• After 10 hours off duty, a driver of a property-carrying CMV can drive for 11 hours within the next 14 consecutive hours.
• The 14-hour rule only restricts driving; a driver may continue to perform non-driving duties after the 14th hour.

The driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operating in interstate commerce is prohibited from driving after the 14th consecutive hour after first coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty. The 14-hour period is consecutive — it includes all on-duty and off-duty time accrued after coming on duty. Of those 14 hours, 11 may be spent driving.

The 14–hour rule is often misunderstood to mean that a driver must be released from duty after 14 hours. However, the hours-of-service rules only regulate driving, not working. A driver can do non–driving work beyond the 14-hour limit, just no more driving.

For example, if a driver has 10 hours off and goes on duty at 7 a.m., the driver must complete all CMV driving by 9 p.m., 14 hours later, even if the driver takes several breaks during the day and/or does very little driving. The driver may continue to be on duty past 9 p.m. but may not drive a CMV.

14 hours are consecutive

The 14 hours are consecutive, so the 14-hour calculation includes all time on the clock once a driver first goes on duty, whether the driver is driving, on duty, in a sleeper berth (for less than 7 hours), or off duty (for less than 10 hours). Of those 14 hours, 11 may be spent driving.

Lunch breaks, fueling stops, warehouse work, off-duty periods of less than 10 hours, and other time — with limited exceptions — is all added into the 14-hour total. Think of it as a 14-hour “window” of time during which all CMV driving for the day must be completed.

Examples

Examples demonstrating the 14-hour rule:

• Example 1: Mary went on duty at 7 a.m. and started driving at 7:30 a.m. Mary drove for 5 hours, took 30 minutes off for lunch, and drove another 2 hours until 3 p.m. Mary then waited for an hour while the truck was unloaded, drove another three hours (until 7 p.m.), and took two hours off for supper and a nap. At this point, it’s 9 p.m., and though Mary still has 1 hour of driving time available before reaching the 11-hour limit, Mary must stop driving due to reaching the 14-hour limit.
• Example 2: Jim went on duty at 6 a.m. Wednesday and drove for six hours until noon. Jim then went into the sleeper berth for 10 hours until 10 p.m. By getting 10 hours off, Jim reset the 14-hour clock and thus can start driving again and can continue to drive for up to 11 hours within a new 14-hour window of time.