Should Trucking Hours-of-Service Rules Change? Share Your Opinion

How would you rewrite truckers’ hours-of-service rules?

Hours-of-service rules are once again at the center of a broader debate over trucking regulation. With federal officials examining more flexible sleeper-berth and duty-period options, and lawmakers considering trucking provisions in larger transportation legislation, drivers and fleets are revisiting a familiar question: Can the rules be simplified without reducing safety?

The question carries more weight than it did before the electronic logging device mandate. ELDs were adopted to enforce the hours-of-service rules in real time. The devices automatically record driving, on-duty and off-duty time, replacing paper logs that could be altered or completed after the fact.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ELD Final Rule Regulatory Impact Analysis, 97% of commercial motor vehicle drivers subject to the HOS rules are required to use an ELD. That represents approximately 3.5 million drivers nationwide.

As a result, any change to the HOS system would affect not only the regulations themselves but also the technology that records and transmits compliance data. The current rules include limits on daily driving, the 14-hour on-duty window, mandatory off-duty periods and cumulative weekly on-duty limits.

What the ELD mandate covers

The ELD mandate generally applies to drivers who are required to record their hours of service under Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. That includes drivers operating vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, vehicles designed to carry 16 or more passengers for compensation, and vehicles transporting hazardous materials in quantities requiring placards.

It also covers drivers operating in interstate commerce who do not qualify for a specific exemption. Drivers who are still using paper logs must determine whether an exemption applies; otherwise, an ELD is required.

The mandate has changed enforcement for drivers. A violation that once might have remained hidden in a paper log can now appear as an electronic record during an inspection. That makes accuracy, edits, personal conveyance entries and supporting documentation increasingly important.

Flexibility remains the central issue

One proposal under discussion would allow more flexibility in how drivers divide their rest periods. During the spring and summer of 2026, FMCSA is seeking 18 drivers to assist with limited, six-week tests of study designs and data collection tools for two potential HOS pilot programs: a Flexible Sleeper Berth program and a Split Duty Period program.

The pilots are not permanent changes to the rules. They are intended to help the agency evaluate how alternative schedules could be studied and whether future rulemaking is appropriate.

A flexible sleeper-berth option could give drivers more control over when they take required rest, while a split-duty-period approach could allow a break during the workday to pause or divide the 14-hour window. Supporters of such changes have argued that drivers do not always operate on a simple day-and-night schedule and that a rigid clock can sometimes make it difficult to use available rest efficiently.

Other ideas raised by drivers and owner-operators would simplify the system by focusing primarily on daily limits. Suggestions have included an 11-hour driving limit within any 24-hour period, eliminating the 60- or 70-hour cumulative limits, or allowing the 14-hour duty period to serve as the main restriction on a driver’s workday.

Those proposals would represent major changes and would require careful consideration of fatigue, scheduling practices and enforcement. They remain ideas rather than current federal requirements.

Some existing exceptions have already changed

Separate HOS changes have expanded certain exceptions. The short-haul exception now reaches 150 air-miles and allows a 14-hour work shift to be used within the exception. The adverse-driving-conditions exception also allows up to two additional hours in the driving window when conditions meet the regulatory standard.

These provisions do not eliminate the need for drivers to understand their records. Whether a driver qualifies depends on the specific operation and the facts surrounding the trip.

ELD oversight is also under review

FMCSA is expected to tighten oversight of ELD providers and the devices listed as compliant. The issue is significant because drivers and carriers rely on approved devices to meet federal recordkeeping requirements. Greater scrutiny of providers could affect how devices are certified, monitored or removed from the approved list.

For drivers, the practical message is straightforward: An ELD record is only as reliable as the information entered into it and the device producing it. Malfunctions, improper edits or inaccurate duty-status changes can create compliance problems even when a driver is attempting to follow the rules.

Legislation could shape the next phase

Some trucking provisions have advanced as part of broader highway legislation, including measures related to truck parking and stronger certification requirements for ELD providers. Whether those provisions become law depends on the larger legislative process and the need for bipartisan support.

For now, the HOS pilots are the clearest path toward testing alternatives to the current system. Any permanent change would require more than a policy preference. It would need evidence that greater flexibility can work with electronic enforcement while protecting drivers and the public from fatigue-related risks.

The debate has moved beyond whether ELDs should exist. With nearly all HOS-covered drivers now operating under electronic logging, the more immediate question is whether the rules being enforced can be made simpler, more practical and more responsive to the way professional drivers actually work.