FMCSA to Hold Listening Session on Oilfield HOS Exemption

Federal regulators will hold a listening session near Dallas next week on recent regulatory guidance that restricts use of an hours-of-service exemption for truckers involved oil and gas exploration.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Sept. 27 session will take place at the Hyatt Regency DFW near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It is open to the public.

The guidance, issued in June, states that only drivers who received “extensive” training and who are driving trucks “specially constructed for use and oil and gas sites” can use an HOS exemption that allows them to extend the 14-hour work day if they have to wait at a drilling site.

FMCSA previously pushed back the deadline to Oct. 5 for public comments on the rule.