Hours of Service of Drivers; Pilot Program To Allow Commercial Drivers To Split Sleeper Berth Time

FMCSA proposes a pilot program allowing temporary regulatory relief from the Agency's regulation requiring one rest period of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth for drivers who elect to split their time in the sleeper berth. Participation in the pilot program would be limited to approximately 256 drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) who possess a valid commercial driver's license (CDL) and regularly utilize the sleeper berth. Both drivers who wish to participate in the pilot and their employing motor carriers would be required to meet specific eligibility criteria to participate. Drivers selected for participation would provide FMCSA with data for a 4-month period, divided into a "baseline" period of 1 month, during which they would comply with the current sleeper berth regulations, and another period of 3 months, during which they would operate under an exemption allowing additional flexibility in how they may split their sleeper berth time. The Agency would use the data collected to compare drivers' safety performance and fatigue levels between the baseline and exemption periods. The goal of the analysis would be to assess whether additional flexibility in how sleeper berth time may be split achieves a level of safety equivalent to that which would be achieved absent the regulatory relief.