Another 34-Hour Debate?

I think you don't have to restart at all if you only drive 8.75 hours or less a day, which appears to be the case.

Edit.. I just saw you wanted to drive 12 on the 7th day. I guess you are still at 60 having driven only 8 hours a day on the previous 6 days. But can you drive more than 11 hours a day without being a local driver?

 

Hopefully you don't have to pay bills either!(on those hours)

 

don't run out of hours. problem solved.

you either run 60 or you run 70. stop beating your head with both hours.

according to a dot official. the 60 applies to trucks that are parked at terminal for the wekeend. the 70 applies for trucks running 24/7.

as for home terminal. logs are figured on main terminal time zone. has absolutely nothing to do with HOME. there's a pretty good sum of drivers that don't go home every weekend, nor do they work for a company in their home state.

i, for one, don't realistically see why a driver should sit around at a truckstop for however many hours is needed to reset the 70. and as for working 8.75 hours. some types of freight only work bankers hours. which involves running and using up hours during the day. if we confined ourselves to 8.75 hours a day. we wouldn't get anything done or make any money.

unlike reefer freight that works 24/7.

 

You could run like that legally without taking a 34 hour restart but if you did, youd have to use the 70 hour/8 day recap. If you don't take the restart, you would not receive your full 70 hours back to start the next week with, you could only run the number of hours that you gained from the 1st day of your recap plus the extra 10 of the 70. Of course, if you are still planning on doing shop time, that would have to be added to your on duty hours for that period. Id say the boss' problem with that is that he doesn't want to pay you double time-and that's his right. He does not have to let you work where he has to pay you double time. Matter of a fact, he does not have to let you work at all in most states. Just because something is legal, doesn't mean the boss has to let you do it.

 

The rules are clear so I don't know why they think you have to take one. The rules state the maximum you can work in an 8 day period and the rules state that you may restart that period. Nowhere do they state that you must restart that period.

https://cms.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations

Point them to this pdf https://cms.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmc.../Interstate-Truck-Driver-Guide-to-HOS_508.pdf

Things like "However, if your company allows you to use the 34-hour restart provision" and "will require that anyone using the 34-hour restart provision" should make it clear the reset is optional I would think.

 

This makes it pretty clear if they trust keller as an official source of information

"Under the new rules, is the 34-hour restart provision still optional?

Yes, the restart provision is still optional. For example, a driver who works 8 hours per day, 7 days per week, would never need to use the restart provision because he/she would never reach the 60- or 70-hour limit. Drivers may continue to keep a running total or “recap” of their hours over the past 7 or 8 days and “do the math” each day to determine when they may need time off before driving again. In some cases, getting a restart will be the quickest way to get back on the road."
http://www.jjkeller.com/shop/content____bi-hoursofservice-newrule-FAQs

 

I would show them a copy of the regulations. They are written by Government workers who are known for their clearly thought out writing skills.

As they have seen the regulations, you will then need to explain what a restart is. The vast majority of truckers never take restarts. We do what is called recap. Every eighth day you re capture the time that you worked on the first day. The restart is when you need to zero out your log. Working 8 hours a day your log will never exceed 64. If you work 12 hours on the one day, you have a problem. You will be over by two hours.

What you are wanting to do is this....

8,8,8,8,8,8,12,8 This gives you 68 hours in an 8 day period which is legal.

Your problem comes in the second week. When your 8 day period will look like this.

12, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 12 That gives you 72 hours and you are over by 2 hours.

So as much as I hate telling you that your Railroad bosses are correct they are partly.

You cannot do what you are wanting to do. You need to adjust your 12 hour day and only work 11 hours on the days you are wanting to work 12. To be on the safe side, only work 10 or less on that day.

10, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 10 is 68 hours in an 8 day period and is perfectly legal and never requires a reset.

 

Actually to understand the company's point of view and their lame excuse for not working on your "OFF DAYS" has nothing to do with the 34 hour rule. It is completely a matter of the fact they don't want any driver (or you in this case) to work any overtime. 2330-0730/M-F is a 40 hour week, anything over/beyond those hours constitutes over 40 and falling into the Federal requirement of paying overtime rate (1.5 times regular rate in most cases).

If you are looking for additional income, you could try and find some local company that has some weekend driving spots. But keep in mind, that you would be required to report ALL HOURS DRIVING to BOTH companies. Neither would be required to figure in overtime compensation, but both would have to keep an eye on total available hours to drive. You could run into a snag on the Monday of your current position, with the 10 hour rest between driving positions.