Earlier this year, Pronto ai petitioned FMCSA for a renewable five-year exemption from the Hours of Service rules that would allow an additional two hours of driving time per day and provide an extension of the daily on-duty clock by one hour.
In the petition Pronto ai claimed its advanced driver assistance system (Copilot), along with the SmartDrive Video Safety Program, would allow its operators to drive safely up to 13 hours during a 15 hour on duty period because their technology “greatly mitigates the risks of driver distraction and inattentiveness and assists the driver in maintaining safe operations.”
FMCSA denied the petition and stated “FMCSA is not aware of data or information that would enable the Agency to determine whether the advanced technology described by Pronto reduces the workload for CMV drivers to such an extent that additional driving time during the work shift should be allowed, or that individuals should be allowed to operate an extended work shift. Neither Pronto nor commenters supporting the exemption application provided data or information that would help to explain why this exemption would not reduce safety….The premise that the use of advanced technology should reduce the workload on drivers appears reasonable on the surface but the absence of data or information to quantify the impact on driver fatigue and alertness leaves the Agency with no choice but to deny the application.”
FMCSA Denies Driverless Tech Maker’s Controversial Hours of Service Exemption Request
