New guidance says drivers can get in trouble if they voluntarily show an officer their logs when they don’t really need to.
The guidance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) relates to drivers using the “agricultural exemption” in 49 CFR 395.1(k), but it could apply to any driver who is intermittently exempt from the hours-of-service (HOS) rules.
It says that drivers who voluntarily provide their logs for inspection (i.e., logs from prior days when the driver was not exempt from the HOS rules) can be cited for HOS violations found in those logs even if the driver is currently exempt from the HOS rules.
How it might play out
This scenario could occur when exempt drivers operate outside the terms of the exemption. For example, most drivers using the ag exemption who travel beyond a 150-air-mile radius must comply with the normal HOS rules and prepare a log.
If such a driver goes back to using the exemption the next day and is stopped for an inspection, the driver is not required to provide any logs because the driver is exempt from the HOS rules at that time.
However, “If a driver voluntarily provides [logs] during the inspection,” the guidance says, “the officer may examine these records and document and cite any HOS violations that occurred before the driver began operating under the exemption.”
Also noted in the guidance, however, is the fact that “the driver cannot be placed out of service for those previous violations because the driver is currently exempt from Part 395.”
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Original article published by J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.