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[xg21]

While potential changes, or non-changes, to U.S. driver hours-of-service regulations are likely to be met with frustration and possibly lawsuits, European truck drivers work under very strict European Union (EU) hours-of-service (HOS) rules that go several steps further than anything in the U.S. or Canada.


Under current European law, any driver operating a 12 ton or higher vehicle is subject to the laws, which limit driving to 9 hours per day, 56 in a week, and 90 over a two-week period. Twice a week, driving time can be extended to 10 hours.
In addition, there are mandatory 45-minute break periods for each 4.5 hours of driving, and a new 4.5-hour period does not begin until a full 45 minutes of rest time has been accomplished. The law does allow, however, for that break period to be split up in increments, providing that the first break is 15 minutes and the second break period 30 minutes. Breaks of less than 15 minutes do not count.

A rest is an uninterrupted period where a driver may freely dispose of his time,” according to the law. “Time spent working in other employment or under obligation or instruction, regardless of the occupation type, cannot be counted as rest, including work where you are self-employed.”

The EU enforces these laws through the use of driver’s cards, which include an embedded microchip.


more

http://fleetowner.co...-hos-regs-1027/



When and How will American HOS Change?

If you're biting your nails watching the clock waiting for the new final rule on truck driver hours of service to hit the presses today you might as well relax - it's not going to happen. Yes, the final driver hours rule was supposed to be published Oct. 28, but like a truck on the Washington Beltway at rush hour, it's been delayed.


If the FMCSA keeps the current driver work rule more or less intact, the Teamsters union and its allies are likely to resume their lawsuit. And they’ve successfully challenged the HOS rules in court twice since 2003. If the FMCSA goes ahead with its proposed changes, reducing driving hours per day to 10 and amending the weekly restart provision, the American Trucking Associations will certainly sue to and try to get a federal court to block the new rule until the legal battle is lost or won.

more

http://cl.s4.exct.ne...a5057d8eb11140d

[xg22]

Federal Regulators Issue Tougher Truck Driver Rules

Federal safety regulators issued tougher new hours of service regulations for truck drivers on Thursday, maintaining the 11-hour daily limit that shippers and carriers says is central to U.S. domestic supply chains but also creating tighter requirements for rest periods and total weekly time on the road.


The changes in the 34-hour restart in the final rule are not as extensive as described in the preliminary version but will require adjustments for drivers, companies and customers.

For instance, drivers who reach the 70-hour weekly limit will have to have two nights in which their time off includes the hours between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The earlier version had proposed extending that requirement to a full night, to 7 a.m., and to include a weekend night off. Industry officials said that would have put trucks on the road at the height of rush hour, forcing truckers to share already crowded highways with commuters.

The new rule also imposes tough new penalties for violations. Trucking companies that allow drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit by three or more hours could be fined $11,000 per offense, and the drivers could face civil penalties themselves of up to $2,750 for each offense.


http://cl.s4.exct.ne...885c61883a35b49