Before obtaining a CDL, the idea of the open road feels like an adventure. You pack up some energy drinks, a few snacks, and your favorite playlist to tick off those miles.
Once you get behind the wheel of your rig, that open road becomes your office. That means everything is treated like a business venture, even if you love what you do.
One of the biggest surprises that new truckers encounter involves the hours of service requirement. [[1]]
What Are the Hours of Service Regulations?
“Hours of service” is a term used to describe the maximum time drivers can be on duty during the day.
The regulations include total driving time, the number of rest periods needed, and how long a driver must stay off the road. These rules are in place to reduce sleepiness and fatigue to encourage alertness while behind the wheel.
In the United States, here is a brief summary of what you can expect with your CDL when hours of service regulations get logged.
- You have an 11-hour driving limit each day. The regulations permit you to be behind the wheel that long if you’ve had ten consecutive off-duty hours.
- Although you can drive up to 14 consecutive hours after coming on duty, you cannot exceed that amount.
- You must take a minimum 30-minute break after driving for eight cumulative hours without having an interruption of at least that length
- Drivers might have at least eight consecutive hours in their sleeper berth. The other two hours can be off-duty in different ways, but they cannot involve driving responsibilities.
- The 60/70 limit means that drivers cannot be on the road for more than 60 hours on seven consecutive days or 70 hours on eight successive days.
- The only way to restart the 7/8 regulations is to take 34 or more consecutive hours off-duty.
- Speed limits affect the distance that can be driven. Service guidelines note that the average driver can travel about ten miles per hour slower than the posted limit over ten hours. That means going 650 miles on a 10-hour shift could create log falsification charges since the travel distance expectations would be 550 miles. [[2]]
Truckers used to keep logbooks in their rig that kept track of hours and miles. With some creative accounting, you could make almost anything work. Those efforts were often justified by the lower shipping costs, higher wages, and speed of access to consumers.
As we’ve gotten to know what the toll is on CDL drivers, even if you’re driving near home for 14 hours each day, it became more important to protect these workers and the people who share the road with them. That’s why a mandate for electronic logging devices (ELDs) became an industry standard.
Can CDL Holders Split their 10-Hour Break?
The issue for many drivers with the hours of service regulations was being off-duty for ten consecutive hours.
Before the updated rules were implemented, you could take a break during rush hour. You’d spend a couple of hours napping in the sleeper, then start driving once traffic was lighter. When you get paid by the mile, your salary is better at 55 mph than 25 mph.
On June 1, 2020, the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) issued a final ruling that lets drivers split their ten-hour break into two periods without counting against the 14 hours they can be on the road. [[3]]
Although that offers more flexibility, one of the stoppages must be for a minimum of seven hours. That means you still can’t stop to rest during rush hour without it potentially counting against your driving time.
The last two break periods must add up to ten hours under this rule. That means you can’t take a seven-hour break, a three-hour break, and then take a three-hour break on the next step. The logs don’t consider the day. They only reflect your current rest and driving activities.
That also means your last two driving periods cannot add up to more than 14 hours to remain compliant with the updated rules.
How Does the 30-Minute Break Rule Apply?
When the regulations changed the expanded split-logging expectations, it also adjusted the rules for taking a break during the middle of a drive or shift.
All drivers must take a 30-minute break after logging eight consecutive hours of being behind the wheel without stopping for that amount of time.
It must be off-duty time to count as a break. If you’re putting chains on the tires to climb a pass, inspecting your rig, or even fueling, those activities are considered work duties. They don’t contribute to a reset of the eight-hour window.
Drivers have the option to take a 30-minute rest break at their discretion. Once you’ve driven for eight consecutive hours, you must take another break.
That’s why you’ll find most drivers on long-haul trips choosing to take their 30-minute break at least halfway through their expected schedule for the day.
Even if you’re driving 14 hours, stopping in the 7-hour window ensures that you can finish the shift without making another stop. If you’re on an 11-hour drive, you could take it anywhere after the third hour on the road to avoid multiple breaks.
Most Drivers Use the 34-Hour Restart to Create Effective Resets
Although you can work 14 hours per day if you take the ten consecutive hours off following the hours of service requirement, that puts you at the 60/70 rule over seven or eight days after just five.
You can’t drive again until your eight-day hours fall under 70. If you log 34 consecutive hours off-duty, that total drops to zero instead.
That’s why dispatchers and owner-operators try to have CDL holders spend that time somewhere they want to be – like at home. Most people don’t like killing that time at a terminal or a truck stop.
If you know your time limits will be up soon, the best way to solve the hours of service dilemma is to grab a load that’s headed to where you want to be.
This issue is also the reason why getting paid by the mile isn’t the best option for many CDL drivers today. You might be on the road for 11 hours, but accidents, weather, congestion, and steep mountain climbs adversely impact your salary.
What If I Take a Driving Job Near My Home?
The hours of service rule applies to all drivers in control of a commercial motor vehicle. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a rig driving from NYC to LA or working on a school bus following the same route each day.
If you stay local, the primary benefit for short-haul drivers is that they don’t always need to keep a log of their duty status. The 150 air-mile exception must be valid to qualify for this advantage. [[4]]
Since the FMCSA rules apply to interstate commerce, you can still be a short-haul carrier while crossing state lines. That activity also means you’re working under federal, not state rules, which can impact how your hours get logged.
What If I Take a Second Job with a CDL?
All drivers who log their duty status must keep records for each 24-hour period. That includes all on-duty time.
The current rules say that on-duty time is any compensated work for a motor carrier or a person or entity who is not a motor carrier. That means the number of on-duty hours can be affected by CDL holders who take another job, even if it isn’t for driving.
What Happens if the Hours of Service Regulations Are Broken?
Carriers or drivers who violate the hours of service regulations, even unintentionally, can face serious penalties under the new rules. The only exception is if adverse weather or a same-terminal exemption applies. [[5]]
The most common tactic is to shut down the driver on the road, wherever they are, until there’s enough off-duty time to be compliant. If you thought being stuck at a truck stop was terrible, just wait until you have 36 hours to kill on an exit ramp in the middle of nowhere.
State and local enforcement agents can assess fines to carriers and drivers when they’re not complying with the regulations.
Each driver and carrier receive a score under the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) enforcement program. The FMCSA is also authorized to level civil penalties that can be a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per violation.
Carriers that knowingly and willfully require or allow hours of service violations can face federal criminal penalties.
When a pattern of violations exists, it’s not unusual to see a carrier’s safety rating downgraded.
Anyone with a CDL working in the United States is subject to these rules, including Canadian and Mexican drivers who travel from border to border. That includes the requirement of having an electronic logging device.
If you’re interested in driving as a career, it helps to become familiar with these rules right away. They govern your job duties and schedule. Although it can be frustrating to deal with the administrative side of a CDL, it’s also what keeps us all safer on the roads each day.
[[1]] https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
[[2]] https://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/docs/driverguide-en.pdf
[[3]] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/06/01/2020-11469/hours-of-service-of-drivers
[[4]] https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/61213%20New%20HOS%20Changes%20JJK%20White%20Paper%20%28002%29%20%281%29.pdf
[[5]] https://www.thebalancesmb.com/freight-trucking-dot-hours-1361484
