On December 17, 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced it was suspending enforcement of certain sections of the Agency’s Hours of Service (HOS) rules as required by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, enacted December 16, 2014.
Specifically, FMCSA suspended the requirements regarding the restart of a driver’s 60- or 70-hour limit that drivers were required to comply with beginning July 1, 2013.
The restart provisions have no force or effect from the date of enactment of the Appropriations Act through the period of suspension, and such provisions are replaced with the previous restart provisions in effect on June 30, 2013.
The FMCSA was directed to suspend enforcement of the restart provision as a result of an amendment added to the recently passed omnibus appropriations bill, legislation that funds the government through the end of fiscal year 2015.
Since the provision was attached to a spending bill, it will only remain in effect until the bill expires at the end of FY 2015.
FMCSA’s notice can be found here.