To further clarify personal transportation, the FMCSA provides drivers with several examples of appropriate use of VMC outside of business hours that would be considered personal transportation. According to the FMCSA, drivers who find themselves in the following situations are considered passenger transport: in other words, the personal transport movement is of a strictly personal nature and is not for the benefit of the motor carrier. Before recording the driving event, the status of the personal transport service must be selected. This is in accordance with FMCSA regulations. How to record personal transportation movements: Canadian truck drivers are limited in the distance they can travel in passenger transportation. Current policies limit its use to 75 km (about 47 miles) per day. The driver must unsubscribe outside of service hours, unload the truck and decouple the trailers. Below are examples of appropriate uses of a VMC outside of personal transportation service, including but not limited to: As a former driver, Crowley drove his truck around the yard and home every day. Thanks to personal transportation, his hours began when he arrived at the farm and ended when he left the farm. Secure parking: There have been many claims related to drivers parking in unauthorized areas because they were outside of working hours. Emphasize to drivers that the main purpose of personal transportation, as mentioned above, is to find safe parking. The advance of a load or an order is not allowed.
Bobtailing or pulling an empty trailer to retrieve another load or reposition a tractor or trailer: Bobtailing (driving a truck without a trailer) or pulling an empty trailer for commercial purposes (for example, at the nearest loading location) is not considered personal transport. Here`s everything you need to know about personal transportation, updated rules, and PC check-in when using an ELD. Click here for a recorded presentation that provides an overview of the revised personal promotion guide; The corresponding PowerPoint slides can be found here. As in the United States, the movement of CMVs in Canada must be for purely personal reasons and not for the benefit of the carrier. However, there are important differences. For passenger transportation to apply in Canada, the vehicle must be unloaded and the trailer decoupled. In another deviation from U.S. regulations, personal transportation mileage is limited to 75 km (47 miles) of daily travel, and the driver must have recorded the mileage at the beginning and end of personal use. In addition, the FMCSA has recently updated its personal transportation policies. This led to even more questions and some confusion.
“By establishing a maximum distance or time allowed for personal transportation, the FMCSA will not only eliminate confusion and inconsistent application among inspectors in this case, but will also ensure safer roads, as commercial vehicle drivers and vehicle carriers have emphasized that personal transportation time will not be used as a safe haven to drive hundreds of miles after their hours of travel are exhausted. work. can. LL The WFD`s mandate has raised several questions about personal promotion. Before the WFD`s mandate, you simply wrote “personal support” and that was it. But electronic check-in devices have changed the way personal transport is recorded. Other areas of personal transportation policy that you should clarify and specify in your policy: But carriers have the right to impose certain limits if they wish. Freight forwarders can define personal transportation policies for their fleets and drivers. These guidelines only need to comply with FMCSA regulations. According to the CVSA, false records of service violations represented the 3rd most documented violation of drivers in 2021. In June 2021, a violation code was added to the inspection software, allowing inspectors to determine when false records of service status violations were due to personal transportation abuse. As of January 28, 3,041 violations have been reported, indicating abuse of personal transportation.
In addition, 61% of these violations resulted in the driver being taken out of service because his abuse of personal transportation was an attempt to hide additional travel time. Time spent transporting personal goods out of service: for example, if a driver brings their CMV to a used car repair shop outside of service and picks up a part for a car that they restore at home as a hobby, this is considered personal transportation. All commercial vehicle fleets (CMVs) must comply with Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, including personal transportation. The FMCSA defines personal transportation as the movement of a CMV for personal use while a driver is not in service, which does not financially benefit the company. Return after delivery of a towed unit to retrieve another towed unit: After delivery, the towing unit no longer meets the definition of a CMV. If the road carrier asks the driver to take another towed unit, personal transport does not apply either. The fact that this is a mandatory requirement not to be in service means that personal transport does not affect a driver`s length of service or the available rules on operating hours. Since the implementation of the WFD`s mandate, several questions have been raised about personal promotion. Prior to the WFD`s mandate, the determination of travel time as personal transportation was simply to write it this way.
With the introduction of electronic check-in devices, the method of recording passenger transport has also changed. To be considered a personal promotion, the CMV movement outside the Service must not be related to employment. A change from the previous requirements is that the vehicle no longer needs to be unloaded. The vehicle can now be loaded during passenger transport. However, the vehicle may under no circumstances be moved for the commercial benefit of the carrier. 6. Time spent transporting personal property outside the Service. Permitted use of a VMC to return home from working at an off-site location: This particular scenario is intended for construction and utility companies that set up base camps near a large order and work from there for days or weeks. These remote sites are considered external sites. Travel between the house and this outdoor location is considered personal transportation. The Fleet Directive should also take into account all restrictions on personal kilometres. There are no mileage restrictions under federal law, but some airlines choose to set a daily limit (for example, 40 to 50 miles).
Some carriers also limit the time of day when drivers are allowed to travel by personal transport so that it is not overused by drivers. Tom Crowley, a compliance and regulatory expert at the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, says using personal transportation can benefit drivers looking for a safe parking space after their 2 p.m. clock closes. Once personal transportation has been enabled by carriers, drivers can use the Motives app on their mobile devices to record the personal promotion movement. You can download it for iPhone here or for Android here. After retirement due to exceeding the maximum allowable hours of work: If a driver has reached their 14-hour service limit permitted by HOS regulations, the time spent driving to a rest area is not considered personal transportation unless ordered to do so by a DOT officer or police officer at the crime scene. Owner and operator effects: If owners and operators are employed, insurance coverage should be in place to cover any claims that may arise from the personal use of a CMV. Motor carriers should ensure that owner-operators have a Bobtail (non-truck use) liability policy.
Alternatively, the motor carrier could offer a non-road insurance plan.
