The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is “committed” to making its hours-of-service (HOS) rulemaking effective no later than Oct. 1—the day following the final effective date of the current rules.
The agency told Fleet Owner that based on research, findings, and public comments, the next regulatory action it could take on HOS could either be a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, an interim final rule, or the final rule itself.
“Changes to the rule may still be made at the conclusion of the comment period, typically 30 days,” stated FMCSA.
Operating under a narrow timeframe to complete the rulemaking, the agency is not commenting on the prospect of a smooth transition to the new rules.
“It’s premature to draw conclusions before we’ve reviewed the public comments and updated the research,” the agency said.
The agency published its HOS notice of proposed rulemaking on Jan. 24 in the Federal Register [RIN 2126-AA90].
Comments, which should be identified by “DOT DMS Docket Number FMCSA-2004-19608,” may be submitted by any of the following methods but FMCSA prefers the web site be used:
- Web site: http://dms.dot.gov
- Fax: 1-202-493-2251
- Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. DOT, 400 Seventh St. SW, Nassif Bldg., Rm PL-401, Washington DC 20590-0001
- Hand Delivery: Rm PL-401 on plaza level of Nassif Bldg, between 9 am and 5 pm Mon.-Fri.
