FMCSA finishes pre-tests for two hours-of-service pilots, plans 512-driver rollout in 2027
On August 27, FMCSA announced it has completed the pre-tests for its two hours-of-service pilot programs: the Flexible Sleeper Berth Pilot Program and the Split Duty Period Pilot Program. Both are designed to evaluate whether giving drivers more control over how they schedule rest can maintain or improve safety.
The pre-tests were small. According to the agency, each involved nine drivers from three motor carriers — the sleeper-berth pre-test ran April 1 through June 11 with carriers in Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin; the split-duty pre-test ran May 18 through July 17 with carriers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. Their purpose was to check FMCSA's procedures, participation requirements and data collection before the real study begins.
The full pilots are planned for 2027. FMCSA says each program will enroll 256 drivers, for a combined 512 participants, over four months, with drivers eligible for up to $1,600 for completing all study tasks.
Under the sleeper-berth pilot, participating drivers can split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods in any combination, as long as the two total at least 10 hours and one includes at least five consecutive hours in the sleeper berth. Under the split-duty pilot, drivers can pause the 14-hour window for up to three hours a day; qualifying time can be off duty, sleeper berth, or on-duty time spent at a pickup or delivery location.
To be clear: these are pilot programs, not rule changes. Today's hours-of-service rules remain fully in force for every driver who is not formally enrolled. FMCSA says carriers and drivers interested in participating can contact pilots@dot.gov.
What this means for your operation
Nothing changes on your ELD this year, and a driver who starts splitting the 14-hour clock on his own is still out of compliance. What this announcement does tell a small fleet is where the rules are heading — flexibility around detention, weather and rest — and that FMCSA is actively looking for carriers to enroll in 2027. If that interests you, the practical prep is the same work that keeps a safety score clean: tight logs, documented detention, and a dispatch process that already tracks driver clocks closely enough that a rule change would be an adjustment, not a scramble. That kind of logbook and dispatch discipline is the part WeLink handles for the carriers it supports.
Source: FMCSA
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