FMCSA extends CDL emergency waiver, amends short-haul hours of service

Written on: September 30, 2020 by ICM

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued another three-month extension of the emergency waiver to validate expired or expiring commercial driver licenses (CDL), commercial learner’s permits (CLP) and driver medical examinations and medical qualification cards. The waiver was set to expire on Sept. 30, however the extension now gives drivers until Dec. 31 to renew expired documents for both intrastate and interstate drivers.
In other news, the FMCSA’s amendments to CDL hours of service (HOS) for short-haul drivers became effective Sept. 30. The reforms include:

• Expanding the short haul driver exception from recording driver hours of service from 100 air-miles to 150 air-miles.
• Increasing the maximum daily on duty time for short haul drivers from 12 hours to 14 hours.
• Extending the maximum daily 11 hour driving window by two hours during adverse weather conditions and allows drivers (in addition to dispatchers) to determine if the weather conditions exist to trigger the extension.

For more info, visit https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/.