Our High Road Training Program is a fantastic way to learn the logbook hours of service rules. With tons of examples, diagrams, and multiple choice questions we break it all down and make it easy to learn.
The FMCSA has established rules, known as the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations, regarding how many hours on duty and behind the wheel that interstate commercial drivers can spend each day and 7 or 8 consecutive day period.
Most commercial truck drivers will only be able to be on-duty for 14 hours, with a limit of 11 hours driving time within that 14.
The hours-of-service also require the remaining 10 hours to be "off-duty time", in which drivers are not doing any work-related activities.
Driving time limits are 60 hours in any 7 consecutive day period, or 70 hours in 8 days. It is a "rolling" total, so each day at midnight, a new day begins, potentially giving drivers hours back to drive for that day. The consecutive days clock is reset with 34 hours in a row as off-duty.
Theses rules have been put in place mainly to keep fatigued drivers from staying on the road and creating a safety hazard.
Any time spent working a second job, even a non-driving job, or carrier job in a non-driving capacity, will count as "on-duty time", per Sec. 395.2 of the CSA. Code Of Federal Regulations Title 49 Part 395.2: Hours Of Service Of Drivers
Update March 7, 2016: A letter from the Department Of Transporation's Inspector General confirmed that the study and report confirmed that there was no benefit found from the suspended regulations.
The enforcement of requirements that the 34-hour restart include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods, and the once-per-week limit applied to restart use, is currently suspended pending the FMCSA providing safety research and reports on the rules to the DOT inspector general.
In general, all drivers must follow the hours-of-service regulations if they drive a commercial motor vehicle , or CMV , in interstate commerce.
Again: You. The truck driver.
Drivers who only drive in interstate commerce part of the time will have to follow Federal HOS rules only while they are operating interstate. Otherwise, each state will have their own individual rules, most of which will be very similar to the Federal rules.
Likewise, drivers operating only in intrastate commerce will not be required to adhere to Federal hours-of-service rules, but must conform to the rules in their particular state.
In short, it is all of the time you are working, paid or unpaid, for a motor carrier, along with any time that you are doing paid work for anyone else, including:
Any travel time, such as being transported to a location as part of your job, done at the direction of your employer counts as on-duty time. However, taking 10 consecutive hours off-duty immediately afterwards allows you to count travel time as off-duty for the purposes of the 7- or 8-day cycle.
If you are not doing any paid or unpaid work for a motor carrier, or any paid work for any other employer, you can consider yourself "off-duty".
You must be relieved of all responsibility for performing any work, and free to leave your vehicle where it is parked and pursue activities of your own choosing.
In other words, if you have another paid job, the time you spend at that job counts towards your on-duty time.
There are certain, very specific situations in which an interstate commercial driver may be exempt from the FMCSA hours-of-service limits:
If you meet the above criteria for using the short-haul exception:
Drivers do not have to keep a logbook, but their employer must keep accurate time records for 6 months that show:
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
A written or electronic record of a driver's duty status which must be maintained at all times. The driver records the amount of time spent driving, on-duty not driving, in the sleeper berth, or off duty. The enforcement of the Hours Of Service Rules (HOS) are based upon the entries put in a driver's logbook.
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
The portion of the tractor behind the seats which acts as the "living space" for the driver. It generally contains a bed (or bunk beds), cabinets, lights, temperature control knobs, and 12 volt plugs for power.
A commercial motor vehicle is any vehicle used in commerce to transport passengers or property with either:
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
The FMCSA was established within the Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000. Their primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries.
What Does The FMCSA Do?
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
A CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business, is involved in interstate commerce, and may fit any of these descriptions:
Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).
Commercial trade, business, movement of goods or money, or transportation from one state to another, regulated by the Federal Department Of Transportation (DOT).
The act of purchasers and sellers transacting business while keeping all transactions in a single state, without crossing state lines to do so.
The act of purchasers and sellers transacting business while keeping all transactions in a single state, without crossing state lines to do so.
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Operating While Intoxicated
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
