Dive Brief:
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration extended emergency HOS and ELD waivers for drivers affected by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore until June 22, the agency announced last week.
- The two extra hours of driving time and suspended ELD rule applies to drivers directly supporting the relief efforts, delivering fuel shipments and running alternative ports. It was previously extended on May 8.
- “It is not expected that this will be extended again,” the Maryland Motor Truck Association said in a bold font on its website. “Motor carriers should plan accordingly.”
Dive Insight:
The Port of Baltimore celebrated its reopening with a ceremony Wednesday. But local drivers need the waiver to continue running other East Coast ports as shipments slowly trickle back up the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Motor Truck Association President and CEO Louis Campion said in an interview.
“They're going to be doing that still for the next few weeks, right?” Campion said. “They're still going to be making that same move, just because that freight isn't going to be here in Baltimore right away.”
FMCSA’s relaxed rules have provided local Baltimore port drivers more driving time to pick up shipments diverted to Norfolk, Virginia, and other alternative seaports.
Drivers are still subject to maximum on-duty time. The hours of service extension allows 13 hours of driving in a 14 hour on-duty window, the MMTA noted.
Meanwhile, the suspended ELD regulation allows drivers who do not already have a device to use paper logs until the waiver’s expiration.
The state trucking association advises members to keep a printed copy of the FMCSA declaration in their vehicles.
Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania have also suspended several regulations on truck drivers during the response to the deadly bridge collapse, which shut down most operations at the Port of Baltimore for months by cutting off vessel access.
