Before You Go Balls to the Wall, Know These 3 Points about the Waiver to the HOS Regulations AND the Expansion!

I was enjoying my day and then my phone and social media started to blow up regarding the Emergency Declaration (ED) that the FMCSA just released stating that some carriers and drivers will be exempt from the hours of service regulations to transport COVID-19 related shipments. One text that I received said: “Cassandra! No more ELDs! Yay!”  Sigh. ?????♀?

Those of you who know me, know that I’m not about to go into some boring monolog of the law and confuse everyone with legal jargon. Instead, I’m going to inappropriately cut to the chase and tell you exactly what you need to know: don’t ???? f#$k ???? around ???? with the hours of service (HOS) regulations because you saw this ED and decided to go balls to the wall. I know people out there hate ELDs, everyone is stressed, worried about their jobs and trying to make money. I get it. But, I’m here as your friend to protect you and our industry. It's better to just follow the regulations and ignore the exemption. #buzzkill, I know.

Carriers, Drivers, Brokers, and Shippers, when someone claims that they do not have to follow the HOS regulations, know these three points: 

1.   Safety for the driver and community comes first.

Fatigue related accidents are very serious. If you're a driver and you're tired, take care of yourself first. I know the HOS regulations annoy folks out there but it’s the government's way (attempt, lol) of protecting the drivers and the community from fatigue related accidents.

2.   If a driver injures or kills someone on the road, the ED will not be a defense.

“The Hammer” (i.e. Plaintiff attorney) is waiting for you to mess up here folks. ED will not be an excuse for why the driver caused an accident or may have caused an accident. The driver and carrier will still be liable for injuring or hurting someone on the road.

3.   Don't self-declare that the ED applies to your shipment.

Have a team meeting first. Understand the commodity, lane and reasons behind the shipment before analyzing whether the shipment and driver are exempt from the regulations. Talk to a lawyer before violating the regulations. Get something in writing from the shipper stating that the shipment is an emergency and qualifies under this exemption. If I was a carrier, I would want assurances from the shippers since I'm the one who will get in trouble if the shipment doesn't qualify for the waiver. It’s not worth the legal trouble to self-declare that the ED applies to your shipment. To further assist with your analysis of whether the ED applies to your shipment, consider these points:

a.    The ED does not apply to routine shipments;

b.    The ED does not apply to mixed shipments where the majority is non-qualifying commodities. Simply stated, if the shipment is all bicycles, don't put one pallet of toilet paper on the trailer and think that qualifies.

c.    The majority of the shipment must consist of the following qualifying commodities:

• Medical supplies and equipment related to testing, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19; 
• Supplies and equipment necessary for community safety, sanitation, and prevention of COVID-19 such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectants;
• Food, paper products and other groceries for emergency restocking of distribution centers or stores;
• Immediate precursor raw materials- paper, plastic or alcohol- required to be used for the manufacture of essential items. --> This sounds like inbound shipments with materials needed to make masks, gloves and hand sanitizers.
• Fuel.
• Equipment, supplies to establish and manage temporary housing, quarantine, and isolation facilities related to COVID-19;

d.    If the driver is transporting goods under the ED exemption, when the shipment is complete, the driver must rest for 10 hours. The driver can return any equipment locally, if necessary and rest thereafter. 

4.   Carriers must still comply with all the other regulations.

Even if the ED applied to the shipment the carrier is transporting, all the other regulations remain in place such as regulations related to drugs and alcohol, driver's licenses, financial responsibilities, hazmat requirements, size and weight restrictions and more.

Cassandra translation to all of this: Be careful carriers, brokers and shippers. Odds are your shipments are not exempt from the HOS regulations. Don't self-declare the ED’s applicability. Do your research before you violate the regulations and speak to a lawyer in advance. Try your hardest not to violate the regulations at all. It’s not worth the legal fees you will have to spend defending yourself against a fine or accident-related litigation and it’s not worth hurting someone or yourself. #safetyfirst

Cassandra is a risk consultant for More Freight More Problems, LLC a company dedicated to solving transportation providers’ freight problems in an easy and efficient manner. Her clients hire her to identify their major risks and where they are losing money; thereafter, she trains her clients how to resolve those issues and stop losing profit. Cassandra has been in the transportation her entire career and has worked for providers across the country helping them solve problems related to contracts, cargo claims, accidents, lawsuits, carrier selection, and daily fires. Email Cassandra at [email protected] and ask her for more details on her training programs.

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