FMCSA Opens Comment Period on New Split Sleeper Berth Pilot Study
FMCSA is asking the Office of Management and Budget to approve a new information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The collection supports a pilot program that would let participating drivers split sleeper-berth time more flexibly than current rules allow.
Under existing regulations at 49 CFR 395.1(g)(1), drivers can split their required 10 hours off duty into a 7/3 or 8/2 sleeper-berth arrangement. The pilot, created in response to Executive Order 14286, would let volunteer drivers use a 5/5 or 6/4 split, or anything in between, as long as the total equals 10 consecutive hours.
FMCSA plans to enroll 256 commercial drivers for 16 weeks each. Participants would wear actigraphy devices, take psychomotor vigilance tests, complete surveys, and allow Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researchers to collect their records of duty status and telematics data. Motor carriers must meet safety criteria — no unsatisfactory rating, no enforcement actions in the past three years, and out-of-service rates at or below the national average — to participate. Drivers with certain license suspensions or Clearinghouse violations in the past two years are excluded.
The notice does not change current hours-of-service rules. It only seeks approval to gather study data.
What's next
- Comments on the information collection are due 60 days after the October 7, 2026 Federal Register publication, roughly December 6, 2026.
- Submit comments through docket FMCSA-2026-2080 on regulations.gov.
- Watch for FMCSA's OMB submission and any later announcement on how carriers and drivers can apply to join the pilot.
All sources
- Notice (public inspection): Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Hours of Service of Drivers; Pilot Program to Allow Commercial Drivers to Split Sleeper Berth Time — Federal Register public inspection (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), 2026-10-07
