February 16, 2016

By now, many of you have heard of what’s being dubbed a language “loophole” where verbiage incorporated by Congress into the FAST ACT highway bill essentially (and seemingly unintentionally) nullifies the restart provision of Hours of Service (HOS).  (For background on the subject, click here.)

As the Department of Transportation and trucking groups like the Truckload Carriers Association scramble to address the confusion, a notification emailed late Saturday by the TCA to its members urged its carrier members to continue operating as they have until an agreement on how to proceed can be reached.

Similarly, Omnitracs VP of Regulator Compliance Tom Cuthbertson issued a formal statement on behalf of the company. “We are aware that language released in the FAST ACT highway bill significantly impacts the 34-Hour Reset required within Hours of Service,” Cuthbertson said.  “Until further direction is provided by the Department of Transportation on this matter, Omnitracs’ technologies will continue to abide by the 34-Hour Reset provided in the December 2014 Federal Register notice.

“Put simply, there will be no changes to Omnitracs’ Hours of Service products without clear instruction from the DOT,” Cuthbertson said.