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EMAIL FROM:
ROBERT F. SCHULTZ, JR.
TRANSPORTATION SPECIALIST
FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (FMCSA)
DATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2005 2:20 PM
----- Original Message -----
From: "Schultz, Buz" <buz.schultz@fmcsa.dot.gov>
To: <frbjorklund@driversdailylog.com>
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 2:28 PM
Subject: Calculation of the 14-Hour Rule After 2 Qualifying Sleeper
Berth Periods
Mr. Bjorklund
Thank you for your patience. This is in response to the letters you
have written to various parties in this agency with reference to a
particular hours-of-service scenario. Rather than describe the scenario, I am
referring to the driver's log as it appears on the following page of your
website:
http://www.driversdailylog.com/kellerscanhelp.htm.
Your question addresses calculation of the 14-hour limitation where 2
qualifying sleeper berth periods have been obtained. Section
395.3(a)(2) bars operation of a property-carrying CMV for any period
after the end of the 14th hour after the driver comes on duty
following 10 consecutive hours off-duty (in certain instances not pertinent to
your example the limit is 16 hours). Your scenario includes two sleeper berth
(SB) periods which total 10 or more hours, and thus the first qualifies for
exclusion from calculation of the 14 hours under
395.1(g)(1).
You ask how to determine the beginning of the "new" 14-hour limit
after two qualifying sleeper periods have been obtained, and the first SB period
is followed immediately by a period of off-duty time. When a SB period is
followed immediately by a period of time off-duty, and the two periods total at
least 10 hours, we permit both the SB period and the off-duty period to be
excluded from calculation of the 14-hour rule. In that instance, FMCSA excludes
off-duty time in order to accommodate the fact that 10 consecutive hours
off-duty, 10 consecutive hours in a sleeper berth, or any combination thereof
equaling 10 or more consecutive hours, will provide the rest needed to begin a
new working day. But in your example the
first SB period and the off-duty time that immediately follows do not total 10
hours or more. So the off-duty time is included in the calculation. (DDL ADDED
THE YELLOW HIGHLIGHT)
If the first of a pair of SB periods qualifies for exclusion from
calculation of the 14-hour rule, we normally calculate the "new"
14-hour period from the point immediately after the termination of the first SB
period. In your example, however, the first SB period is followed by two hours
off-duty. At first glance it is easy to suggest that one would not begin
calculation of an "on duty" rule with two hours of off-duty time. But the
"14-hour on-duty rule" requires inclusion of all "off duty" time, except that in
a qualifying sleeper berth period; Section 395.1(g)(1) states that the 14th hour
"is calculated: ... (B) by including all ... off-duty time not spent in a
sleeper berth." The
two hours in question here are off-duty time, but not off-duty time spent in a
SB, so the two hours must be included in the calculation of the 14 hours. It is
perhaps a misnomer to refer to the 14-hour rule as the "14-hour on-duty rule"
because in fact off-duty time may be included in its calculation.
This is a case of first impression with this agency. FMCSA firmly
believes that this interpretation is appropriate for the scenario you
present. The agency agrees that in the process of refining the new
HOS rules it may have addressed other scenarios with formal guidance that if
applied to this scenario would produce a contrary result. If so the previous
guidance is henceforth modified by this guidance. FMCSA has said on numerous
occasions that refinement of the new
hours-of-service rules is an on-going process, and that the agency is open to
learning how these rules work in industry. Even today the agency is conducting
ongoing analyses of the hours-of-service rules and the agency's guidance. It is
also examining responses to its recent request for additional public comment on
the hours-of-service rules. This will be the third opportunity the agency has
provided for such public input.
Again, thank you for your patience, and for providing this agency
with this opportunity to learn with you.
Robert F. Schultz, Jr.
Transportation Specialist
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(202) 366-2718
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