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13.2 Hours Of Service Limitations

HOS regulations determine when and how long you are allowed to drive a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). This is accomplished by placing specific limits on the number of hours you can drive or be considered on duty. The rules also specify how much time you must remain off duty before you can legally resume any driving duties. And finally, the regulations dictate when breaks are required during your workday.

There are three limits and one break requirement which must be followed at all times. They are:

• The 14 hour on duty limit.
• The 11 hour driving limit.
• The 30 minute break.
• The 60/70 hour on duty limit.

The 14 Hour On Duty Limit

This limit is usually thought of as a "daily" limit, even though it is not based on a 24 hour period. You are allowed a period of 14 consecutive hours of on duty time after being off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours. The 14 consecutive hour on duty period begins when you start any kind of reportable work (performing vehicle maintenance, loading / unloading cargo, fueling, driving, etc.). Once you have reached the end of this 14 consecutive hour period, you cannot drive again until you have been off duty for another 10 consecutive hours.

Your driving is limited to the 14 consecutive hour on duty period even if you take some off duty time, such as a lunch break or a nap, during those 14 hours.

14 Hour On Duty Limit Example:

The above image is an example of a drivers daily log. Let's try to further understand the 14 hour on duty limit using this example.

You began working at 6:00 a.m. (vehicle inspection, fueling, loading / unloading freight, etc.). That makes 6:00 a.m. your starting calculation point for the 14 hour on duty limit. You must not drive your truck after 8:00 p.m. that evening (14 hours later). You may do other work after 8:00 p.m. (load / unload freight, perform maintenance duties, etc.), but you cannot do any more driving until you have taken 10 consecutive hours off duty. Once you have taken 10 consecutive hours off duty, your 14 hour limit will start over as soon as you go back on duty.

The 11 Hour Driving Limit

During the 14 consecutive hour on duty period, you are only allowed to drive your truck for up to 11 total hours. Once you have driven a total of 11 hours, you have reached the driving limit and must be off duty for another 10 consecutive hours before driving your truck again.

11 Hour Limit Example:

After taking 10 consecutive hours off, you begin work at 6:00 a.m. and drive from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. with a one hour break from noon to 1:00 p.m. (total of 11 hours driving). You cannot drive again until you have accumulated at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. You may do other work after 7:00 p.m., but you cannot do any more driving of a CMV.

30 Minute Break Provision

There are times when you will be required to take a 30 minute break. If you have been on duty for more than 8 consecutive hours without at least 30 minutes off duty, you are not allowed to operate a CMV until a 30 minute break is taken. You may perform other on duty tasks but you cannot drive. Here is an example of the 30 minute break provision:

In the above example, the driver first went on duty at 10:00 a.m. which becomes the starting calculation point for the 30 minute break requirement. The driver must take at least a 30 minute break by 6:00 p.m. (8 hours later) in order to continue driving a CMV. If a break is not completed by 6:00 a.m., no driving can legally be done. The driver can perform other on duty tasks, but cannot drive. In this example, however, a 30 minute off duty break was taken from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. so the driver was legally allowed to continue driving.

The 60/70 Hour Duty Limit

Finally, you have the 60/70 hour limit. This limit is based on a 7 day or 8 day period.

This limit is sometimes thought of as a "weekly" limit. However, this limit is not based on a "set" week, such as Sunday through Saturday. The limit is based on a "rolling" or "floating" 7 day or 8 day period. The oldest day's hours drop off at the end of each day when you calculate the total on duty time for the past 7 or 8 days. For example, if you operate on a 70-hour/8-day schedule, the current day would be the newest day of your 8 day period and the hours you worked nine days ago would drop out of the calculation.

You are required to follow one of these two "weekly" limits:

1. The 7 day / 60 hour limit:

If your company does not operate vehicles every day of the week, you are eligible to use the 7 day / 60 hour limit. By using this limit, you are not allowed to drive after you’ve been on duty for 60 hours during any 7 consecutive days. Once you reach the 60 hour limit, you will not be able to drive again until you have dropped below 60 hours for a 7 consecutive day period. You may do other work, but you cannot do any more driving until you are off duty enough days to get below the limit. Any other hours you work, whether they are for a motor carrier or someone else, must be added to the total.

2. The 8 day / 70 hour limit:

If your company operates vehicles every day of the week, you will use the 70 hour / 8 day schedule. This means that you are not allowed to drive after you've been on duty for 70 hours in the previous 8 consecutive days. Once you reach the 70 hour limit, you will not be able to drive again until you have dropped below 70 hours of accumulated on duty time for the previous 8­ consecutive day period. You may do other work, but you cannot do any more driving until you drop below the limit. Any other hours you work, whether they are for a motor carrier or someone else, must be added to the on duty total.

Here is how a driver would calculate the 70 hour limit (explanation below):

On the first day the driver had a fresh 8 day / 70 hour limit. As the driver spent time on duty each day, the remaining time on the 70 hour limit began to dwindle. By day 7, the driver had used up the entire 70 hour limit. But notice on day 8, the driver went on duty for 5 hours even though no time remained on the 70 hour limit. That is perfectly legal as long as no driving took place. The 70 hour limit simply states a driver may not operate a CMV if the driver has been on duty in excess of 70 hours within an 8 day period.

You will also notice on day 9, the driver had 5 hours of the 70 hour limit returned. That's because day 1 no longer counts against the 70 hour limit (you are only required to count the current day and the previous 7 days for 8 days total). Since the driver had -5 hours available and 10 hours fell off the calculation, the driver had a total of 5 hours available on the 70 hour limit. That means, on day 9, the driver could operate a CMV for up to 5 hours.

The 34 Hour Restart

The regulations allow you to "restart" your 60 or 70 hour clock calculations after having at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. In other words, after you have taken at least 34 hours off duty in a row, you have the full 60 or 70 hours available again. You would then begin counting hours on the day of the restart and not go back the full 7 or 8 days.

Restart Requirements

Besides taking 34 consecutive hours off duty, there are a couple other details that must be followed:

• The 34 hour restart must include 2 periods between 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.
• You may only take one 34 hour restart per week.

We will now show you 2 examples of 34 hour restarts. One example is complete and the other is not.

Complete 34 Hour Restart Example

In the below 34 hour restart example, we can see that the driver took 34 hours off duty starting at 7:00 p.m. on the first day and went back on duty at 5:00 a.m. the third day. This satisfied not only the 34 consecutive hour off duty timeframe, but also satisfied the two required off duty periods between 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. (the second and third day). This is a legitimate 34 hour restart and the drivers 60 / 70 hour limit would reset on the third day at 5:00 a.m.

(Click images for larger size)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Incomplete 34 Hour Restart Example

In this example, the driver completed 34 consecutive hours off duty, but this restart is still incomplete. The driver only spent one period of time off duty between the hours of 1:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. That means the 34 hour restart is incomplete and the drivers 70 hour limit has not reset.

In order to make the below example a complete 34 hour restart, the driver could have either gone off duty at 1:00 a.m. on the first day or remained off duty until 5:00 a.m. on a third day.

(Click images for larger size)

Day 1

Day 2