Truck Driver Safety and Flexibility Act

To require the Secretary of Transportation to modify certain regulations relating to hours of service requirements for drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Truck Driver Safety and Flexibility Act 2. Hours of service requirements; commercial driver’s licenses (a) Hours of service requirements (1) In general Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (referred to in this Act as the Secretary (A) to increase the maximum driving time for a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle from 11 hours to 12 hours; (B) to establish a maximum on-duty time of 14 hours during any 24-hour period (as defined in section 395.2 of that title (or a successor regulation)) for a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle; (C) to provide that the on-duty time of a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle may not begin unless— (i) (I) the driver has first taken 10 consecutive hours off duty; and (II) during the period of on-duty time, the driver complies with all applicable requirements of section 395.3 of that title, including the requirement described in subsection (a)(3)(ii) of that section (or a successor regulation); or (ii) at the election of the driver— (I) the driver has taken 8 consecutive hours off duty; (II) during the period of on-duty time, the driver complies with all applicable requirements of section 395.3 of that title, including the requirement described in subsection (a)(3)(ii) of that section (or a successor regulation); and (III) the driver— (aa) takes 2 rest breaks of 30 minutes each, which may be taken separately or consecutively, at the election of the driver, during the period of on-duty time if the driving time of the driver during that period of on-duty time is not more than 8 hours; (bb) takes 3 rest breaks of 30 minutes each, which, subject to the requirement described in section 395.3(a)(3)(ii) of that title (or a successor regulation), may be taken separately or consecutively, at the election of the driver, during the period of on-duty time if the driving time of the driver during that period of on-duty time is more than 8, but not more than 10, hours; or (cc) takes 4 rest breaks of 30 minutes each, which, subject to the requirement described in section 395.3(a)(3)(ii) of that title (or a successor regulation), may be taken separately or consecutively, at the election of the driver, during the period of on-duty time if the driving time of the driver during that period of on-duty time is more than 10, but not more than 12, hours; (D) to provide that any rest break taken by a driver shall be considered to be off-duty time excluded from the calculation of on-duty time; and (E) to provide that, if, at the time that the driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle reaches 14 hours of on-duty time or 12 hours of driving time, the driver is within 150 miles of the destination of the trip, as established at the outset of the trip— (i) the driver may continue driving until that destination is reached; (ii) the driving time of the driver shall exclude all time— (I) during the period beginning when the driver reaches 12 hours of driving time and ending on completion of the trip; and (II) that is necessary to reach, or otherwise complete the trip at, that destination; and (iii) the on-duty time of the driver shall exclude all time— (I) during the period beginning when the driver reaches 14 hours of on-duty time and ending on completion of the trip; and (II) during which the driver carries out an activity necessary to reach, or otherwise complete the trip at, that destination, including any time described in paragraph (3) or (5) of the definition of the term on-duty time (2) Requirement In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not modify the limits described in section 395.3(b) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. (3) Limitation Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, if the Secretary revises section 395.1(e)(1) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations— (A) the Secretary may not decrease the 150 air-mile radius described in that section, but may increase that radius, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate; and (B) the Secretary may not revise any 14-hour period described in that section to a period that is less than 14 hours, but may increase the length of the period beyond 14 hours, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (b) Commercial driver’s licenses Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise section 391.11 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to lower the minimum age for obtaining a commercial driver’s license from 21 to 18 years of age. 3. Electronic logging device oversight (a) Report on processes of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report detailing the processes— (1) used by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration— (A) to review electronic logging device logs; and (B) to protect proprietary information and personally identifiable information obtained from electronic logging device logs; and (2) through which an operator may challenge or appeal a violation notice issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration relating to an electronic logging device. (b) Study on the costs and effectiveness of electronic logging devices Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall— (1) complete a study on the costs and effectiveness of electronic logging devices; and (2) submit to Congress a report on the results of the study under paragraph (1).

Summary: Truck Driver Safety and Flexibility Act This bill increases the number of hours that a commercial truck driver may drive in a set period of time when other criteria are met and lowers from 21 to 18 the minimum age for obtaining a commercial driver's license. The bill also requires reporting by the Department of Transportation and the Government Accountability Office on matters concerning the use of devices connected to a truck's engine that record driving time.