• Drivers of property-carrying CMVs have the option of restarting the hours accumulated towards the 60- or 70-hour limit by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty.
• Drivers of property-carrying CMVs that can restart the hours accumulated towards the 60- or 70-hour limit by taking 24 consecutive hours off duty include drivers involved in oilfield operations, groundwater well-drilling operations, and drivers transporting construction materials and equipment.

Drivers of certain property-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) may reset the hours they have accumulated toward the 60/70-hour limit by taking 24 or 34 consecutive hours off duty.

34-hour restart rules

Drivers of property-carrying CMVs may “reset” the hours they have accumulated towards the 60- or 70-hour limit by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. This 34-hour restart provision is optional.

Key Points

• Drivers who choose to restart have a full 60 or 70 hours available again and the hours worked prior to the restart rest break are no longer taken into consideration.
• The break must be at least 34 consecutive hours long, with no on-duty time in between. A sleeper berth may be used for all or some of that time, if desired.
• Any 34-hour period spent off duty and/or in a sleeper berth will serve as a reset, no matter when or how often it is done.

24-hour restart rules

Certain drivers of property-carrying CMVs can reset the 60/70-hour limit with 24 consecutive hours off duty. This includes drivers involved in:

• Oilfield operations — 395.1(d)(1)
• Groundwater well-drilling operations — 395.1(l)
• Drivers transporting construction materials and equipment — 395.1(m)

Definition

Transportation of construction materials and equipment means the transportation of construction and pavement materials, construction equipment, and construction maintenance vehicles, by a driver to or from an active construction site (a construction site between mobilization of equipment and materials to the site to the final completion of the construction project) within a 75 air mile radius of the normal work reporting location of the driver, except that a State, upon notice to the Administrator, may establish a different air mile radius limitation for purposes of this definition if such limitation is between 50 and 75 air miles and applies only to movements that take place entirely within the State. This paragraph does not apply to the transportation of material found by the Secretary to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations issued to carry out such section.

Key Points

• For drivers who primarily transport construction materials and equipment within a 75 air-mile radius, any period of 7 or 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 24 or more consecutive hours. This 24-hour “restart” provision is optional and does not apply to vehicles transporting hazardous materials requiring placards. (395.1(m)).
• For drivers of motor vehicles used exclusively in the transportation of oilfield equipment, including the stringing and picking up of pipe used in pipelines, and servicing of the field operations of the natural gas and oil industry, any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 24 or more consecutive hours. (395.1(d)(1)).
• In the instance of a driver of a CMV that is used primarily in the transportation and operations of a ground water well drilling rig, any period of 7 or 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 24 or more successive hours. (395.1(l)).