legal drive time and off time

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by BigTop, Jul 8, 2009.

  1. BigTop

    BigTop Bobtail Member

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    Jul 8, 2009
    San Diego, CA
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    Anyone tell me how long you can legally drive and how much time you are required off and how is it that i see so many truckers bragging about logging in thousands of miles per week. How is that possible?:biggrin_2552:
     
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  3. Freebird135

    Freebird135 Road Train Member

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    In the air conditioning
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    i didnt write this but heres an article about it:

    Recently I received an e-mail asking me to explain the "very confusing" 11/14 hour truck driving rule. As you know, this is the rule which tells the driver how many hours he/she may work, when to break, how long to break, and how many hours of driving that he/she may drive during a 24 hour period.
    Here is my reply to her that I would like to post for all new drivers:
    This is a real simple rule that sometimes people can make harder than it really is....me included, when it first came out. In a nutshell...it simply states that you cannot "work" more than 14 hours in a 24 hour period...and cannot drive more than 11 hours in a 24 hour period, without taking a 10 hour break.
    "Work" means the same as "on duty"...As soon as you start your pre-trip, you are on duty....you have 14 hours to be "on duty" from that moment on, before you are required to shut down for your 10 hour break.
    So, if you start your pre-trip at 6 AM, you have to be stopped, shut down, done! by 8 PM. Your on duty "work" includes, pre-tripping, post tripping, driving, unloading, loading, waiting time, stopping for a meal, bathroom break, stopping to make a phone call...ANYTHING you are doing between the pre-trip and post trip....this is your 14 hours you have to complete your day's work.
    Example : Let's say you start your pre-trip at 10 AM. and you drive over to the shipper to get loaded and you get there at 10:30 AM, and they tell you it will take about 5 hours to get loaded. You are finally loaded at 3:30 PM. You now only have until midnight to drive or "whatever", before you must shut down for the 10 hour break. You will be completely legal because you shut down at midnight, which is 14 hours (10 AM to Midnight)...and you only drove 9 hours (10 AM to 10:30 AM, and 3:30 PM to Midnight)...even though you are 2 hours under the 11 hour driving rule, the 14 hour rule beat you to the punch because of the waiting time the shipper placed on you.
    Just remember, whatever time you start the day on your log, you have to be completely shut down (break), within 14 hours. Now, if you start your pretrip at 10 AM, arrive at shipper at 10:30 AM, and are loaded by 11 AM, you can drive until 9:30 PM - (11 hour rule - 10-10:30, 11-9:30), ....even though 14 hours is midnight (10 AM to midnite), the 11 hour rule beat you to the punch...you can still be on duty until midnight, like waiting to get unloaded, calling dispatch, repairing a trailer tire...etc., you JUST CAN'T DRIVE anymore.
    After 14 hours you should be doing only one thing : on a 10 hour break. Just because you hit 11 hours of driving, you can still be doing work-related duties, as long as you are not driving...AND...once you hit the 14 hour spot...you must be shut down, totally, and be on your 10 hour break.
    Remember two things :
    1. Be shut down (on your break) within 14 hours of starting your log.
    2. Within that 14 hours, make sure you have not driven more than 11 hours.
    NOW! There is also the 34 hour rule! But this is easy...if you are off duty for at least 34 hours, all your hours beforehand are "erased" and you can start "clean" with another 70 hours. There is talk about doing away with this rule, but for now, it is still on the books.
     
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  4. rubbergearsnextyear

    rubbergearsnextyear Heavy Load Member

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    24 hr period means nothing!! You have 14 hours from the time you go on line 4 or 3 to drive a maximum of 11 hours. You have to take a ten hour break after you get to either 11 hours of driving OR the 14th hour, whichever comes first.

    ANY time you take a ten hour break ( 10 consecutive hours on line 1 or 2 or combined)(or technically you can split but that's like doing trigonometry) you get your 14 hours back (provided you have that much left on 60 or 70 hours). How can you run thousands of miles? Typically (in a castrated truck at least) it usually runs 20 hrs per thousand miles roughly. So one can EASILY run 3,000 in a week legally.

    You have 70 hours to use in an 8 day period. Your hours catch back up with you from seven days prior at midnight, therefore, depending on how you've been running, you can actually never run out of hours if you log no more than 8.75 hours per day (line 3 and 4 combined).

