Hours of Service - Property-carrying Vehicles

Property-carrying Vehicles

FMCSA rules prohibit driving a property-carrying CMV (e.g., trucks) more than 11 hours or to drive after having been on-duty for 14 hours. The 3-hour difference between the 11-hour driving limit and the 14-hour on-duty limit gives drivers the opportunity to take care of non-driving working duties such as loading and unloading cargo, fueling the vehicle, and required vehicle inspections, as well as non-working duties such as meal and rest breaks. After completing a 11- to 14-hour on-duty period, the driver must be allowed 10 hours off-duty.

FMCSA rules prohibit drivers from operating a CMV after having been on-duty 60 hours in 7 consecutive days (if the motor carrier does not operate CMVs every day of the week), or after having been on-duty 70 hours in 8 consecutive days (if the motor carrier operates CMVs every day of the week).

After accumulating, for example, 70 hours of driving and on-duty time within a period of 8 days, a driver's daily driving limit may be reduced (70 / 8 = 8.75 driving hours per day). A driver may be allowed (but not required) to take 34 hours off-duty to reset the weekly total back to zero (also known as a "34-hour restart").