Hours rule suspended for Sandy relief effort

Trucks carrying emergency-related materials to and in states affected by Hurricane Sandy are exempt from the federal hours of service rules effective Monday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has said in a declaration.

The states included in the exemption are Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, MAssachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

“This declaration of emergency provides relief for commercial motor vehicles operations while providing these emergency materials and services to customers in the above mentioned states during the emergency. This exemption applies only to those operations providing direct assistance to the emergency relief effort. Direct assistance terminates when a driver or commercial motor vehicle is used in interstate commerce to transport cargo or provide services not destined for the emergency relief effort or when the motor carrier operation dispatches such driver or vehicle to another location to begin operations in furtherance of commerce,” the declaration reads.

The waiver will last until midnight of Nov. 13.