Defining yard moves
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing changes to its regulatory guidance regarding how commercial motor vehicles should record “yard moves” in the hours of service.
FMCSA’s notice of proposed regulatory guidance published in the Federal Register on Jan. 4. The guidance provides examples of properties that would be considered “yards.” The agency said movements of commercial motor vehicles in “yards” would be considered “yard moves” and could be recorded as on-duty, not driving time rather than driving time.
“FMCSA’s revised 2020 guidance provides that the time jockeying commercial motor vehicles in the yard is not driving time,” the notice stated. “The driver should record that time as on-duty, not driving time.”
The proposed guidance language aims to clarify what is and isn’t a “yard.”
“A driver may record time operating a commercial motor vehicle for yard moves as on-duty not driving only if the movement of the commercial motor vehicle occurs in a confined area on private property,” FMCSA wrote.
According to the proposed guidance, examples of properties that may qualify as yards include, but are not limited to:
- An intermodal yard or port facility.
- A motor carrier’s place of business.
- A shipper’s privately owned parking lot.
- A public road, but only if and while public access to the road is restricted through traffic control measures such as lights, gates, flaggers or other means. For example, if a driver must operate on a public road briefly to reach different parts of a private property, the movement may be considered a yard move if public access is restricted during the move.
Under the proposed guidance, examples of properties that do not qualify as yards include but are not limited to:
- A public road without the traffic control measures noted above.
- Public rest areas. LL