A New Day Dawns

Well, January 4 has come and gone, and we'll just now recognizing the impact of the new American rules. The changes, while they appeared pretty insignificant at first, have proven to be pretty dramatic. In terms of how they will affect your ability to accomplish a reasonable day's work, the new rules will limit productivity by forcing drivers to account for all the time they spend "on the clock." Previously, time spent sitting around at border crossings and shipper locations could be made to disappear by logging it on the top line. That's no longer possible. The new rules don't allow drivers to make that time to disappear.

In this special section of the website, we have included links to the rules and provide a compliance guide to help with a basic interpretation. We've got downloadable PFD files of two previously published highwaySTAR articles on the subject, as well as files of the rules themselves, short explanations of the rules, the US DOT's Frequently Asked Questions on HOS and several other useful bits of information.

Feel free to download these and give them a read. They won't help much with the shortfall in earning potential that will be experienced by some, but they may help make the whole process a bit easier to understand.

For Your Information

Marking Time - a compliance guide, originally published in highwaySTAR, December 2003.

By The Clock - an explanation of the differences between old and new HOS rules originally published in highwaySTAR, June 2003.

HOS FAQ - a guide published by U.S. DOT providing answers to common questions.

States-HOS - a listing of the states that will adopt the new rules immediately, and those that will hold off until sometime later this year.

US HOS-short - a short down and dirty version of the new rules, originally published by U.S. DOT.

HOS Powerpoint - a Powerpoint presentation created by U.S. DOT to explain the changes in the new rules.

HOS-Enforcement - a memorandum issued by U.S. DOT explaining its enforcement agenda and possible reworking of the new rules.

LINKS

To discover how the rules will change in the New Year, click on any of the links below. They’ll take you directly to the source.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - Revised Hours of Service Regulations

Transport Canada’s proposed revisions to Canada’s Hours of Service regulations

And, to aid in further study of these oft-misinterpreted rules, here is a link to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Regulatory Guidance page covering HOS:

In the Magazine You'll find these and other stories in the highwaySTAR print magazine this month. Available at your favourite truckstop. New HOS regs and team drivers An Alberta driverýs antique Kenworth collection Trucks that can back up themselves