Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is extending the COVID-19 emergency declaration, which waives Part 395.3 (maximum driving time) of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for carriers providing emergency relief related to the pandemic. The declaration, which was set to expire Tuesday, Nov. 30, will now be effective through Feb. 28, 2022.
The extension continues to retain new features instituted with the last extension that began in September, including the narrowed regulatory range of the exemption -- which notably does not include the requirement to log time or use an ELD, if applicable. The September changes also included a new request for carriers to report their use of the exemption within 5 days after the end of each month. The move to add that requirement followed the agency's request in late summer to study the extent of the exemption's use around trucking. The reporting page asks for carriers' USDOT number; the number of trips made by commercial vehicles under the COVID Declaration; the type of goods transported; and for multiple goods transported, an indication of which commodity was transported the most.
Carriers are able to report by accessing their portal accounts via Portal.FMCSA.DOT.gov/login. After logging in, carriers will need to access "Emergency Declaration Reporting" under the "Available FMCSA Systems" section of the page.
The agency said it decided to extend the declaration because, “although the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the U.S. following widespread introduction of vaccinations, persistent issues arising out of COVID-19 continue to affect the U.S., including impacts on supply chains and the need to ensure capacity to respond to variants and potential rises in infections. Therefore, a continued exemption is needed to support direct emergency assistance for some supply chains."
The hours waiver applies to drivers and carriers providing direct assistance, which means transportation and other relief services related to the immediate restoration of essential services (such as medical care) or essential supplies related to COVID-19 during the emergency.
The waiver continues to be limited to the transportation of:
