Transportation Department, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
FMCSA proposes a pilot program allowing temporary regulatory relief from the Agency's regulation requiring one rest period of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth for drivers who elect to split their time in the sleeper berth. Participation in the pilot program would be limited to approximately 256 drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) who possess a valid commercial driver's license (CDL) and regularly utilize the sleeper berth. Both drivers who wish to participate in the pilot and their employing motor carriers would be required to meet specific eligibility criteria to participate. Drivers selected for participation would provide FMCSA with data for a 4-month period, divided into a "baseline" period of 1 month, during which they would comply with the current sleeper berth regulations, and another period of 3 months, during which they would operate under an exemption allowing additional flexibility in how they may split their sleeper berth time. The Agency would use the data collected to compare drivers' safety performance and fatigue levels between the baseline and exemption periods. The goal of the analysis would be to assess whether additional flexibility in how sleeper berth time may be split achieves a level of safety equivalent to that which would be achieved absent the regulatory relief.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 395 [Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0193] AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notification of proposed pilot program; request for comments. SUMMARY: FMCSA proposes a pilot program allowing temporary regulatory relief from the Agency's regulation requiring one rest period of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth for drivers who elect to split their time in the sleeper berth. Participation in the pilot program would be limited to approximately 256 drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) who possess a valid commercial driver's license (CDL) and regularly utilize the sleeper berth. Both drivers who wish to participate in the pilot and their employing motor carriers would be required to meet specific eligibility criteria to participate. Drivers selected for participation would provide FMCSA with data for a 4-month period, divided into a “baseline” period of 1 month, during which they would comply with the current sleeper berth regulations, and another period of 3 months, during which they would operate under an exemption allowing additional flexibility in how they may split their sleeper berth time. The Agency would use the data collected to compare drivers' safety performance and fatigue levels between the baseline and exemption periods. The goal of the analysis would be to assess whether additional flexibilit…
Citation: 90 FR 44790
