HOS And 34 Hour Reset

Dan I don't know if this will help but no one is going to force you to take a 34 hour reset. Its a tool we have as drives to help us when we know we will not be getting enough hour's back or we run out of hours be for we get hours back from the 70 we have already used.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

Well, Dan, the problem is, SOME people do require the government to tell them when they are tired. I've been running pretty good miles and still conforming to the hours.

E-logs will become required in the future and I can't say it's a bad thing. I don't want to be I the road with a guy on his 15th hour of his second log book.

Everyone has different sleep requirements and the government always lumps everyone into a one size fits all category. I sleep 5 1/2 hours a night and can s,s&s in 15 minutes flat. Eventually I hope to get something regional where this may be irrelevant, but I expect to have to do OTR for a year and I would struggle to find a way to fill 4 hours of dead time.

You can always take a look at flatbed. Flatbed is naturally regional. In fact i've had a hard time finding a flatbed company that isn't.

From the sounds of the comments, I think I can assume this is a company policy if enforced, which is good. I don't want or need the government to tell me when I am tired.

Well, Dan, the problem is, SOME people do require the government to tell them when they are tired. I've been running pretty good miles and still conforming to the hours.

E-logs will become required in the future and I can't say it's a bad thing. I don't want to be I the road with a guy on his 15th hour of his second log book.

Everyone has different sleep requirements and the government always lumps everyone into a one size fits all category. I sleep 5 1/2 hours a night and can s,s&s in 15 minutes flat. Eventually I hope to get something regional where this may be irrelevant, but I expect to have to do OTR for a year and I would struggle to find a way to fill 4 hours of dead time.

Dan I run regional, the HOS rules are the same. You seem to take issue with the 34 hour reset, not sure why. The 14 hour on duty/11 hour driving rules are far more restrictive and relevant on a daily basis.

Just a general statement regarding HOS rules. Trucking is highly regulated. Any industry that can adversely effect public safety and the environment is regulated by the federal government. There is no getting past it. A large percentage of the job is learning and complying with a myriad of rules and regulations that are constantly changing. It's just part of the job.

To say the least I have found this post to be confusing. It starts of with Dan B. saying that the enforcement 34 hour re-set is "suspended", while the drivers actually on the roads say that after 70 hours of on-duty, you must take your 34 hour re-set. From what I read on TT about HOS , I too am of the opinion that the 34 hour re-set rule exists. So at this point my head is spinning. I was actually thinking about the 11/14 hour rules and with the split sleeper berth rule, things can get a bit confusing. So I thought, wouldn't it make more sense if the regulations were simplified to the point where all they said was that you can only drive 600 miles in a 24 hour period, after which you need to take 7-8 hours off, no driving. This would allow you to get in good miles in a day while being in control of when and for how long you take a break. And then I woke and realized that I live in a world where we are tortured with burdensome and convoluted rules just so the people in charge can feel smarter about themselves.

"God always takes the simplest way." Albert Einstein

Rob S, I am still reading through all this but the actual legislation that suspended the rule was 1,603 pages long. The actual HOS rules that were suspended were passed in 2011 and is a 56 page report that I started to read. I started to read that prior to Kurt's comment that he believed it simply reverted back to whatever the rules were prior to the new rules, which makes sense.

If that is correct (which I believe it is) the reset rules in existence now were written in 2003 and I think (emphasis on think) were also 34 hour resets.

These guys that have been driving for a while like G-town and Errol seem to have a handle on the rules, but for someone who is just learning, it is about as confusing as can be.

Rob S. thinks Life is Complicated (It is!):

To say the least I have found this post to be confusing. It starts of with Dan B. saying that the enforcement 34 hour re-set is "suspended", while the drivers actually on the roads say that after 70 hours of on-duty, you must take your 34 hour re-set.

Dan B., I believe, was under the assumption that the 34 hour rule or company policy was completely suspended by the FMCSA. Actually the basic 34 hour rule is a regulation (a requirement), and only two features of the regulation have been suspended. (The Once in 164 hours and the 1am - 5am rules.)

I was actually thinking about the 11/14 hour rules and with the split sleeper berth rule, things can get a bit confusing. So I thought, wouldn't it make more sense if the regulations were simplified to the point where all they said was that you can only drive 600 miles in a 24 hour period, after which you need to take 7-8 hours off, no driving. This would allow you to get in good miles in a day while being in control of when and for how long you take a break. And then I woke and realized that I live in a world where we are tortured with burdensome and convoluted rules just so the people in charge can feel smarter about themselves.

Yes indeedy, Rob, things could be simpler, but lawyers and officials got involved and threw the numbers 10 (really 11), 14, 30 minutes, 70 or 80 and some more at you, making you memorize them.

"God always takes the simplest way." -- Albert Einstein

This is more often referred to as Occam's Razor: Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected, or, "simpler is better".

G-Town, I don't understand the reset rule well enough to say I take issue with it but I need to know how it would affect my ability to drive and make money.

I'm almost half way through reading the (revised legislation) and so far it seems clear that the rule affects a relatively small percentage of drivers. If I decide to move forward with this, eventually I would like to land something regional running nights on a 5 day schedule. The 34 hour reset would have no impact on me under those circumstances if I understand it correctly. But I think I should expect my first year to be OTR and it could have a significant impact depending on the route and how badly I am lied to.

I looked up the suspension wording; currently suspended and reverts back to the restart rules in force from 2003-2012.

We have been living with these rules for a long time and as you will eventually see they become second nature void of surprises.

Sorry if I added to the confusion, not my intent.