FMCSA Seeks Comment on Split Sleeper Berth Pilot Data Collection
FMCSA filed a notice seeking Office of Management and Budget approval for a new information collection tied to its Flexible Sleeper Berth (FSB) Pilot Program. The agency said the study will recruit about 256 commercial motor vehicle drivers to test whether splitting sleeper berth time more flexibly than current rules allow can match or beat current safety levels.
Under 49 CFR 395.1(g)(1), drivers now split the required 10 hours off-duty as 7/3 or 8/2. The pilot, created in response to Executive Order 14286, would let participating drivers use a 5/5, 6/4, or any split in between, FMCSA said in the notice. Participation is voluntary and limited to carriers and drivers meeting safety-record eligibility criteria, including no unsatisfactory safety rating, no recent FMCSA enforcement actions, and no Clearinghouse violations for drivers.
This notice covers the Paperwork Reduction Act review of the data collection itself — surveys, actigraphy, RODS data and telematics over a 16-week study period — not a final rule changing hours-of-service requirements.
What's next
- Comments on the information collection are due 60 days after the October 7, 2026 Federal Register publication, which FreightFiles calculates as December 6, 2026.
- Submit comments through docket FMCSA-2026-2080 at regulations.gov.
- Watch for FMCSA's separate 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
Related coverage
- Want more flexible HOS rules? Here’s your chance to speak up — TheTrucker.com (via Google News), 2026-10-24
