Hours of service exemption denied by FMCSA

The FMCSA has denied a helicopter company’s exemption request from some of the hours-of-service regulations.

The Federal Register published a denial notice for Montrose, Colo.-based Mountain Blade Runner Helicopters LLC on Feb. 28^. The company was seeking a five-year exemption from the 14-hour rule and the requirement that drivers have 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time between shifts.

The exemption request, filed in December 2020, sought to cover ground support equipment operators while responding to or returning from an “active incident.” If granted, the exemption would have allowed drivers a 16-hour working window. Additionally, drivers could use an eight-hour off-duty break combined with at least two other off-duty hours during the 16-hour window.

In their decision, the FMCSA stated that the company’s application for exemption “does not provide sufficient countermeasures to enable the agency to conclude that the exemption would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved by complying with the current regulations.”

Public opposition

The FMCSA received two public comments regarding the exemption request. Both were opposed to the agency granting the exemption.

One point of contention was regarding enforcement. In a letter expressing their opposition, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance stated that, “If granted, this exemption would place an excessive burden on the enforcement community and negatively impact safety.”

In addition to their concerns about enforcement, the CVSA also felt not enough was done to define what “active incidents” were.

“If there is not an emergency, there is no reasonable argument for relaxing the hours-of-service requirements,” the letter read. “Because the request is not contingent on an official emergency declaration, it would be nearly impossible to enforce hours-of-service requirements for these drivers, as there are no established guidelines for ‘active incidents.’” LL