New DOT Truck Driver Rule Retains Construction Exemption
DOT officials say that the rule, announced April 25, represents the first major rewrite of federal trucking "hours of service" requirements since the rule was issued in 1939. The new rule allows truckers to drive 11 hours, up from 10 hours now. But it also requires drivers to take 10 hours off after their stint behind the wheel, up from the current standard of eight hours off-duty.
The new rule also keeps the current requirement that truck drivers may not drive after 70 hours behind the wheel in a period of eight consecutive days. But it permits truckers to "restart the clock" for that eight-day period if the driver has been off-duty for at least 34 straight hours.