The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Tuesday it has denied several requests by carriers or drivers seeking exemptions to certain hours-of-service regulations.
One application, from carrier B.R. Kreider & Son, requested an exemption of the requirement that its drivers keep records of duty status. Drivers deemed short-haulers – those who are on duty less than 12 hours per day and who operate within a 100-mile radius of their base point — are not required to keep records of duty status. Kreider’s drivers, however, are required to, because they are on duty for more than 12 hours.
The companies stated the deliveries are often time sensitive and that the mandatory 30-minute break constrains their ability to deliver when they need to. They added that the limited amount of time behind the wheel, along with their frequent breaks of less than 30 minutes, “make them less susceptible to fatigue than CMV drivers who spend most of their workday behind the wheel.”
FMCSA said little effort would be needed for the drivers to extend one of their frequent short breaks to 30 minutes, and because of this, the agency denied the exemption application.
