FMCSA denies pipeline group’s exemption request

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has declined the Pipe Line Contractors Association’s request for an exemption from certain hours-of-service regulations.

FMCSA published notice of the denial in the Federal Register on June 15.

In 2020, the group requested an exemption from:

• The requirement of the short-haul exception that drivers return to the work reporting location from which they started the day.
• The requirement that drivers use electronic logging devices if they must complete a record-of-duty status on more than eight days in any 30-day period.
• The prohibition on driving after having been on duty for 70 hours in eight consecutive days.

“PLCA believes that the current hours-of-service regulations are ill-suited to address the needs and safety concerns of pipeline industry drivers,” the application notice stated. “Pipeline contractors are skilled tradesmen, and driving is ancillary to their primary role as construction workers, as they typically spend only a few hours a day operating commercial motor vehicles on public roads.”

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine opposed the application. Both groups raised concerns about driver fatigue.

FMCSA denied the request, saying that the Pipe Line group didn’t provide enough evidence that it would be able to provide an equivalent level of safety under the exemption.

“PLCA provided no analysis of the safety performance of drivers who would operate using paper records of duty status under the exemption, nor did it provide analysis of how the risk of fatigue and crashes when operating without an ELD would be equivalent to the risk posed with a device installed on the vehicle,” FMCSA wrote. “The PLCA application did not consider practical alternatives or provide an analysis of the safety impacts the requested exemption may cause and failed to offer countermeasures.” LL