The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has restored a longer window of automatic hours-of-service relief for truck drivers and carriers providing direct assistance during certain regional emergencies.
Under a final rule published Monday, October 5, the automatic exemption period has been returned to 30 days, up from 14 days. The exemption applies following a regional emergency declaration issued by a state governor, a governor’s authorized representative or the FMCSA.
The rule took effect Monday and reverses a policy change introduced by FMCSA in 2023, when the agency reduced the automatic exemption period from 30 days to 14 days.
FMCSA said the longer period should ease the administrative pressure created when disaster-recovery efforts continue beyond two weeks and carriers are forced to request extensions.
The emergency exemption is designed for commercial motor vehicles providing direct assistance in response to a declared emergency, with the objective of helping restore essential services and maintain the flow of critical supplies.
The relief covers federal hours-of-service requirements under 49 CFR 395.3 and 395.5. FMCSA stressed, however, that the exemption is not a blanket HOS waiver for every trucking operation in an affected area. It is specifically limited to vehicles directly involved in emergency response activities.
The restored 30-day period is also a maximum automatic exemption, not an unconditional 30-day entitlement. When an emergency declaration ends before 30 days, the exemption ends with it. FMCSA may still extend an exemption beyond the 30-day period when circumstances require additional relief.
FMCSA rolls back the 2023 restriction
The agency originally cut the automatic regional emergency exemption from 30 days to 14 days in a final rule issued in October 2023.
That decision later came under review after FMCSA received petitions challenging the shorter exemption period. In January, the agency proposed bringing back the 30-day window and opened a 60-day public comment period.
The proposal received 17 comments, with major industry and transportation groups largely supporting the change.
Among those backing the restoration were the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, National Propane Gas Association, Gases and Welding Distributors Association, National Energy & Fuels Institute, Shippers Coalition and Montana Department of Transportation.
Transportation departments from Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming also joined in supporting the longer exemption.
The National Tank Truck Carriers took a neutral position, neither supporting nor opposing the proposal. The organization said the change would likely have only a limited practical impact on the tank truck industry.
Only one individual commenter opposed restoring the 30-day period. The argument was that retaining a 14-day limit would lead to more frequent reviews of whether emergency relief was still necessary.
FMCSA rejected that position. The agency concluded that the shorter exemption had generated unnecessary administrative complications, while extending the automatic period back to 30 days would reduce those burdens without undermining safe operations.
The five state transportation departments supporting the rule told FMCSA there was “no record of adverse safety effects” associated with emergency HOS regulatory relief.
Another commenter proposed going considerably further by extending the automatic exemption to 90 days. FMCSA declined to adopt that approach.
According to the agency, its experience indicates that regional emergency exemptions rarely need more than 30 days to restore essential services and supplies. When a particular disaster requires longer relief, FMCSA retains the ability to authorize a separate extension beyond the initial 30-day period.
FMCSA expects fewer extension requests
FMCSA does not expect the rule to significantly change the broader economic impact of its emergency regulations. Instead, the agency sees the main benefit in reducing the administrative workload created by extension requests.
The agency estimates that restoring the 30-day automatic period will cut the number of annual extension requests from approximately 50 to 25.
FMCSA projects that the change will reduce the industry’s annual administrative burden linked to those requests to 6.25 hours and $533. Government review costs are estimated at $896 per year.
Taken together, FMCSA estimates that eliminating roughly 25 extension requests annually will generate total savings of approximately $1,429 each year for the trucking industry and the federal government.
Why it matters
For carriers responding to hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other declared emergencies, the return to a 30-day automatic exemption provides a larger operational window to keep essential supplies moving and support the restoration of critical services.
The change also means that operators involved in prolonged disaster-response missions are less likely to face the need to seek an extension after just two weeks, provided the emergency declaration remains in effect and the vehicles continue to qualify for the direct-assistance exemption.
