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Dive Brief:
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended emergency HOS and ELD waivers for drivers affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore until June 22. the agency announced Last week.
- The two additional hours of driving time and the suspended ELD rule apply to drivers directly supporting relief efforts, delivering fuel shipments and operating alternate ports. It was previously extended to May 8.
- “It is not expected that this will be extended again,” the Maryland Trucking Association said in bold on his website. “Car carriers will have to plan accordingly.”
Dive Insight:
The Port of Baltimore celebrated its reopening with a ceremony Wednesday. But local drivers need the waiver to keep other East Coast ports operating as shipments slowly flow back to the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Motor Truck Association President and CEO Louis Campion said in an interview.
“They’ll still be doing it for the next few weeks, right?” said Campion. “They’re going to keep making the same move, just because that cargo isn’t going to be here in Baltimore right away.”
Relaxed FMCSA rules have given local Port of Baltimore drivers more driving time to pick up shipments diverted to Norfolk, Virginia and other alternate ports.
Drivers are still subject to maximum duty hours. The extended hours of service allow for 13 hours of driving in a 14-hour on-call window, the MMTA noted.
Meanwhile, the suspended ELD regulation allows drivers who don’t already have a device to use paper logs until the exemption expires.
The state trucking association advises members to keep a hard copy of it the FMCSA statement in their vehicles.
Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania also suspended several regulations for truck drivers during the response to the deadly bridge collapse, which shut down most businesses in the Port of Baltimore for months cutting off ship access.