Hours of service: Property-carrying vehicles

Scope

The regulations apply to motor carriers and drivers of property-carrying vehicles used in interstate commerce. This includes tractor/trailer units, pickup trucks, utility trucks, cargo vans, straight trucks, and other vehicles that were designed to carry property rather than people.

Regulatory citations

• 49 CFR 395 — Hours of service of drivers

Key definitions

• Commercial motor vehicle (CMV): A self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a highway to transport property or passengers when the vehicle:
  • Has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or gross combination weight rating (GCWR), or gross vehicle weight (GVW) or gross combination weight (GCW), of 10,001 pounds or more, whichever is greater; or
  • Is designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or
  • Is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers (including the driver), and not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
  • Is transporting hazardous materials of a type or quantity that requires placarding.

Summary of requirements

Under the rules for drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), there are four basic limits that must be followed. A driver may not drive a CMV:

• More than 11 hours following 10 consecutive hours off duty; or
• Beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty; or
• More than 8 hours without having a break from driving of at least 30 consecutive minutes; or
• After being on duty more than 60/70 hours in any 7/8 consecutive days.

To keep track of these hours, every motor carrier must require each of its drivers to create a record of duty status (log) for each 24-hour period, either on paper or through use of an electronic logging device. Each driver must carry a copy of each log for the previous seven days and have them available for inspection. The regulations are specific as to what items must be recorded on a record of duty status.

Drivers who have access to a sleeper berth may accumulate the equivalent of 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time in two separate periods, as outlined in 395.1(g).

For more information on this “split sleeper” option, refer to the Sleeper Berth topic.

Note that states also have hours-of-service regulations for intrastate (in-state-only) operations, either by adopting the federal rules or by establishing their own rules.

34-hour restart. A driver of a property-carrying vehicle may “restart” a 7/8-consecutive-day period after getting 34 or more consecutive hours of rest. After the 34-hour period, the on-duty hours worked before that 34-hour period started no longer have to be considered when calculating the driver’s 60/70-hour limit.

A driver can use the 34-hour restart option regardless of the number of hours accumulated in the past 7 or 8 days.

For details, see: 34-hour restart. For more information on calculating the 60/70-hour limits, see the 60-Hour Rule and 70-Hour Rule topics.

Short-haul exceptions. For drivers of property-carrying CMVs who drive within a 150 air-mile radius and who return to their starting location each day, there are two “short haul” provisions that provide an exception from logs, 30-minute breaks, and — for drivers who are not required to hold a commercial driver’s license (CDL) — the 14-hour rule. The exceptions allow these drivers to keep basic time records instead of logs.

For more information, refer to the 150 Air-mile exceptions topic.

16-hour exception. For drivers who drive locally, there is another exception that can apply whether those drivers hold a CDL or not. The exception allows these drivers to extend the 14-hour period by two hours once per week, under certain conditions. Drivers can drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty, but not after the 16th hour, IF they:

• Were released from duty at the normal work reporting location for the previous 5 duty tours, and
• Return to the normal work reporting location and are released from duty within 16 hours, and
• Have not used this exception in the previous 6 days, except following a 34-hour restart, and
• Do not drive more than 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty.

Note that the requirement to have returned to the work-reporting location for the previous five duty tours is not affected by the use of the 34-hour restart. That is, even if a driver has just taken a week off duty, the 16-hour exception cannot be used if the driver has not returned to the work reporting location for the previous five duty tours.

More information. Other topics provide more detail about specific aspects of the hours-of-service requirements.