Source: http://fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=395.1&guidence=Y
Timestamp: 2013-05-23 21:53:54
Document Index: 628353736

Matched Legal Cases: ['§395', '§395', '§395', '§ 395', '§ 395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', '§395', 'art 395']

Interpretation for 395.1: - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
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Interpretation for 395.1: Print Regulations current to Apr 12, 2013
Help Hours of service of drivers §395.1 Scope of rules in this part.
What hours-of-service regulations apply to drivers operating between the United States and Mexico or between the United States and Canada?
If a driver invokes the exception for adverse driving conditions, does a supervisor need to sign the driver’s record of duty status when he/she arrives at the destination?
May a driver use the adverse driving conditions exception if he/she has accumulated driving time and on-duty (not driving) time, that would put the driver over 15 hours or over 70 hours in 8 consecutive days?
Are there allowances made in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for delays caused by loading and unloading?
How may a driver utilize the adverse driving conditions exception or the emergency conditions exception as found in §395.1(b), to preclude an hours of service violation?
Guidance: An absolute prerequisite for any such claim must be that the trip involved is one which could normally and reasonably have been completed without a violation and that the unforeseen event occurred after the driver began the trip.
Drivers who are dispatched after the motor carrier has been notified or should have known of adverse driving conditions are not eligible for the two hours additional driving time provided for under §395.1(b), adverse driving conditions. The term “in any emergency” shall not be construed as encompassing such situations as a driver’s desire to get home, shippers’ demands, market declines, shortage of drivers, or mechanical failures.
What does “servicing” of the field operations of the natural gas and oil industry cover?
Guidance: The ‘‘24-hour restart’’ provision of § 395.1(d)(1) is available to drivers of the broad range of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that are being used for direct support of the operation of oil and gas well sites, to include transporting equipment and supplies (including water) to the site and waste or product away from the site, and moving equipment to, from, or between oil and gas well sites. These CMVs do not have to be specially designed for well site use, nor do the drivers require any special training other than in operating the CMV.
Section 395.1(d) applies only to situations involving drilling or the operation of wells. It does not apply to exploration activities.
What is considered “oilfield equipment” for the purposes of 395.1(d)(1)?
What kinds of oilfield equipment may drivers operate while taking advantage of the special rule of Section 395.1(d)(2)?
Guidance: The ‘‘waiting time’’ provision in Section 395.1(d)(2) is available only to operators of those commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that are (1) specially constructed for use at oil and gas well sites, and (2) for which the operators require extensive training in the operation of the complex equipment, in addition to driving the vehicle. In many instances, the operators spend little time driving these CMVs because ‘‘leased drivers’’ from driveaway services are brought in to move the heavy equipment from one site to another. These operators typically may have long waiting periods at well sites, with few or no functions to perform until their services are needed at an unpredictable point in the drilling process. Because they are not free to leave the site and may be responsible for the equipment, they would normally be considered ‘‘on duty’’ under the definition of that term in § 395.2. Recognizing that these operators, their employers, and the well-site managers do not have the ability to readily schedule or control these driver’s periods of inactivity, Section 395.1(d)(2) provides that the ‘‘waiting time’’ shall not be considered on-duty (i.e., it is off-duty time). During this ‘‘waiting time,’’ the operators may not perform any work-related activity. To do so would place them on duty. Examples of equipment that may qualify the operator/driver for the ‘‘waiting time exception’’ in Section 395.1(d)(2) are vehicles commonly known in oilfield operations as heavy-coil vehicles, missile trailers, nitrogen pumps, wire-line trucks, sand storage trailers, cement pumps, ‘‘frac’’ pumps, blenders, hydration pumps, and separators. This list should only be considered examples and not all-inclusive. Individual equipment must be evaluated against the criteria stated above: (1) Specially constructed for use at oil and gas well sites, and (2) for which the operators require extensive training in the operation of the complex equipment, in addition to driving the vehicle infrequently. Operators of CMVs that are used to transport supplies, equipment, and materials such as sand and water to and from the well sites do not qualify for the ‘‘waiting time exception’’ even if there have been some modifications to the vehicle to transport, load, or unload the materials, and the driver required some minimal additional training in the operation of the vehicle, such as running pumps or controlling the unloading and loading processes. It is recognized that these operators may encounter delays caused by logistical or operational situations, just as other motor carriers experience delays at shipping and receiving facilities. Other methods may be used to mitigate these types of delays, which are not the same types of waiting periods experienced by the CMV operators who do qualify for the waiting time exception.
Are drivers required to be dedicated permanently to the oilfield industry, or must they exclusively transport oilfield equipment or service the field operations of the industry only for each eight-day (or shorter) period ended by an off-duty period of 24 or more consecutive hours?
A driver is used exclusively to transport materials (such as sand or water) which are used exclusively to service the field operations of the natural gas or oil industry. Occasionally, the driver has leftover materials that must be transported back to a motor carrier facility or service depot. Would such a return trip be covered by §395.1(d)(1)?
May specially trained drivers of specially constructed oil well servicing vehicles cumulate the 8 consecutive hours off duty required by §395.3 by combining off-duty time or sleeper-berth time at a natural gas or oil well site with off-duty time or sleeper-berth time while en route to or from the well?
