• If a driver takes a break of at least seven hours in the sleeper berth as part of a 10-consecutive hour break, the driver can refresh the 11- and 14-hour limits as well as get the pause of the 14-hour clock from the previous qualifying break.
• If the driver takes 10-consecutive hours off-duty and not at least seven consecutive hours in the sleeper, the driver loses the pause of the 14-hour clock and may cause a driving violation.

Consider the following example of a driver’s use of the split-sleeper option:

In this example:

• This driver did six hours of driving from 1:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and then went off duty for three hours from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., which may serve as a “qualifying” break for the split-sleeper option since it was at least two consecutive hours.
• Because the driver planned to (and did) go into a sleeper berth for at least 7 consecutive hours later in the day, the 3-hour break is excluded from the 14-hour limit which is extended from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• The driver drove another five hours between the first and second qualifying breaks, stops driving at the 11-hour driving limit, and doesn’t drive after reaching the 14-hour limit at 6 p.m., so the driver is in compliance with those limits.
• The minimum 7-hour sleeper-berth period started at 6:30 p.m., thus completing the split break of at least 10 hours in two qualifying periods.
• After exiting the sleeper, how much time does the driver have available? Assume for now that the sleeper-berth period was less than 10 hours. Compliance must be calculated from the end of the first qualifying break, or 11 a.m., until the start of the second qualifying break.
  • The driver used up 7½ hours of the 14-hour limit after the first break, leaving 6½ hours remaining after the second break.
  • The driver drove 5 hours after the first qualifying break, so there are 6 hours left to drive after the second qualifying break (but the driving must be completed within the 6¹/₂ hours left on the 14-hour limit).
  • On the following day, the driver must stop and take another qualifying break of at least 3 hours before exceeding the 11- or 14-hour limit.
  • If the sleeper-berth period was at least 10 hours rather than 7, it still serves as a qualifying break in this example but it also serves to reset the 11- and 14-hour limits.