The American Pyrotechnics Association is asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to exempt 12 additional member companies from hours of service and ELD regulations during designated periods around the July 4 holiday.
The exemption request was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 30. Specifically, the fireworks group wants FMCSA to extend existing relief from the 14-hour rule and ELD mandate to a dozen more of its members.
In 2022, FMCSA granted exemptions to 32 of the American Pyrotechnics Association’s member companies.
The exemptions were granted for the period of June 28 through July 8 in 2023 and 2024. Drivers for the exempted companies are allowed to exclude off-duty and sleeper berth time of any length from the calculation of the 14-hour limit. In addition, the exempted drivers are allowed to record their hours of service with paper logs instead of an electronic logging device.
The American Pyrotechnics Association is a trade group representing the domestic fireworks industry. Member companies have held waivers or exemptions during Independence Day periods since 2005. In its 2022 exemption application, the group said it was involved with 16,000 fireworks displays each year.
Dominic Fireworks, which was one of the 32 exempted companies from 2022, no longer requires the exemption. If the association’s current request is granted, the exemption would apply to 43 member companies.
FMCSA denied the exemption request for 13 APA-member companies in 2022. The agency said that it found that 12 of the denied companies had out-of-service rates higher than the national average. The 13th member company that was denied because it did not have a hazardous materials safety permit.
Public comment period
FMCSA is opening the exemption request to public comment for 30 days. To make a comment, click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2021-0052. LL
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