FMCSA updates HOS rule in Federal Register

   The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has officially amended its hours-of-service rule to exempt short-haul drivers from the mandatory 30-minute rest period laid out in the final rule, a move mandated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in an August ruling.
   The change, which actually went into effect Aug. 5 but hasn’t been updated in the Federal Register until now, applies to all short-haul drivers who don’ t have to turn in records of duty status. The rest of the controversial hours-of-service update, which went into effect July 1, is unchanged.
   The delay in the official change most likely occurred due to the government shutdown, and the lapse in government function has also caused the Department of Transportation to cancel its October report of transportation-significant Federal Register amendments.
   “The October 2013 Significant Rulemaking Report will not be published due to the lapse in appropriations,” according to the DOT website. “We are assessing the impact of the government shutdown on our regulatory program, while continuing to move forward. We expect that the November report will be published as scheduled.”