Logbook Question

I have my permits but I am not in school until Feb 1. Trying to make sure I fully understand the hours of service. Lets say I am driving and pull into a truck stop and I find out there is no place for me to park. My 14 hour clock just ran out. Am I allowed to go off duty and drive to the next truck stop which is 10 miles away. I am allowed to drive the truck for personal reasons off duty, so who is to say I wasn't going to walmart for groceries. Probably unethical but would it work?

I have my permits but I am not in school until Feb 1. Trying to make sure I fully understand the hours of service. Lets say I am driving and pull into a truck stop and I find out there is no place for me to park. My 14 hour clock just ran out. Am I allowed to go off duty and drive to the next truck stop which is 10 miles away. I am allowed to drive the truck for personal reasons off duty, so who is to say I wasn't going to walmart for groceries. Probably unethical but would it work?

Just like you can run through a red light if no one is looking, you can run over your time clocks and no lightning bolt will flash on your cab.

Legally, when your time is up you should stop rolling. You have 14 hours advance notice that will happen. Traffic jams or 4 hours to unload is not an excuse! Some claim a "Safe Haven" thing, but the rules on that are very specific and do not include the extra unloading or traffic.

When you first learned to drive a big rig, you were taught to look "8 seconds" or 1/4 mile ahead to watch for conditions. Same with your clocks. As the time draws nigh, you need to be thinking of a stopping place. Owner operators can use "personal use", but most company trucks have a tattle tale in the Qualcomm that squawk when you move the truck much after your time is gone.

Plan ahead. In some cases, I have stopped two hours early at a tuck stop because the closer I got to town, plus the later it got, there would be slim pickings for decent stopping places.

The answer to the first part of your question is decidedly no. If you're under load or responsibility you cannot drive off duty. That being said, if you have to drive on to find somewhere safe to park that's what you do. There is a provision on the books to allow for this, but don't take advantage of it. Keep in mind they'd be within their rights to ticket you regardless because it can be argued that you should have time to fail at finding several spots. That being said, there is also an off duty driving provision.

Off-duty driving is driving done when under absolutely no responsibility to a load. That means it can only be done while empty and for personal reasons. For example, i once met a driver that used his off duty driving time to drive 2 hours down the road towards his destination to, "take a shower". Easily ticket worthy.

You cannot operate a CMV for personal conveyance that is laden. This means you should not be carrying any freight at all. You are also going to have to drive bobtail if you are operating a tractor-trailer. Even pulling an empty trailer is considered as being laden.

You have to be completely free of all your work and on-duty tasks. Absolutely no company work is permitted when logging off-duty personal conveyance time. Things like fueling or taking the vehicle in for maintenance are not personal conveyance and must be recorded in your on-duty time.

You must only be commuting to and from locations that are of a personal nature. This includes things like travel between your home or motel as well as short trips to restaurants or the grocery store. Anything that could be considered as work related, like picking up some parts for the truck is not considered personal conveyance.

You cannot drive a CMV to a rest location for personal conveyance if you have been placed out of service from hours of service violations.

Question 26: If a driver is permitted to use a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for personal reasons, how must the driving time be recorded?

Guidance:

a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver’s home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver’s en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time. The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier’s Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.

A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.

So, if I am home during a 34, under a load, am I able to park my load at a secure location (with company permission), then proceed to use the truck as personal conveyance?

So, if I am home during a 34, under a load, am I able to park my load at a secure location (with company permission), then proceed to use the truck as personal conveyance?

Question: are you an owner operator?

Answer: Yes. It's your vehicle, as long as you don't have the load, go to a drive-in movie!

Answer: No. The truck belongs to the company. Most often company policy says the truck sits till you're back in the saddle. Ask your DM about this. Also, most companies do not like the trailers disconnected and dropped anywhere (outside of company secured areas) without the company's permission.

So, if I am home during a 34, under a load, am I able to park my load at a secure location (with company permission), then proceed to use the truck as personal conveyance?

Question: are you an owner operator?

Answer: Yes. It's your vehicle, as long as you don't have the load, go to a drive-in movie!

Answer: No. The truck belongs to the company. Most often company policy says the truck sits till you're back in the saddle. Ask your DM about this. Also, most companies do not like the trailers disconnected and dropped anywhere (outside of company secured areas) without the company's permission.

Answer #1 response: please park in back row. Otherwise parking in front will give people another excuse to hate truckers.

Answer #2 response: That makes complete sense. I wasn't giving the scenario enough thought. So really the only time would be empty, or bobtailng. And even then, adhere to company policy.

Thanks Errol, Just trying to figure these things out before I go.

I had a tire blowout on new years eve on my way home while technically under a load. The load doesn't deliver till Monday, so my fleet manager said I could stop at home. 75 miles from home and 2 1/2 hours left on my clock, my drive tire blew out, 3 miles from a pilot ( I didn't now it at the time), so I called breakdown. Needless to say, 4 hours later my truck was fixed. I used the safe haven rule/exception, to get to that pilot. It was 10 pm and I wanted to get off the interstate , to a safe place

Why do people say "safe haven" when it comes to HOS , correct me if I'm wrong but there is not such term in HOS. The term "safe haven" only deals with HAZMAT. If I'm wrong please identify the FMCSA Reg.

~scott