AAR, ASLRRA comment on proposed reg changes for truck drivers

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) last week submitted comments on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) proposed changes to hours-of-service requirements for truck drivers.

In a joint comment filed with the agency, the associations said many rail employees who operate trucks to work on railroad rights of way are subject to the agency's hours-of-service regulations.

"The work of these employees can be time-critical when a railroad must restore rail service after events like a derailment or grade crossing incident," AAR and ASLRRA officials wrote.

"The current FMCSA hours-of-service prohibitions on driving after a 14-hour duty period, or exceeding 60 or 70 hours on duty in a seven- or eight-day work week without the required off-duty period, "limit a railroad's ability to respond expeditiously to these types of emergency situations," their comment stated.

Railroads have a limited exemption request from the hours-of-service requirements that is now pending before the FMCSA, the associations noted.

In September, the FMCSA proposed updates to hours-of-service rules to "increase safety and provide additional flexibility for commercial drivers," agency officials said in an online statement. The proposed rulemaking would alter existing rules by:
• changing the short-haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles;
• modifying the adverse driving conditions by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted;
• increasing flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by tying the break requirement to eight hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes, and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on duty, not driving status, rather than off duty;
• modifying the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10-hours off duty into two periods: an eight-and-two split or a seven-and-three split, either off duty or in the sleeper berth. Neither period would count against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window; and
• allowing one off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours, that would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window, provided the driver takes 10 consecutive hours off-duty at the end of the work shift.

Although the proposed change to the short-haul exception available to certain drivers under existing rules would not provide relief to a majority of railroad scenarios, two proposed provisions potentially could provide "limited relief" and therefore are supported by the railroads, the associations wrote.

Those two proposed changes are: increasing the maximum driving window due to adverse weather conditions and the split-duty proposal.