Regulations

FMCSA advances 14-hour clock-pause pilot: 256 drivers, up to 3 hours of split-duty time

The Split Duty Period study would let participating drivers pause the 14-hour window for up to 3 hours using off-duty, sleeper-berth, or on-duty time at pickup and delivery — aimed squarely at detention time.

By CDLWire · Published October 6, 2026

Summarized from TWOSU News.

Semi truck parked at a highway rest area at night with a glowing electronic logging device on the dashboard

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration filed a Federal Register notice Monday advancing its Split Duty Period pilot, a study that would let 256 commercial drivers effectively pause their 14-hour driving window for up to 3 hours using qualifying non-driving time, according to TWOSU News on Oct. 5.

The notice — docket FMCSA-2026-2081, published in the Federal Register on Oct. 6 as document 2026-20476 — is an information-collection request under the Paperwork Reduction Act, not a rule change. Under the study, each of the 256 participating drivers would operate for 16 weeks under both current hours-of-service rules and the split-duty exemption, while FMCSA collects ELD duty-status records, pre- and post-study surveys, psychomotor vigilance tests, sleepiness ratings, wrist actigraphy, and telematics to compare fatigue and safety performance. A 9-driver pre-test ran May 18 through July 17 in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio.

The key detail for drivers: the pause could use off-duty time, sleeper-berth time, and — importantly — on-duty/not-driving time spent at a cargo pickup or delivery location. FMCSA specifically named lengthy detention time as the real-world case the pilot targets; an earlier pilot concept from 2020 would not have let on-duty time count toward the pause. The agency also said it will monitor shippers during the pilot to see whether the added flexibility leads to longer detention or exploitation of drivers.

Eligibility is tight. Carriers need interstate authority, no "Unsatisfactory" safety rating, no FMCSA enforcement actions in the past 3 years, and out-of-service rates below national averages. Drivers need a valid CDL and medical certificate — and any driver with a Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse record is out, even after completing the return-to-duty process. Public comments on the study plan are due Dec. 7. And the critical caveat: this changes nothing for drivers outside the study. The exemption would apply only to approved participants; a nationwide rule change would require separate federal action.