FMCSA Issues First Nationwide Hours-of-Service Emergency Declaration for COVID-19 Relief
On March 13, 2020, FMCSA lifted hours-of-service limits nationwide for drivers hauling qualifying COVID-19 relief loads, the first relief of its kind to cover the whole country.
In March 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) used its emergency powers on a nationwide scale for the first time. On March 13, 2020, the agency issued a national emergency declaration that lifted hours-of-service (HOS) limits for commercial drivers hauling relief loads in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. It followed the President's national emergency declaration over the virus.
FMCSA said it was the first time it had issued relief covering the whole country.
Which loads qualified
The relief applied only to drivers and carriers giving direct assistance to emergency relief efforts. FMCSA listed loads meeting immediate needs for:
- medical supplies and equipment for testing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19;
- supplies such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectants needed for health care workers, patients and community safety;
- food for emergency restocking of stores;
- equipment, supplies and people needed to set up and run temporary housing and quarantine facilities;
- people designated by federal, state or local authorities for medical, isolation or quarantine transport;
- personnel providing medical or other emergency services.
The rest rule that still applied
The declaration did not remove all limits. Once a driver finished a relief delivery, the driver had to get at least 10 hours off duty if hauling property, or 8 hours if carrying passengers.
What it meant for fleets
For dispatchers, the main point was that relief was tied to the load, not the carrier. A fleet hauling hand sanitizer to a store under emergency restocking could use the exemption for that run. A regular freight run on the same truck stayed under the normal HOS rules.
The text of the declaration was posted on FMCSA's emergency declarations page, and FMCSA's acting administrator said the agency was monitoring the outbreak and was prepared to use its authority further. In Canada, Transport Canada followed with its own Essential Freight Transport Exemption for extra-provincial carriers, signed March 24, 2020.
Archive: this article describes rules and events as of March 2020. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.