• If a driver has 7 hours in a sleeper berth and then rides in the passenger seat of the moving CMV for up to 3 hours, the driver should log the seat time as “off duty.” If the total break is 10 hours or more, it resets the 11/14-hour clock.
• If a driver has 7 hours in a sleeper berth and then rides in the passenger seat of the moving CMV for more than 3 hours, the driver should log 3 hours of seat time as “off duty,” and the rest as “on duty.”

Many commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and driver-trainers get confused about how off-duty and sleeper-berth time can be combined. Drivers should keep the following rules in mind when deciding where to spend break time:

• To obtain 10 consecutive hours of rest, a driver CAN combine sleeper-berth and off-duty time, in any combination, if the time is all consecutive. For example, the driver could go into the sleeper for 3 hours, go off duty for 4 hours, go back into the sleeper for 2 hours, and go off duty for 1 hour to get 10 hours total, if all 10 hours are consecutive (that is, there is no driving or other on-duty time during those 10 hours). While this type of scenario might not be safe, it is legal. Keep in mind that spending at least 7 hours in a sleeper berth is only required when using the “split-sleeper” option.
• When splitting a 10-hour break into 2 separate breaks, the required break of 7 or more hours must be spent in the sleeper berth. A driver CANNOT spend any part of the 7 hours off duty. The required break of 2 or more hours (that combines with a separate 7-or-more-hour sleeper period to make 10 hours) CAN be spent either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.
• A driver CAN combine a sleeper-berth period of at least 7 hours with up to 3 hours riding in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, immediately before or after the sleeper-berth time, to get a 10-hour break. The rules allow drivers to log “off duty” for up to three hours while riding in the moving vehicle if it’s done immediately before and/or after at least seven hours in a sleeper berth. Three hours is the maximum that may be logged off duty in this way. If the total break is 10 hours or more, it will reset the 11- and 14-hour clocks. If less than 10, then the passenger-seat time will count against the 14-hour limit.