FMCSA issues regulatory guidance on personal conveyance

Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed revisions to the regulatory guidance concerning driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) for personal use while off-duty, referred to as “personal conveyance.”  FMCSA issues the following final guidance and it is effective immediately. It applies to any driver authorized to operate a commercial vehicle for personal, or non-business reasons.

Read the full guidance here.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) require drivers to document their Hours of Service (HOS) on records of duty status (RODS), identifying one of four duty status options: 1) on-duty not driving, 2) driving, 3) sleeper berth, and 4) off-duty.

The use of personal conveyance is a method used to account for the movement of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) while the driver is off-duty. Motor carriers, at their discretion, may authorize their drivers to use a CMV while off-duty for personal conveyance. When this occurs, drivers are required to document such use as off-duty on their RODS, regardless of the method used to record the driver’s HOS (e.g., paper logs, automatic on-board recording device, electronic logging devices (ELDs), etc.).

This revised guidance focuses on the reason the driver is operating a CMV while off-duty to determine if the movement is considered personal conveyance, regardless of whether the CMV is laden.

This final notice provides a variety of scenarios in the guidance as to when the use of personal conveyance is allowable, and, includes passenger carrier specific scenarios. Specifically, the guidance clarifies issues such as:

• when using personal conveyance to leave a shipper or receiver and travel to a safe location for rest is allowed
• when commuting to and from work can be considered personal conveyance
• the use of personal conveyance does not impact on-duty time

The ELD rule required manufacturers to include a special driving category for “authorized personal use” which includes personal conveyance. Drivers authorized to use personal conveyance may use this feature, or remain in off-duty status. In either case, the electronic record should be annotated to explain the circumstances.