FMCSA takes aim at HOS, SMS updates

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s sights are firmly set on further hours-of-service flexibility and enhancing its safety measurement system in the coming weeks and months, according to the agency’s top safety official. The federal agency may already have had a busy year, but it is not done yet. It is also working to finish the job on existing initiatives such as the Motus online registration dashboard, FMCSA Chief Safety Officer Steve Dowling told the 2026 WEX OTR Summit. “One of the things that I love about FMCSA is our mission is really simple, and it’s something that’s easy to get behind. It’s to reduce crashes, injuries, fatalities involving large trucks and buses,” Dowling told attendees of the conference Oct. 28. With that in mind, the agency plans to increase its focus on HOS flexibility and an SMS update, he said. The agency already revised four provisions of the HOS regulations in June: the short-haul exception, the adverse driving conditions exception, the 30-minute break requirement and the sleeper berth provision. FMCSA also began two HOS pilot programs covering flexible sleeper berths and split duty periods in the spring of 2026. And earlier in October, FMCSA expanded a temporary waiver for drivers transporting gasoline and diesel to include ethanol products and heating oil. The waiver expires Dec. 16. But Dowling told WEX OTR attendees: “When you look at the rules and what was there, it was all trying to create some type of standard to make sure that we were addressing fatigue because it has a direct…

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