In addition to a slew of regulations for truck drivers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also releases dozens of guidance documents aimed at clarifying its rules.
Although regulatory guidance isn’t legally binding because it doesn’t go through the rulemaking process, it can play a big role in how law enforcement and others interpret a regulation.
Through Sept. 12, the public has the opportunity to let FMCSA know if there are any guidance documents that need to be revised or removed.
“The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be reviewing its existing guidance documents to evaluate their continued necessity and determine whether they should be updated or eliminated,” the agency wrote in a notice published in the Federal Register on Aug. 13. “As part of this review, FMCSA invites the public to identify and provide input on existing guidance documents that are good candidates for revision or rescission.”
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 requires the agency to conduct a comprehensive review at least once every five years to ensure that all of its guidance documents are “consistent and clear, uniformly and consistently enforced, and still necessary.” FMCSA previously reviewed its guidance documents in 2020.
Comments filed
As of Aug. 27, five comments had already been filed to the Regulations.gov website.
Nick Wright, a trooper of the Kansas Highway Patrol, pointed out multiple guidance documents that may need to be revised or removed. Among those, Wright suggested that additional clarification was needed in regard to personal conveyance, which is the movement of a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while off-duty.
“A driver may record time operating a (commercial motor vehicle) for personal conveyance (i.e., for personal use or reasons) as off-duty only when the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier. The CMV may be used for personal conveyance even if it is laden, since the load is not being transported for the commercial benefit of the carrier at that time. Personal conveyance does not reduce a driver’s or motor carrier’s responsibility to operate a CMV safely. Motor carriers can establish personal conveyance limitations either within the scope of, or more restrictive than, this guidance, such as banning use of a CMV for personal conveyance purposes, imposing a distance limitation on personal conveyance or prohibiting personal conveyance while the CMV is laden.”
FMCSA has offered a list of examples of what is considered personal conveyance and what is not.
However, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has petitioned FMCSA in recent years to add a maximum distance or time. The agency has denied the petition on multiple occasions.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small-business truckers, supports truck drivers’ ability to use personal conveyance.
How to comment
The public has through Sept. 12 to comment on FMCSA’s notice regarding its regulatory guidance documents. To do so, click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0208. LL
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