DOT Funding Bill Would Force a 30-minute Break to Remain in Hours Regulations.
The decision by the United State House is to review and make wholesale changes to the Department of Transportation. Driver’s hours of service regulations as indicated in the yearly Transportation funding bill which was made available by the Appropriation Committee of the House. This could lead both parties coming head to head. One of the bones of contention is the decision of the House to bar the DOT from removing the thirty minutes break for hours regulations which are required currently.
This 30-minute break is compulsory during a driver’s 8-hour shift. This break together with the 14-hour for truckers does not go well with a lot of people. Although there hasn’t been any concrete statement by the DOT that it is looking to change the thirty-minute break rule that has been inception since 2013. There have been conversations making the rounds that changes might be made to the thirty-minute break or it might even be removed completely. Which some quarters indicating that the DOT actually request for feedback from drivers in 2018.
Some sources reporting have, however, speculated the 30-minute break may well be altered or removed altogether. DOT specifically requested feedback from drivers on the break in its 2018 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The ANPRM signaled that the break requirement was at least under evaluation by DOT officials.
CONFIRMED: DOT looking to make changes to propose hours of service
The US Department of Transportation is looking to present a law that would make changhouse (the Senate and the entire house) before it is signed into law by US president Donald Trump.
Aside from preventing the DOT from removing the 30 minutes break, the bill would also keep the ELD exemption given to bee and livestock haulers for another year.
The current DOT funding bill which has been cleared by the US House Appropriation committee is still in its draft stage and would be required to pass through both chambers.
The current bill would look to stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from “[reviewing] and [issuing] a decision on a petition to pre-empt state meal and rest break laws,”