hows it going, found this thread today when i was searching around for a few questions i had. I work for a helicopter company, we have a fuel truck, a boom truck, and a few trailers that require a CDL to drive, and in addition we have a few pickups and a 12 foot trailer that does NOT require a CDL(so im told).... we bounce all over the country, driving from job site to job site, and are rarely at home base which is in oregon. being new to the company, and having not been through CDL school at ALL yet, im learning as I go.

So here's a few quick questions if you all dont mind helping a newbie out.
all questions pertain to a pickup with a GVW of 9900lbs, with a trailer with a GVW of 2200 lbs.

1.) by DOT regs, is a Medical Card holder required to keep a drivers log when driving a pickup with a trailer that does NOT require a CDL? I've heard mixed answeres on this from those i work with, the ones that say YES state it is because of the DOT number on the side of the truck that makes that a mandate. (keep in mind, i work 50+ hour weeks, and at the drop of a hat we can get a call to move all our epuipment to another location, sometimes two or three states away)

2.) If i work over my 70hrs and do not get a 34 hour reset at the 70th hour, i am in the hole. so the question is, say i work a 76 hour week, do i then have to add on the extra 6 hours to my 34 hour reset? some guys seem to think so, but i couldnt find anything about that in the DOT book i have.

3.) Last question (for now :P ) im in this boat right now... im at 76 hours in the last 7 days. tomorrow we move to southern oregon from central california, long drive. My boss told me that i can take one of the pickups (gvw of 9900) and drive withOUT a tralier and it will just count as 'on duty not driving' time, so that way im still legal. Sounds fishy to me, but im not seeing it in the regs. albiet i really dont know where to look.


any help (with references so i can prove my point to my superiors) would be greatly appreciated, and hopefully keep me out of a nasty fine from the feds.

I will be working towards my CDL in the next few months, so im sure this forum will come in handy, glad to meet ya'll and in advance thanks for any answers.


p.s. sorry its such a long thread

There is a very basic answer to all your questions. You first must be operating a Commercial Motor Vehicle. Federally defined as-

Commercial Motor Vehicle.For purposes of this regulation, a motor vehicle designed or regularly used to carry freight, merchandise, or more than ten passengers, whether loaded or empty, including buses, but not including vehicles used for vanpools, or recreational vehicles operating under their own power.

In most cases the vehicle must be over 10K LBS GVWR. or hauling a trailer over 10K GVWR. In CT, for example, interstate is federally mandated at 10K. Intrastate is 18K or combination thereof. If you are not operating over 10K, the logs and med card are not needed but I would chekc with the states that you run in .

I know all about this because I was a supervisor with a company that assigned me an F-350 pickup as a company vehicle and I have a CDL-A and also moved trucks between jobs where they would be on site for a couple of weeks or more .
The log book and medical card are required for operating a vehicle over 10,000lbs. gvwr . Any employee could drive my pickup without logging or a medical card unless the pickup was hauling some type of trailer .
Our jobs would run 24/7 with 2 12 hour shifts . At the end of the week I would have 84 hours in 7 days . I could drive the pickup logging as your employer correctly said , "On duty, not driving " . If a driver was not available with available hours to drive one of the CDL trucks I would be paid to sit in a hotel off duty a couple of days to get my hours back to drive the truck .
On the restart - originally you could not take a restart if you exceeded 70 hours . That has changed . You can restart the clock after 34 hours regardless of how many hours you had before the restart.

My understanding is u can only do a 34 hour restart if u have not (irepeat have not) violated the 70 hour rule.If u do 71 hours, u can NOT do a 34 hr restart. unless it's changed.

It has changed . Note there is nothing here saying you can't restart if you go over 70 in 8 . [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Also note it says you cannot drive after 60/7 or 70/8 . It is not a violation to do non-driving work beyond these hours .

cool
thanks did not know that.