Hours of Service of Drivers: Oregon Trucking Associations (OTA) Exemption; FAST Act Extension of Compliance Date

Topics:  Oregon Trucking Association

T. F. Scott Darling, III
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
29 March 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17548-17549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07041]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0451]


Hours of Service of Drivers: Oregon Trucking Associations (OTA) 
Exemption; FAST Act Extension of Compliance Date

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of final determination; extension of existing exemption 
date.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces the extension of the exemption granted to the 
Oregon Trucking Associations (OTA) on March 18, 2015, for certain 
timber operations in Oregon. The Agency extends the expiration date 
from March 18, 2017 to March 18, 2020 in response to section 
5206(b)(2)(A) of the ``Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act'' 
(FAST Act). That section extends the expiration date of hours-of-
service (HOS) exemptions in effect on the date of enactment of the FAST 
Act to 5 years from the date of issuance of the exemptions. The OTA 
exemption from the Agency's 30-minute rest break requirement is limited 
to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers engaged in transporting 
timber from Oregon forestlands, and further limited to periods of the 
year in which the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has formally 
restricted logging operations to certain hours of the day due to an 
elevated risk of forest fire. The Agency previously determined that the 
CMV operations of OTA timber transporters under this exemption would 
likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the 
level of safety that would be obtained in the absence of the exemption.

DATES: This limited exemption is effective from March 18, 2015, through 
March 18, 2020.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Legal Basis

    FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 to grant 
exemptions from certain parts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Regulations. FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption request in 
the Federal Register [49 CFR 381.315(a)].
    Section 5206(b)(2)(A) of the FAST Act requires FMCSA to extend any 
exemption from any provision of the HOS regulations under 49 CFR part 
395 that was in effect on the date of enactment of the Act to a period 
of 5 years from the date the exemption was granted. The exemption may 
be renewed. Because this action merely implements a statutory mandate 
that took effect on the date of enactment of the FAST Act, notice and 
comment are not required.

OTA Exemption

    The OTA, a trade association, applied for a limited exemption from 
the mandatory rest break requirement of 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii) on 
behalf of all motor carriers and drivers who operate CMVs to transport 
logs in interstate commerce from Oregon forestlands.
    FMCSA reviewed OTA's application and the public comments and 
concluded that limiting the timber operations of these CMV drivers to a 
fixed 12-hour window would promote safety at least as effectively as 
the 30-minute break. These drivers operate like certain short-haul 
drivers, who are already permitted to follow a 12-hour duty period, 
during which they are

[[Page 17549]]

exempt from the break requirement. A Notice of Final Determination 
granting the OTA exemption was published on March 18, 2015 [80 FR 
14227].
    The substance of the exemption is not affected by this extension. 
The exemption covers only the 30-minute break requirement [49 CFR 
395.3(a)(3)(ii)]. The exemption is restricted to drivers operating CMVs 
engaged in interstate logging originating in Oregon forestlands during 
periods in which the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODOF) imposes 
Industrial Fire Precaution Level 3 (IPFL3) on those lands, restricting 
the transportation of logs to certain hours of the day because of an 
elevated risk of forest fire.\1\ Drivers operating under this exemption 
must be released from duty no more than 12 consecutive hours after the 
time they come on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty. They 
must maintain a record of duty status (``log book'') for the days on 
which they travel outside a 100 air-mile radius of their normal work 
reporting location. If an individual chose to forego this short-haul 
exemption either by travelling outside the 100 air-miles or by working 
a 14 hour day instead of the 12 hours required by the exemption, he or 
she would be required to maintain a logbook for that day and also to 
comply with the 30-minute rest break provision.
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    \1\ Neither IFPL 1 nor IFPL 2 restricts the transportation of 
timber.
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    The FMCSA does not believe the safety record of any driver 
operating under this exemption will deteriorate. However, should 
deterioration in safety occur, FMCSA will take all steps necessary to 
protect the public interest, including revocation of the exemption. The 
FMCSA has the authority to terminate the exemption at any time the 
Agency has the data/information to conclude that safety is being 
compromised.

    Issued on: March 23, 2016.
T. F. Scott Darling, III,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-07041 Filed 3-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P