New truck driving limits went into effect on July 1, 2013. AGC is hearing that these new requirements are having significant impacts on delivery of asphalt, concrete aggregates and other highway construction materials. AGC is seeking examples of these impacts to use in a petition to the federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for an exemption from these rules. Please send Brian Deery at deeryb@agc.org examples of the negative impacts of these rules.
The major provisions in the new rules that impact commercial motor vehicle drivers in the construction industry are as follows:
- Daily driving time limit of 11 hours is maintained (FMCSA had proposed reducing this time to 10 hours).
- The 60- and 70-hour weekly driving limits are also unchanged.
- Consecutive hours of driving are limited to 8 hours following an off-duty break of at least 30 minutes.
- Maximum on-duty time will remain at 14 hours.
- Requires truck drivers to take a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a shift.
- Construction industry drivers transporting construction materials and equipment to and from an active construction site within a 50-air-mile radius of the driver’s normal work reporting location are allowed to restart the on-duty counting period following any off-duty period of 24 or more successive hours.
- Drivers that do not meet the construction driver definition can restart the weekly on-duty clock following a 34-hour off duty period that includes at least two periods between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
- The rule limits the use of the “34-hour restart” to once a week thus limiting restarts to one every 168 hours.
- The practical effect of new on-duty limits result in weekly driving time being reduced from 82 to 70 hours during a seven consecutive day driving period.