The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has regulations on the number of hours commercial drivers can operate a vehicle for work per day. These are known by FMCSA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) as the Hours of Service rules. Today we are going to look at what these regulations are and why they exist.
Why Do These Rules Exist?
The idea behind them is to minimize drowsiness and driver fatigue. Both of which can lead to serious accidents.
How Are Hours Tracked?
With an Electronic Logging Device (ELD). Non-exempt commercial drivers are required to install a FMCSA-registered ELD. These devices automatically record a driver’s drive time. Before them a good old-fashioned pen and paper were used.
Safety is our number one priority. Please reach out with any questions or concerns!
What Are The Hours of Service Rules And Are There Exemptions?
The 14-Hour Rule
This rule states a property-carrying trucker cannot drive for more than 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty. Once this mark is hit they cannot resume driving until they have taken 10 consecutive hours off duty.
This rule changes a bit for passenger-carrying vehicles, since they are allowed to drive for 15 consecutive hours.
Now either type of driver can continue to do work related tasks as long as they don’t involve driving. This time will be counted in the 60 and 70 hour limit rule, which will be discussed below since the driver is still on duty.
Exception
A property-carrying commercial driver can extend their 14-hour driving window by 2 hours once every 7 days if they meet the following criteria:
- They have returned to their normal work reporting location, and were released from duty by their carrier for the previous five duty tours the driver has worked.
- The driver has returned to their normal work reporting location, and were released from duty by their carrier within 16 hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
- The trucker has not taken this exemption within the past 6 days, except when they have begun a new 7 or 8 day period with the beginning of any off duty period of 34 hours or more.
The 11-Hour Rule
The 11-hour rule means that a property-carrying driver can only drive for 11 hours straight after 10 consecutive hours off duty, within the 14-hour period.
A passenger-carrying driver can go for up to 10 hours after eight consecutive hours off duty.
Exception
For property-carrying drivers this can be extended by 2 hours to 13 consecutive hours under adverse driving conditions if the following criteria are met:
- The adverse driving conditions could not be known before they started driving
- They could not have predicted the adverse driving conditions through common sense or proper trip planning
Passenger-carrying drivers may also extend their time from 10 hours to 12.
It’s important to note that the adverse driving condition exception cannot be used to extend the 14 and 15 hour rule. This only applies to the 11 hour rule.
The 30-Minute Break Rule
A driver cannot log driving hours if 8 hours have passed since they were last off duty. They are required to take 30 minutes off. This can be in the form of a break or they can do work related tasks that do not involve driving.
Exception
While all property-carrying commercial drivers have to take 30 minutes off driving every 8 hours. Short-haul drivers who qualify for the 100 air-mile radius or the 150 air-mile radius provision and operate non-CDL vehicles are exempt.
The 60-Hour And 70-Hour Limit
A driver cannot drive after 60 hours on duty within a 7 day period. This only applies to carriers that do not operate every day of the week. For carriers that do operate every day of the week it’s 70 hours on duty in 8 days. These time periods restart if the driver takes 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
An Overall Exception For Emergency Conditions
In case of emergency most if not all these rules can be temporarily lifted. The catch is for it to be valid; a federal or state institution must declare and/or acknowledge the state of emergency. This exemption is how it sounds, for emergency conditions only. It should be a last resort for obvious safety concerns.
Safety is our number one priority. Please reach out with any questions or concerns!
Who do These Rules Apply to?
Hours of Service rules apply to most commercial drivers, but wait, there’s more! Interstate drivers also have federal Hours of Service regulations. Intrastate are also bound to their State Hours of Service rules and ELD mandates. All of these mandates should factor in when choosing an ELD.
What is the difference between “property-carrying” and “passenger-carrying” vehicles?
If someone is driving a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) that is:
- Designed/used to transport 8 or more passengers (including the driver) for compensation or:
- Is designed/used to transport 15 or more passengers (including the driver) without compensation.
It is defined as passenger-carrying. This is regardless of whether or not there are passengers at the time. For example someone driving an empty bus would still be considered a passenger-carrying CMV. Any CMV that is not defined as a passenger-carrying vehicle is considered property-carrying.
What Happens If I Break These Rules?
Driver safety is not to be taken lightly. As a result there are serious penalties for violating HOS rules. A driver can be:
- Placed out of service at roadside until they have enough off duty time to be in compliance.
- Enforcement officials both state and local can assess fines.
- Their driver’s and carrier’s scores can take a hit which can result in a slew of other enforcement actions.
- The FMCSA can levy civil penalties on the driver. These penalties can range from hundreds of dollars to several thousand, per violation, depending on the severity.
- A driver’s safety rating can be downgraded if there is a pattern of violations.
- Federal criminal penalties can be imposed against carriers who knowingly allow and/or require HOS violations.
There you have the Hours of Service Rules, exemptions, and penalties for breaking them. We hope this helped clarify what these rules are and why they are important. Here at Sugar Creek driver safety and morale are our highest priorities. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us by phone at: (909) 746-0370 or by email at: recruiting@scetrans.com. You can also follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
