The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced a new rule that will limit the regulatory exceptions granted to truck drivers who provide immediate aid during disasters. This change, revealed on Tuesday, October 10, will narrow down the circumstances under which truckers are exempted from certain safety regulations during emergencies.
This rule will take effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. Under this revised regulation, the FMCSA will still grant exemptions from Hours of Service requirements for truckers involved in emergency relief efforts. However, they no longer see a need to waive other regulations, such as driver qualification standards (part 391), vehicle inspections (part 396), required parts and accessories (part 393), and other operational requirements like restrictions on driving when fatigued (part 392).
The FMCSA’s rationale behind this change is that waiving all regulations in parts 390 through 399 could potentially compromise highway safety and does not significantly affect a carrier’s ability to assist during emergencies.
Additionally, the Final Rule clarifies that an “emergency” does not include economic conditions resulting from market forces, such as material shortages, labor strikes, driver shortages, inflation, or changes in freight rates. These conditions only qualify as emergencies if they pose an immediate threat to human life and lead to an official emergency declaration.
Furthermore, the rule modifies the duration of emergency declarations. A Presidential emergency declaration remains valid for 30 days and provides relief from all FMCSRs in parts 390 through 399. In contrast, a regional emergency declaration, issued by a Governor, their authorized representative, or the FMCSA, only applies for 14 days and offers relief solely for Hours of Service regulations.
Although the FMCSA acknowledges lacking specific quantitative evidence that the existing emergency exemption rules have negatively impacted safety, they argue that excessive regulatory relief can contribute to driver fatigue. The agency also suggests that some emergency declarations made by Governors in recent years may have been frivolous.
“Examples include an emergency exemption covering all interstate shipments of goods during the month of December, to counteract supply chain issues and help increase the supply of toys and other items for Christmas, and an exemption for all shipments of gasoline to encourage more travel after the pandemic. FMCSA considered the increase in the number of inappropriate emergency declarations as another reason to initiate this rulemaking, to clarify those instances when emergency exemptions are appropriate.”
