The complaint behind half of all HOS frustration: you spent three hours in a shipping-dock line and now your 14-hour window is gone with driving hours left unused. FMCSA is testing a fix — here is exactly what it does and who has it.
The ordinary rule (49 CFR 395.3(a)(2)) is brutal arithmetic: all time after you come on duty counts against the 14-hour window — driving, loading, fueling, and every minute of shipper/receiver detention alike. The Split Duty Period (SDP) pilot lets enrolled drivers exclude up to 3 hours per day of qualifying non-driving time from that window:
Everything else is untouched: the 11-hour driving limit, the 60/70-hour week, and — importantly — split sleeper berth validity is exactly the standard 7/3 and 8/2. SDP changes the window, not the split. That is why it is a separate program (docket FMCSA-2025-0194) with separate enrollment from the Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Sept 17, 2025 | Proposed pilot published (FR 2025-17940 companion); comments closed Nov 17, 2025 |
| Apr 1 – Jun 11, 2026 | Joint pre-test with the FSB pilot: 9 drivers, 3 carriers (Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin) |
| Aug 27, 2026 | FMCSA announces pre-test completion; both pilots refined for launch |
| 2027 (planned) | Full rollout, ~256 SDP participants alongside ~256 FSB, four months of data each |
Detention-heavy operations: flatbed, livestock, grocery, and any driver whose days die in dock lines. If your 14-hour window regularly expires with driving hours unused, this pilot is aimed at your exact problem. For everyone else the answer to "can I pause my 14?" is still no — on-duty time at a customer counts, per the rule and FMCSA guidance.
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Sources: Federal Register 2025-17939/17940 (Sept 17, 2025); FMCSA HOS page & newsroom (Aug–Oct 2026). Verified October 2026.
Primary sources only — the statute, form or paper this page is built on.