Guidance: These drivers may cumulate the required 8 consecutive hours off duty by combining two separate periods, each at least 2 hours long, of off-duty time or sleeper-berth time at a natural gas or oil well location with sleeper-berth time in a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) while en route to or from such a location. They may also cumulate the required 8 consecutive hours off duty by combining an off-duty period of at least 2 hours at a well site with: (1) another off-duty period at the well site that, when added to the first such period, equals at least 8 hours, or (2) a period in a sleeper-berth, either at or away from the well site, or in other sleeping accommodations at the well site, that, when added to the first off-duty period, equals at least 8 hours.
The following table indicates what types of off-site and on-site time periods may be combined. On Site Off Duty TimeOn Site Sleeper BerthOn Site Other Sleeping Accom- modation Away from Site Off Duty TimeAway from Site Sleeper Berth TimeX Combination must be 8 or more hoursX Combination must be 8 or more hoursX Combination must be 8 or more hoursAway from Site Other Sleeping Accommodation
What constitutes the 100-air-mile radius exemption?
What documentation must a driver claiming the 100-air-mile radius exemption (§395.1(e)) have in his/her possession?
Must a motor carrier retain 100-air-mile driver time records at its principal place of business?
May an operation that changes its normal work-reporting location on an intermittent basis utilize the 100-air-mile radius exemption?
May a driver use a record of duty status form as a time record to meet the requirement contained in the 100-air-mile radius exemption?
Is the “mandatory information” referred to in the previous guidance that required of a normal RODS under section 395.8(d) that of the 100-air-mile radius exemption under section 395.1(e)(5)?
Guidance: The “mandatory information” referred to is the time records specified by §395.1(e)(5) which must show: (1) the time the driver reports for duty each day; (2) the total number of hours the driver is on duty each day; (3) the time the driver is released from duty each day; and (4) the total time for the preceding 7 days in accordance with §395.8(j)(2) for drivers used for the first time or intermittently.
Must the driver’s name and each date worked appear on the time record prepared to comply with §395.1(e), 100-air-mile radius driver?
May drivers who work split shifts take advantage of the 100-air-mile radius exemption found at §395.1(e)?
May a driver who is taking advantage of the 100-air-mile radius exemption in §395.1(e) be intermittently off-duty during the period away from the work-reporting location?
When a driver fails to meet the provisions of the 100 air-mile radius exemption (section 395.1(e)), is the driver required to have copies of his/her records of duty status for the previous seven days? Must the driver prepare daily records of duty status for the next seven days?
A driver returns to his/her normal work reporting location from a location beyond the 100-air-mile radius and goes off duty for 7 hours. May the driver return to duty after being off-duty for 7 hours and utilize the 100-air-mile radius exemption?
Is the exemption contained in §395.1(f) concerning department store deliveries during the period from December 10 to December 25 limited to only drivers employed by department stores?
May time spent in sleeping facilities being transported as cargo (e.g., boats, campers, travel trailers) be recorded as sleeper berth time?
May sleeper berth time and off-duty periods be combined to meet the 8-hour off-duty requirement?
May a driver record sleeper berth time as off-duty time on line one of the record of duty status?
After accumulating 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time, a driver spends 2 hours in the sleeper berth. The driver then drives a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for 10 hours, then spends6 hours in the sleeper berth. May the driver combine the two sleeper berth periods to meet the required 8 consecutive hours of off-duty time per §395.1(h), then drive for up to 10 more hours?
Does the emergency conditions exception in 49 CFR 395.1(b)(2) apply to a driver who planned on arriving at a specific rest area to complete his 10 hours driving and found the rest area full, forcing the driver to continue past the ten hours driving looking for another safe parking area?
Must a motor carrier that uses a 100-air-milera-dius driver write zero (0) hours on the time record for each day the driver is off duty (not working for the motor carrier)?
Does the exception in §395.1(k) for “drivers transporting agricultural commodities or farm supplies for agricultural purposes” cover the transportation of poultry or poultry feed?
Guidance: No. The exception was created by Sec. 345(a)(1) of the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 [Public Law 104-50,109 Stat.568, at613], which provides in part that the hours of service regulations “shall not apply to drivers transporting agricultural commodities or farm supplies for agricultural purposes...”The terms “agricultural commodities or farm supplies for agricultural purposes” were not defined, but the context clarifies their meaning. Because the statute made the exception available only “during the planting and harvesting seasons” in each State, Congress obviously intended to restrict it to agriculture in the traditional (and etymological) sense, i.e., the cultivation of fields. “Agricultural commodities” therefore means products grown on and harvested from the land, and “farm supplies for agricultural purposes” means products directly related to the growing or harvesting of agricultural commodities.
Drivers transporting livestock or slaughtered animals, or the grain, corn, hay, etc., used to feed animals, may not use the “agricultural operations” exception.
Does fuel used in the production of agricultural commodities qualify as “farm supplies” under 49 CFR 395.1(k)?
Can a for-hire motor carrier located in Canada transport farm supplies and/or equipment for agricultural purposes to a location in the U.S. without having to comply with Part 395?