CVSA’s personal conveyance petition lacks data, FMCSA says

If the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance wants to limit a truck driver’s use of personal conveyance, FMCSA says it must first provide data of negative safety outcomes.

“FMCSA continues to lack sufficient data to initiate a rulemaking,” the agency wrote. “FMCSA would need data showing the extent to which drivers’ violations result in safety critical events.”

In March, CVSA petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to create a maximum distance or time regarding how a truck driver operates a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while off-duty.

FMCSA formally denied the petition in the fall. However, Land Line recently obtained more details regarding the agency’s reasoning for the denial.

CVSA said that since violation code 395.8E1PC was added to the roadside inspection software in June 2021, enforcement officials have cited 3,041 violations using that code through Jan. 28. According to CVSA, 61% of those violations were an attempt to conceal hours-of-service violations.

However, FMCSA said the data shows that violations for misuse of personal conveyance are already being enforced.

“The preliminary violation data suggests enforcement officials already identify drivers with hours-of-service violations relating to personal conveyance misuse, without a time or distance limit,” FMCSA wrote in its denial letter. “Under FMCSA’s June 17, 2018, regulatory guidance, a driver who drives hundreds of miles in a direction that advances the motor carrier’s operational readiness is not permitted to record that time as personal conveyance.”

FMCSA has issued guidance for claiming the use of the provision in recording hours of service:

“A driver may record time operating a (commercial motor vehicle) for personal conveyance (i.e., for personal use or reasons) as off-duty only when the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work by the motor carrier. The CMV may be used for personal conveyance even if it is laden, since the load is not being transported for the commercial benefit of the carrier at that time. Personal conveyance does not reduce a driver’s or motor carrier’s responsibility to operate a CMV safely. Motor carriers can establish personal conveyance limitations either within the scope of, or more restrictive than, this guidance, such as banning use of a CMV for personal conveyance purposes, imposing a distance limitation on personal conveyance, or prohibiting personal conveyance while the CMV is laden.”

CVSA also petitioned FMCSA to create personal conveyance limitations in December 2018. FMCSA denied that petition in September 2020.

“While we acknowledge the CVSA’s concerns, we do not believe there is a sufficient safety basis for initiating a rulemaking,” FMCSA wrote in its 2020 denial. “The agency is unable to estimate the extent to which drivers may be circumventing the hours-of-service requirements by claiming personal conveyance status, or to the extent to which drivers’ violations result in safety-critical events.” LL