A national highway safety organization is urging federal regulators not to move ahead with proposals that would let some truck drivers stretch their on‑duty day beyond the current 14‑hour limit, warning the plan risks amplifying fatigue and coercion rather than fixing root causes like detention. The call comes as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) closed public comments Monday, Nov. 17, on two pilot programs that would test more flexible hours‑of‑service options.
At the center of the debate is FMCSA’s proposed Split Duty Period Pilot Program, which would allow participating drivers a single off‑duty, sleeper‑berth, or on‑duty/not‑driving pause of 30 minutes to three hours at a pickup or delivery location. That pause would not count against the 14‑hour “driving window,” potentially extending the elapsed workday to as much as 17 hours (with the 11‑hour driving cap unchanged). A companion Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot would evaluate additional splits—such as 6/4 and 5/5—beyond today’s 8/2 and 7/3 options. Each pilot envisions roughly 256 CDL drivers and would proceed only if safety is found equivalent to current rules.
Why it matters for fleets and drivers: extending the on‑duty window could rewire daily operations. Shippers and receivers would gain scheduling leeway, but carriers could face new compliance and liability exposure if pauses are used to mask excessive detention or if drivers feel pressure to keep working after a long on‑duty day. FMCSA has signaled it could remove participants or terminate a pilot if safety risks emerge—an important backstop, but one that won’t prevent real‑world coercion unless fleets enforce clear policies and paper trails on when and how a pause can be used.
Fresh signal from Washington: On the same day comments closed, FMCSA published a separate notice seeking input on a data collection effort to analyze how driver schedules relate to crash and violation risk. The agency says it “needs additional data” on work patterns and performance—an acknowledgment that the fatigue and scheduling trade‑offs at issue in the pilot proposals still aren’t fully quantified. Comments on that information‑collection plan are due Jan. 16, 2026.
Taken together, the moves underscore a fork in the road: FMCSA is testing ways to give drivers more control over when they rest and when they run, yet safety advocates argue that adding exceptions to hours‑of‑service invites longer days and cumulative fatigue unless detention and pay practices are addressed head‑on. For safety‑minded carriers, the operational takeaway is straightforward—any flexibility must be paired with guardrails that keep pause decisions with the driver, document detention, and prohibit dispatch or customer pressure to extend a shift.
Regulatory context to watch: While hours‑of‑service dominated drivers’ attention this week, FMCSA also moved Monday to push back compliance deadlines for three provisions of its broker and freight forwarder financial responsibility rule to January 2026—drawing criticism from small carriers who wanted stricter oversight sooner. The timing highlights an agency juggling multiple high‑impact rulemakings even as it weighs whether an extended workday can be done without compromising safety.
What’s next: FMCSA will review comments on the pause‑the‑clock and sleeper‑berth pilots and decide whether to proceed to field testing. If either pilot advances, expect participating fleets to tighten ELD configurations, revise customer service‑level agreements to discourage unnecessary detention, and train dispatchers to treat the pause as a safety tool—not a productivity lever.
Sources: FreightWaves, U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Register, Justia Regulation Tracker
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