, is planning a multi-state mileage-based user fee truck pilot, which will begin Oct. 1, 2020, and include 200 trucks.
A goal of the program is to capture mileage traveled in all 48 contiguous states to test the viability of such a system as a highway funding alternative.
ELD manufacturer EROAD is the technology and research partner of the coalition, and its in-cab distance recorder (Ehubo) and software-as-a-service-based road tax technology will be used during the pilot in the trucks involved.
Any carriers interested in participating in the pilot can get more information about registering here.
New Love’s open in Illinois, Texas
Love’s Travel Stops this week announced the opening of two new stores in Monmouth, Illinois, and Kermit, Texas.
The Illinois store, located off U.S. Highway 34, offers 87 truck parking spaces, Chester’s Chicken and Godfather’s Pizza restaurants, four diesel bays, six showers, laundry facilities and more.
The Texas location, off of Texas Highway 302, adds 99 truck parking spaces and offers Chester’s Chicken and McDonald’s restaurants, eight diesel bays, eight showers, laundry facilities and more.
