The hours of service regulations (HOS) for commercial motor vehicle drivers has undergone several changes recently and some of the information about them that you will find on the internet is inaccurate.
In this article I will clearly describe the hours of service regulations and address many of the most common questions drivers have about the law. If you are looking for accurate and comprehensive information about hours of service laws for truck drivers drivers you are at the right place.
The hours of service rules are the following:
Rule 1: Once the duty period starts it runs for 14 consecutive hours after which the driver may not operate a commercial vehicle again until having another 10 or more consecutive hours off duty. Nothing stops the running of the 14 hour clock.
Rule 2: During the 14 hour period, which is also called the “driving window”, you may drive a maximum of 11 hours.
Rule 3: When you reach a total of 60 on duty hours in 7 days you must have a period of at least 34 hours off duty. There is an alternative available for carriers that operate every day of the week, it is a maximum of 70 on duty hours in 8 days.
Rule 4: An off duty break is required at some point of the duty period. The rule says that you may not drive a commercial vehicle if it has been 8 or more hours since your last off duty period of at least 30 minutes.
What If I Don’t Comply With The Federal Hours of Service Regulations?
Property Carrier Hours of Service Driving Time Limits
You have 4 choices of duty status when a property carrying driver records his/her time on a record of duty status (RODS).
1. Off Duty: Any time when a driver is not on duty, is not required to be in readiness to work, or is not under any responsibility to perform work.
2. Sleeper Berth: Off duty time resting in a sleeper berth.
3. Driving: Driving time that the driver is operating the commercial vehicle/working.
4. On Duty/Not Driving: Driver is on duty but is not driving a commercial vehicle.
Note: The hours of service rules are different for passenger carrying vehicles. These rules are for property/load drivers only.
These are the basic hours of service rules:
- 10 hours off duty
- 14 hour duty period
- 11 hours driving
- 30 minute break
- 60 hours/7 days on duty limit
- 70 hours/8 days on duty limit
What Is The Carriers Responsibility?
The carrier has responsibilities too. The carrier also has to ensure that they are training and monitoring their drivers so that the drivers are not violating the hours of service regulations. If it is found that the carrier is at fault for not properly training or monitoring its drivers they can also be in violation.
This is good for drivers because it ensures that the company your drive for is also doing their part and constantly training you so that violations don’t occur. Violations are bad for the carrier and the driver and should be avoided.