Less than three weeks into the new hours-of-service regulations, a second waiver to the regs has been issued by the FMCSA.
The first waiver was issued on May 31. It was in response to a request from the Energy Department. The exemption dismisses truckers hauling security-sensitive radioactive materials for the Department of Energy from following the 30-minute rest break provision. The exemption is only valid from July 1 to June 30, 2015.
The second exemption to the 30-minute rest break was allocated for truck drivers carrying live animals. Chelsea Good, vice president of government affairs at the Livestock Marketing Association, said “livestock trailers are vented to allow air to move freely through so that animals can be kept both cool and fresh with that air. When a trailer has to stop, and it’s extremely hot, that becomes an animal-welfare concern from our standpoint.” The FMCSA granted the 90-day waiver to go into effect on July 11.
David Osiecki, senior vice president of regulatory affairs at ATA commented, “trucking is so diverse and specialized that it’s very difficult to have a one-size-fits-all applicability.”