What does 49 CFR 395.38 (Incorporation by reference) require?

Short answer

49 CFR 395.38 requires the incorporation by reference of certain materials, with the approval of the Director of the Office of the Federal Register, and specifies the sources from which these materials can be obtained. The rule applies to various standards and specifications, including those from ANSI, Bluetooth SIG, Inc., IEEE, and IETF.

The rule says

"Certain materials are incorporated by reference in part 395, with the approval of the Director of the Office of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a), and 1 CFR part 51." (49 CFR 395.38(a))

"To enforce any edition other than that specified in this section, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must publish notice of the change in the Federal Register, and the material must be available to the public." (49 CFR 395.38(a))

In plain English

The incorporated materials provide detailed requirements for things like electronic logging devices, which are used to track driver hours. The rule ensures that these external standards are properly approved and made available to the public, so that trucking companies and drivers can comply with the regulations.

What to do

• Review the list of incorporated materials in 49 CFR 395.38 to understand the specific standards and specifications that apply to your operations.
• Ensure that you have access to the most up-to-date versions of these materials, either by purchasing them from the specified sources or by accessing them through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or the National Archives and Records Administration.
• Verify that your electronic logging devices and other systems comply with the incorporated standards and specifications.