    In 8.75 hours this gives you time to pretrip and drop and hook and drive 8 hours. 6x8=48 8 hrs at 60mph 480 miles x 7 = 3,360 miles. Now, there are a lot of trucks that run 70mph plus. Do the math.
     
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  5. jlkklj777

    jlkklj777 20 Year Truckload Veteran

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    Sorry. The above statement is wrong.

    There are no prohibitions against "work." There is a limit on "driving."

    The HOS are regulations that spell out how LONG you may drive are based on a 70 hour in 8 day rule (or 60 hour in 7 day rule if your carrier does not work 7 days per week).

    In short you must forget the whole concept of a "day." Our jobs require us to drive at different times of the day and night and will transfer from 1 "day to the next" routinely.

    The current regs simply state;

    You are permitted to drive UP TO 11 hours within a 14 hour time frame.

    Once you either meet your 11 hours of driving OR reach that 14 hour threshold you must stop DRIVING. This means you may continue on duty functions as needed. This may include working the dock, fueling trucks, setting and breaking pups, etc. Of course this time should be logged as "on duty not driving" time and will limit your hours later in the week. This is where the 70 hours in 8 day rule comes into play.

    Of course IF you are able to get 34 hours off duty (meaning no driving OR no on duty not driving) then you MAY utilize the 34 hos reset provision.
    This 34 hour reset may be on the road a thousand miles away and need not be taken at home. Sleeper berth time is perfectly acceptable when combined with off duty time to achieve those 34 hours off provided they are CONSECUTIVE.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2009
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  6. rubbergearsnextyear

    rubbergearsnextyear Heavy Load Member

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    Yes you can be on duty line 4 forever 24 hrs a day 7 days a week, you just can't drive until you reset your 70 or 14 (34 or 10 respectively) there's no mistakes in my post. I just didn't address the line 4 misconception as the poster was asking about driving.

    Get the 24 hour period out of your head as it is irrelevant. Only numbers that matter are...

    14 10 11 34 60 70

    24 hr period is misleading to many because you certainly can log more than 11 hrs in a 24 hour period and I'm not going to get into all the conditions. Sometimes you driver a few hours, shut down and take an unplanned or necessary 10 hr break and then run your 11.
     
  7. jlkklj777

    jlkklj777 20 Year Truckload Veteran

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    I did not mean to imply there was a "mistake" in your post. I quoted the specific passage I had contention with which was posted by Freebird135. He claimed it was not "written by him" but neglected to say who it was written by.

    You and I have a firm grasp on this topic and are in agreement. We just phrased things differently.:biggrin_25525:
     
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  8. rubbergearsnextyear

    rubbergearsnextyear Heavy Load Member

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    10-4 sometimes I jump ship a bit and fly off the handle. I was, as you, just trying to emphasize the 24 hr period has nothing to do with logging! If I see ya round, beer's on me!
     
  9. CURTWAYNE

    CURTWAYNE Medium Load Member

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    LITTLE ROCK, AR
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    Let's try an easy trip, say for a driver who starts and finishes in the same city.
    Clocks in at 4am, does a pre-trip, and gets everything together. Starts driving at 4:30. Drives 5 hours to deliver, one hour to unload, and 5 hours back. 30 minutes post trip, and finish up. Clocks out at 4pm. That is 10 hours drive time, and two hours on duty not driving. 12 hours total. 10 hours driving at 65 mph, 650 miles +/-.
    If you do this Monday through Friday, that is 5 x 650 which equals 3,250 miles per week.
    Since you are off duty at 4 pm, and come back at 4 am, then you have 12 hours off.
    You only work 12 hours per day, so you are not working over the 14 hours limit, and have more than the required 10 hours off duty.
    And, off on weekends adds up to more than 48 hours off duty, hence the re-start requirements are met.
    So, hope that helps answer your question about how a driver can drive thousands of miles and keep legal.
    Of course, you could drive 11 hours per day, which would add another 325 miles per week.
     
  10. rubbergearsnextyear

    rubbergearsnextyear Heavy Load Member

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    Definitely more than one way to skin a cat. I would get burned out on that quickly lol. Most likely would be in a daycab and I like being able to crawl back in the berth and chill out or nap a bit.
     
  11. dgarrett0008

    dgarrett0008 Light Load Member

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    Jun 18, 2009
    Riverdale, Georgia
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    Thanks for the info everyone, I was trying to get that same thing down myself, still not a master at it but I do have a better understanding.
     
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