Short Haul exemption AND adverse conditions on one run?

Part of driving day cab is knowing when and how to throw in the towel. Most major LTLs will give you a CLC card, more or less a pre-paid hotel card. This is something you need to discuss with your fleet manager / supervisor so you don't get stuck on the side of the road.

 

For instance, during the second major Wyoming I-80 wreck last winter, I got stuck in Rawlins en route to Denver. No amount of extra drive time was going to let me make it back, so I packed it in and found the nearest hotel with truck parking.

 

(b) Driving conditions —(1) Adverse driving conditions. Except as provided in paragraph (h)(2) of this section, a driver who encounters adverse driving conditions, as defined in § 395.2, and cannot, because of those conditions, safely complete the run within the maximum driving time permitted by §§ 395.3(a) or 395.5(a) may drive and be permitted or required to drive a commercial motor vehicle for not more than 2 additional hours beyond the maximum time allowed under §§ 395.3(a) or 395.5(a) to complete that run or to reach a place offering safety for the occupants of the commercial motor vehicle and security for the commercial motor vehicle and its cargo.

The 16 hour rule only applies to the 14 hour clock, not the 11, so we are going to focus on the adverse driving exception. The question is, does the +2, as stated above, relate to the 11, 14, or both at the same time. I will leave it at that as I can and do bail out if I know I can't make it back in time.

 

I thought only an accident got you around the 10 hour rule.... Just slippery / snowy roads are not enough..... Because the winter storm was probably forecast ....

But I may be wrong.

 

The adverse driving condition exception will allow you to do what you want, extend both the 14 and 11 hour clocks up to 2 hours, provided you also meet the short haul exception, which it sounds like you do. However, the caveat to using the adverse conditions exception is you must not have been aware, nor could it have been predicted that you would run into the delay prior to departing your terminal. So a surprise accident, road closure, or freak storm would allow for the use, but a storm that has been talked about for days or even hours prior to you departing on your run would not allow you to extend your drive time. In reality, it snows in the winter so a routine snow storm is not going to allow you to extend your clock, which is why you see so many ltl and similar types wrecked in the winter, trying to maintain 65 when they should be doing 45, because the clock and schedule is unforgiving.