Comments By Dan B.

I looked up the suspension wording; currently suspended and reverts back to the restart rules in force from 2003-2012.

We have been living with these rules for a long time and as you will eventually see they become second nature void of surprises.

Sorry if I added to the confusion, not my intent.

So I should abandon the 2011 legislation I am reading now and search for the 2003 legislation. This is all new to me and when I saw the word suspended, I didn't know it left existing legislation in place.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say the government was involved with this.

Errol, when i first read 'suspended' I assumed it meant there was nothing in its place. I'm still reading through the legislation but can you confirm it left the 2003 34 hour reset rule in place?

G-Town, I don't understand the reset rule well enough to say I take issue with it but I need to know how it would affect my ability to drive and make money.

I'm almost half way through reading the (revised legislation) and so far it seems clear that the rule affects a relatively small percentage of drivers. If I decide to move forward with this, eventually I would like to land something regional running nights on a 5 day schedule. The 34 hour reset would have no impact on me under those circumstances if I understand it correctly. But I think I should expect my first year to be OTR and it could have a significant impact depending on the route and how badly I am lied to.

Rob S, I am still reading through all this but the actual legislation that suspended the rule was 1,603 pages long. The actual HOS rules that were suspended were passed in 2011 and is a 56 page report that I started to read. I started to read that prior to Kurt's comment that he believed it simply reverted back to whatever the rules were prior to the new rules, which makes sense.

If that is correct (which I believe it is) the reset rules in existence now were written in 2003 and I think (emphasis on think) were also 34 hour resets.

These guys that have been driving for a while like G-town and Errol seem to have a handle on the rules, but for someone who is just learning, it is about as confusing as can be.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

Well, Dan, the problem is, SOME people do require the government to tell them when they are tired. I've been running pretty good miles and still conforming to the hours.

E-logs will become required in the future and I can't say it's a bad thing. I don't want to be I the road with a guy on his 15th hour of his second log book.

Everyone has different sleep requirements and the government always lumps everyone into a one size fits all category. I sleep 5 1/2 hours a night and can s,s&s in 15 minutes flat. Eventually I hope to get something regional where this may be irrelevant, but I expect to have to do OTR for a year and I would struggle to find a way to fill 4 hours of dead time.

G-Town, I did use that search function and read a few articles on HOS. But there still seems to be confusion on enforcement, that's why I asked. Kurt G’s comment about the rule reverting back to what they were before June 2013 will probably make sense of all this. I’m reading through that right now.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

The policy is not enforced at the discretion of an individual company. It's mandated by the government requiring carriers and drivers to comply with the rules.

Well, that's why I asked this question. From what I read in the FMCSA website, and what some other drivers have said here, it does sound as though the 34 hour reset rule has been suspended, but not everyone agrees with that.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

Keep in mind I don’t even have my CDL; I’m still considering this as a career move so this question is based on comments I’ve heard from seasoned drivers.

I have seen a lot of comments about the HOS and 34 hour reset. I’ve read several hundred comments all over the net about the ‘reset’ rule and from everything I read, it appears the rule exists. There are a few threads on TT including one about lifting the reset rule, but the comments from drivers implied it is a legal requirement. Since some of the comments from seasoned drivers had variations in what the rule was, I decided to go right to the source; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. I’ll cut and paste the info I found pertaining to the rule;

The Hours of Service of Drivers Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2011. The effective date of the Final Rule was February 27, 2012, and the compliance date of remaining provisions was July 1, 2013. NOTICE: The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 was enacted on December 16, 2014, suspending enforcement of requirements for use of the 34-hour restart. Enforcement of these requirements will remain suspended until the Secretary submits the CMV Driver Restart Study final report to Congress.

That comment from the FMCSA indicates the 34 hour reset rule was suspended on December 16, 2014 pending submission of the CMV Restart study to Congress. I followed everything I could find regarding this CMV Study, and it shows that the study was (is) scheduled for submission to Congress this month (December 2015). I am not sure if that has happened but even if it did they would allow a few months before enforcing again.

I can understand if companies have made the ‘34 hour reset’ a policy they choose to enforce, but everything I see from the FMCSA indicates the legal enforcement of the 34 hour reset policy is currently suspended. Can anyone clarify this?

Also, I have all the links to show where I am getting all this but I’m not sure if I can post comments with hyperlinks in them.

I am not young for starters. But when I was young quite a few of my friends joined the Marine Corps. I can tell you that when they signed up, the Marine Corps 'exercise equipment' consisted of a pair of boots and some rope. They didn't have weight rooms or any fancy equipment like they do now.

When every single one of them emerged from boot camp, they were solid muscle and zero fat. Some were in decent shape when they signed up but there were a few blubberbutts. You don't need equipment at all if you put your heart and mind into it.