Just as we were shipping this issue to the printer, the Federal government released preliminary details about its new hours-of-service (HOS) rules.

Could any single regulation be more important to longhaul truck drivers, especially since logbook rules haven’t been changed in over 40 years? So we told the printer to hold on a minute while we put together a quick report on the highlights.

The most important changes are an increase in driving time and establishment of an off-duty “reset” period. Under the new rules, you will be allowed 14 hours on-duty, with 11 hours driving. That’s a 1-hour increase in driving and a 1-hour decrease in on-duty time. Good for the longhaul driver, but not so good for the route driver who needs the 15 hours to finish deliveries.

Off-duty time increases from 8 to 10 hours. Although it wasn’t completely clear, it appears that team-driving exemptions remain in place. In practical terms, that means the off-duty driver would probably split bunk time into two 5-hour blocks instead of today’s two 4-hour periods.

The 2-hour extension of off-duty time and additional 1 hour of driving time also moves drivers from the current 18-hour duty cycle to one that’s closer to the natural 24-hour cycle our bodies run on.

The cap on cumulative on-duty time remains unchanged at 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days. However, you’ll be able to reset your on-duty clock back to zero after a period of 34 continuous off-duty hours.

Almost as important as what’s in the new rules are the things left out. There’s no requirement for a “black box” to automatically record truck and driver actions, and no restrictions on nighttime and weekend driving.

One final point—the rules are scheduled to be published on May 25, but won’t be enforced until some time in early 2004.

Next month we’ll follow up with an analysis of what the changes will mean for earning power, fatigue management and overall industry safety.