Amid growing demand for gas and diesel from the ongoing Middle East conflict and the traditional high-demand fall travel season, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has eased hours restrictions for fuel haulers. Eligible fuel haulers may drive up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period under a new federal waiver intended to give gasoline and diesel carriers more flexibility during ongoing global supply disruptions and high fall demand.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued the waiver on Sept. 16, and it will remain effective through 11:59 p.m. Dec. 16. It applies ONLY to motor carriers and drivers transporting gasoline or diesel fuel in interstate commerce.

For Alabama fleets, the relief could increase the number of fuel deliveries that can be completed during a shift, but it is not a blanket suspension of federal hours-of-service rules. Carriers must satisfy detailed rest, eligibility, documentation and crash-reporting conditions.

A driver using the waiver may not drive more than 16 hours in any 24-hour period, even if another exception, waiver, or emergency declaration also applies. The driver must take at least six consecutive hours in a sleeper berth during each 24-hour period, or at least eight consecutive hours off duty if the vehicle has no sleeper berth.

That structure differs sharply from the ordinary property-carrier limits and requires dispatch, electronic-log and payroll systems to distinguish covered fuel work from normal operations.

When a driver moves from waiver-covered work to ordinary operations, a 10-hour break is required if the driver’s combined time under the waiver and in normal operations reaches or exceeds 14 hours.

Some Restrictions Apply

The waiver also contains a fatigue safeguard. If a driver tells the carrier that immediate rest is needed, the carrier must allow the driver to find a suitable, safe resting location and take at least 10 consecutive hours off duty before resuming work.

Relief extends to an empty return trip to the carrier’s terminal or the driver’s normal reporting location. It does not excuse a driver from resting when they report fatigue.

Drivers must hold a valid commercial driver’s license with all endorsements required for the vehicle and cargo. They must carry a physical or digital copy of the waiver and present it to law enforcement on request.

Motor carriers with conditional safety ratings are ineligible. Carriers and drivers under out-of-service orders cannot use the relief until the applicable conditions have been met and the order has been rescinded in writing.

The waiver changes only the hours-of-service limits specified by FMCSA. Drug and alcohol testing, hazardous-materials rules, financial responsibility, vehicle size and weight limits, route restrictions and other federal and state requirements remain in force.

Each carrier must notify FMCSA within two business days of a reportable crash involving a driver operating under the waiver. Required information includes the driver and vehicle identification, location, injuries or fatalities, citations, any police-reported cause and the driver’s on-duty and driving time before the crash.

FMCSA also may ask a carrier for the total number of drivers who used the waiver and may revoke relief for a carrier or driver if safety deteriorates.

The federal action applies to interstate commerce and preempts conflicting state requirements for covered operations. FMCSA says states may adopt the same policy for intrastate commerce, but the waiver itself does not establish that Alabama has done so.

Supply & Cost Concerns

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the change responds to supply and cost concerns. FMCSA cited the importance of moving fuel for transportation, agricultural harvesting and the traveling public.

The operational opportunity comes with a significant management burden. Alabama fuel carriers should identify which loads qualify, train dispatchers on the transition back to normal operations, give drivers a copy of the waiver and establish a process for the two-business-day crash notice before using the additional hours.