
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 49USC21103]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                        SUBTITLE V--RAIL PROGRAMS
 
                             PART A--SAFETY
 
                      CHAPTER 211--HOURS OF SERVICE
 
Sec. 21103. Limitations on duty hours of train employees

    (a) General.--Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, 
a railroad carrier and its officers and agents may not require or allow 
a train employee to remain or go on duty--
        (1) unless that employee has had at least 8 consecutive hours 
    off duty during the prior 24 hours; or
        (2) after that employee has been on duty for 12 consecutive 
    hours, until that employee has had at least 10 consecutive hours off 
    duty.

    (b) Determining Time on Duty.--In determining under subsection (a) 
of this section the time a train employee is on or off duty, the 
following rules apply:
        (1) Time on duty begins when the employee reports for duty and 
    ends when the employee is finally released from duty.
        (2) Time the employee is engaged in or connected with the 
    movement of a train is time on duty.
        (3) Time spent performing any other service for the railroad 
    carrier during a 24-hour period in which the employee is engaged in 
    or connected with the movement of a train is time on duty.
        (4) Time spent in deadhead transportation to a duty assignment 
    is time on duty, but time spent in deadhead transportation from a 
    duty assignment to the place of final release is neither time on 
    duty nor time off duty.
        (5) An interim period available for rest at a place other than a 
    designated terminal is time on duty.
        (6) An interim period available for less than 4 hours rest at a 
    designated terminal is time on duty.
        (7) An interim period available for at least 4 hours rest at a 
    place with suitable facilities for food and lodging is not time on 
    duty when the employee is prevented from getting to the employee's 
    designated terminal by any of the following:
            (A) a casualty.
            (B) a track obstruction.
            (C) an act of God.
            (D) a derailment or major equipment failure resulting from a 
        cause that was unknown and unforeseeable to the railroad carrier 
        or its officer or agent in charge of that employee when that 
        employee left the designated terminal.

    (c) Emergencies.--A train employee on the crew of a wreck or relief 
train may be allowed to remain or go on duty for not more than 4 
additional hours in any period of 24 consecutive hours when an emergency 
exists and the work of the crew is related to the emergency. In this 
subsection, an emergency ends when the track is cleared and the railroad 
line is open for traffic.

(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 888.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
21103(a)..............................  45:62(a)(1), (2).                Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, Sec.  2(a)(1),
                                                                          (2), 
34 Stat. 1416; restated Dec. 26,
                                                                          1969,
 Pub. L. 91-169, Sec.  1, 83
                                                                          Stat.
 463; July 8, 1976, Pub. L. 94-
                                                                          348, 
Sec.  4(a)(1), (2), 90 Stat. 818;
                                                                          June 
22, 1988, Pub. L. 100-342, Sec.
                                                                          16(2)
, 102 Stat. 634.
21103(b)..............................  45:61(b)(3).                     Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, Secs.  1(b)(3),
                                                                          2(b),
 34 Stat. 1415, 1416; restated
                                                                          Dec. 
26, 1969, Pub. L. 91-169, Sec.
                                                                          1, 83
 Stat. 463.
                                        45:61(b)(4) (last sentence).     Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415,
                                                                          Sec. 
 1(b)(4) (last sentence); added
                                                                          Nov. 
2, 1978, Pub. L. 95-574, Sec.  6,
                                                                          92 St
at. 2461; June 22, 1988, Pub. L.
                                                                          100-3
42, Sec.  16(1)(C), 102 Stat.
                                                                          634.
                                        45:62(b).
21103(c)..............................  45:62(c).                        Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, Sec.  2(c), 34
                                                                          Stat.
 1416; Dec. 26, 1969, Pub. L. 91-
                                                                          169, 
Sec.  1, 83 Stat. 464; restated
                                                                          July 
8, 1976, Pub. L. 94-348, Sec.
                                                                          4(b),
 90 Stat. 818.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ``Except as provided 
in subsection (c) of this section'' are added to alert the reader to the 
exception restated in subsection (c). The words ``train employee'' are 
substituted for ``employee'' because of the definition of ``train 
employee'' in section 21101 of the revised title. In clause (2), the 
words ``12 consecutive hours'' are substituted for ``continuously . . . 
fourteen hours'' and ``except that, effective upon the expiration of the 
two-year period beginning on the effective date of this paragraph, such 
fourteen-hour duty period shall be reduced to twelve hours'' because the 
2-year period has ended.
    In subsection (b), the words before paragraph (1) are added as 
related to 45:61(b)(3) and (4) (last sentence) and substituted for ``In 
determining, for the purposes of subsection (a), the number of hours an 
employee is on duty'' in 45:62(b) for clarity. In paragraphs (2) and 
(3), the word ``actually'' is omitted as surplus. In paragraph (4), the 
words ``neither time on duty nor time off duty'' are substituted for 
``time off duty'' for clarity and consistency with the source provisions 
restated in 21104(b)(3) and (4) of the revised title. In paragraph (7), 
before clause (A), the words ``between designated terminals'' are 
omitted as surplus. The text of 45:61(b)(3)(E) is omitted as surplus 
because of the restatement.
    In subsection (c), the words ``A train employee on'' are added for 
consistency in this section. The word ``actual'' is omitted as surplus.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 21105 of this title.
