The 11 & 14 explained for anyone who may want to know:

It is all pretty easy (it is just not as good as it used to be in the old days)

Once you have completed a 10 hour consecutive the following rules exist:

Step 1: Once you enter lines 3 or 4, count over 14 hours on your clock on your log sheet. Make a mark: That is when your 14 hour will end. The only way to drive past that mark is to have an 8 hour sleeper break (this would follow under the split exemption rules which are not being discussed)
Step 2: Do not driver over 11 hours during that period.

Once you take a complete 10 hours either by
1) taking full 10 hours off duty
2) taking full 10 hours in the sleeper
3) taking a full 10 hours with off duty/sleeper comined (No you do not need 8 in the sleeper and 2 off duty, you can be off 1 hour, sleep 6, off 3) there is no pattern to the combination of off duty/sleeper as long as it is a 10 hour consecutive break with no line 3 or 4 interruption.

That is the 11 & 14 hour rule:
NOTE: To drive past the 14 hour you must follow the split breaking rules which is a different rule, but you must first know how to follow the basic. I know it bites but if you learn split breaking it will help you out of many situations still, it doesn't work as well as it did before though. Splitting is really easy, you just have to keep trying. IF you want help on split breaking let me know and I will try to help you the best I can!

The only way to drive past your 11 hours is due to adverehse weather conditions which have to follow the below, to be basic it has to be something "bad weather" "accident" that was unforseen by your Driver Manager prior to dispatch. You can not drive past your 14 hour unless you intend on split breaking. See the bold marks for the OTR drivers:

b) Adverse driving conditions. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (h)(2) of this section, a driver who encounters adverse driving conditions, as defined in [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , and cannot, because of those conditions, safely complete the run within the maximum driving time permitted by [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. or [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. may drive and be permitted or required to drive a commercial motor vehicle for not more than 2 additional hours in order 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. However, that driver may not drive or be permitted to drive
b)(1)(i) For more than 13 hours in the aggregate following 10 consecutive hours off duty for drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles;
(b)(1)(ii) After the end of the 14th hour since coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty for drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles;
(b)(1)(iii) For more than 12 hours in the aggregate following 8 consecutive hours off duty for drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles; or
(b)(1)(iv) After he/she has been on duty 15 hours following 8 consecutive hours off duty for drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles.

I did forget to mention: You can be on line 4 past your 14 hour, but before returning to work you must have a full 10 hour break or follow the split break exception, but still you can be on line 4 past your 14.

That's some good information, but I feel it necessary to add a couple of thoughts.

Before you use the 2 hour exemption, make sure that your company allows you to do so. I work for a company that does not allow that exemption in all but one case. If I run out of hours at the time I am in stopped traffic on a roadway, I am allowed to drive to the NEAREST safe place to park, and that's it.

If I had any opportunity to stop short of the backed up traffic, and failed to do so, I am in dutch. I already know that at any time I use that rule, I will be required to submit a statement explaining why I ran out of hours while driving, and I had better have a good reason for not being able to avoid it.

The only time I came close was when a truck caught fire right in front of me in a one lane construction zone. The fire was put out, and shoved to the side, and I made it to the next truckstop five miles down the road, one minute before my EOBR would have sent a violation notification to my Safety Department.

That particular rule is designed and created for one segment of trucking. Line haul operations, that have timed runs that are run on a daily basis and are taylored to be made in eleven hours, will be the only segment that really can get away with using that rule without scrutiny.

The OTR segment is not going to get away with exceeding 11 hours very often, and heaven help you if you use it to arrive at home past that eleventh hour, and you are stopped for a logbook check in the next week or so. It won't fly with many inspectors, I'd bet.

How will they know where you live? Your address on your driver's license will probably be a dead giveaway.

My advice is to use it sparingly and in emergency cases only.

Wow I have never heard of a company not allowing a driver to use it, but I totally believe you! The OTR driver can use it, but you must use it legitly (s/p?) because DOT can find out the accident/weather information and you must remember it had to be unforseen before dispatch. Like Katrina Hurrican that was foreseen, but what wasn't forseen was the traffic in Dallas. But what was you to do if you did get stuck, well log it as it happened and write down what happend.
Yeah I had drivers trying to use the adverse several times a week (Like 3) and I got on them # that point and explained no you can't do this use it as an exscuse when it did not happen. He would use the Chicago traffic as an exscuse, duh you know that is there way in advance.

THANKS for the info, thats why I am here to learn what other company's and drivers have to say!

There are Field Auditors that do NOT like to see it used. Mind you, I never had any issue over it, but there is one that works down here in Georgia that steams when he sees that exemption used in an OTR operation.

Here's my reasoning on why I discourage it's use, and why some companies are shying away from it. As easy as it is to be involved in an accident these days, and how easy again, it is for a crafty Attorney to delve into a carrier's records to find HOS issues that they may have had, it's just another little seed of doubt to plant in a jury's mind, and that there may be some skirting of the laws occuring by the company in question. This is why some companies are clamping down on the use of that exemption.

And here's a thought on that. With all the avenues that exist to check the weather these days, and the accuracy of those reports, not forseeing adverse weather conditions is hard to get by some folks. Accidents are a completely legitimate reason to use the rule, because they are unforseen at the time of dispatch.

That's really all you can do. I don't always check the weather before I head up to Wisconsin, and I've been caught up in some weather that I was not aware of, and in one case already this year, some that wasn't even forecasted, so it CAN happen. The thing is to document and explain potential issues, and that goes a long way to heading off anything negative coming from it.

Yikes....Chicago. I drive way out of the way to avoid that city on a good day. I sure am not going to or through it on a bad day, or at certain times of the day.

You're most welcome.

My take on the whole thing is like

Bill the Bard(Shakespeare) said back

in the middle ages, To the effect of

first ridding ourselves of all lawyers.

Sometimes those avenues can screw you up. When I was in my personal vehicle, I was forced to spend the night and most of the day in my pickup parked in front of the Allsups convenience store in the quaint little town of Vaughn, NM (for those of you familiar with NM, there's a occasionally used weigh station there). I had called the NM State Police hotline and they said it was clear but by the time I got to Vaughn, both roads north (US285, US54) were closed. There was no storm but the winds had blown enough snow over the road to coat it in ice.

I spent the night in my truck despite the fact there was a motel room available because the motel clerk wanted $50 for a 3 bed motel room with a broken heater. I told her no thanks, I'd just assume freeze in my pickup for free.

I always said that Vaughn was only good for two things, getting a soda and taking a dump. That night in Vaughn did little to change my opinion.

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You are right on about weather forecasting, and I'll take your word on

Vaugn, NM. In most places they will tell you "If you don't like the weather

wait five minutes, (or some other short interval)and it will change. The

same can be said of weather forecasts.

The two hour exception that TurboTrucker referred to is also known as the 16 hour rule. As he said, it's mostly used by linehaul drivers with LTL companies, basically so they can be assigned city deliveries when they return in the morning.

In order to be eligible for this, you must begin and end your day at the same place, you have to have had no violations the week before, and you can only use it once per week. You are still subject to 10 hours off no matter how many hours you work.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

The 2 hour adverse condition exception and the 16 hour rule are two different things.