Kingsgate Comments on HOS Proposal

A few months ago, I mentioned the new HOS Proposal in our HOS Update blog and last Monday, public commenting on this proposal to FMCSA officially ended. Transportation Topics broke down the 2,600 written public comments here.

This proposal was announced during August 2019 and aims to give “truck drivers more flexibility with their 30-minute rest break and with dividing their time in the sleeper berth. It also would extend by two hours the duty time for drivers encountering adverse weather and extend the shorthaul exemption by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on-duty period from 12 hours to 14 hours and increasing the distance limit in which drivers can operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.”

Most comments were in favor of the proposed change but with some caution, especially regarding driver and general highway safety. Commenters also brought up the proposal’s impact on the ELD or E-log mandate as a concern and mentioned a need for more clarity.

Ultimately, this proposal should increase flexibility without lessening road safety and driver accuracy. We asked our team for their thoughts and comments to add and I’d like to share our “Kingsgate Comments:”

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• “I think it’s great the FMCSA is open to changes. We hear complaints all the time from carriers missing out on opportunities because of restrictions. Transportation is tricky and allowing more freedom on how drivers use their hours is needed (still considering safety of course).” – Steve K.
• “Allowing drivers more flexibility with their breaks will open more opportunities to us and the drivers. Way too many times we’ve had drivers late due to breaks. Having even that little bit of flexibility can make a HUGE difference.” – Melissa H.
• “Lengthening the air miles will help us with intrastate runs as well as interstate runs, i.e. Kentucky and Indiana with some of our local carriers. This will expand their horizons a bit in covering local freight for us.” – Eric S.
• “Drivers have needed more flexibility in logging their hours of service for a very long time. They also need to be mindful of their own need for rest when necessary. Hopefully this new flexibility will enable them to both effectively rest and get the miles they need to run in a day.” – Melissa B.

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What do you think about this proposed change?

All the Best,

Jeff Beckham