80 hr/8 day - 100 air mile - 16 hour work day

OK, huge question here.

I work for a food service company in Ca.

We drive routes that are usually less than 100 miles from the warehouse.

They have us logging 80 hour / 8 days: this is confusing to me since I don't see it anywhere in the FMCSR, and never learned about it until I started at this company. Anyway, I just keep track of my time by starting with 80 hours and just subtracting what I work everyday.

I'm sure this is the same everywhere, but you ask 10 different drivers/dispatchers about the correct way to log the route, and you get 10 creatively different answers.

I'm reading the 395.3 section and thinking that I have 14 hours in a day, with that exception of the §395.1(o) part - which I understand can only be used once a week..

So every day, separated by a 10 hour break, do I have 14 or 16 hours to work? Since I am relatively new and get helpers that have zero experience, or I am by myself, I sometimes am out for very very long nights, meaning more than 14 hours.

Does the 100 air mile rule apply to any of this?

I'll try to clarify anything that might be confusing in this post - thanks.

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§395.3 Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles. Subject to the exceptions and exemptions in §395.1:


(a) No motor carrier shall permit or require any driver used by it to drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, nor shall any such driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle:


(a)(1) More than 11 cumulative hours following 10 consecutive hours off-duty; or


(a)(2) For any period after the end of the 14th hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty, except when a property-carrying driver complies with the provisions of §395.1(o) or §395.1(e)(2).


(b) No motor carrier shall permit or require a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle to drive, nor shall any driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver’s services, for any period after —


(b)(1) Having been on duty 60 hours in any period of 7 consecutive days if the employing motor carrier does not operate commercial motor vehicles every day of the week; or


(b)(2) Having been on duty 70 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days if the employing motor carrier operates commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.


(c)(1) Any period of 7 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours; or


(c)(2) Any period of 8 consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.


[57 FR 33649, July 30, 1992, as amended at 60 FR 38748, July 28, 1995; 68 FR 22516, April 28, 2003; 70 FR 50071, Aug. 25, 2005; 72 FR 71270, Dec. 17, 2007]



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(o) Property-carrying driver. A property-carrying driver is exempt from the requirements of § 395.3(a)(2) if:


(o)(1) The driver has returned to the driver’s normal work reporting location and the carrier released the driver from duty at that location for the previous five duty tours the driver has worked;


(o)(2) The driver has returned to the normal work reporting location and the carrier releases the driver from duty within 16 hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty; and


(o)(3) The driver has not taken this exemption within the previous 6 consecutive days, except when the driver has begun a new 7- or 8-consecutive day period with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours as allowed by §395.3(c).

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(e) Short-haul operations
(e)(1) 100 air-mile radius driver. A driver is exempt from the requirements of Section 395.8 if:


(e)(1)(i) The driver operates within a 100 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location;


(e)(1)(ii) The driver, except a driver-salesperson, returns to the work reporting location and is released from work within 12 consecutive hours;


(e)(1)(iii)(A) A property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver has at least 10 consecutive hours off duty separating each 12 hours on duty;


(e)(1)(iii)(B) A passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver has at least 8 consecutive hours off duty separating each 12 hours on duty;


(e)(1)(iv)(A) A property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver does not exceed 11 hours maximum driving time following 10 consecutive hours off duty; or


(e)(1)(iv)(B) A passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver does not exceed 10 hours maximum driving time following 8 consecutive hours off duty; and


(e)(1)(v) The motor carrier that employs the driver maintains and retains for a period of 6 months accurate and true time records showing:


(e)(1)(v)(A) The time the driver reports for duty each day;


(e)(1)(v)(B) The total number of hours the driver is on duty each day;


(e)(1)(v)(C) The time the driver is released from duty each day; and


(e)(1)(v)(D) The total time for the preceding 7 days in accordance with

§395.8(j)(2) for drivers used for the first time or intermittently.

 

I do routes in California only.

Does the 100 air-mile radius apply? I never go further than 100 miles from my warehouse.

The dispatchers say the logs are only a way to let them know what days we worked. But the company did get audited by the DOT recently and are changing things almost daily; like keeping track of the time we pick up our paperwork, and when we leave the yard.

I just want to do my logs the right way so I don't have to sweat going through the scales or showing them to a Highway Patrolman. The more drivers I ask, experienced and recent grads, the more confusing it gets. All of us drivers do pretty much the exact same thing, and leave and arrive back at mostly the same times, but all the drivers apparently do their logs differently. The company won't give a straight answer about how to do the logs the right way - I wish they would just have a meeting and go over it as a review for everyone, since we all do the same thing, like I mentioned above...

I asked a CHP about it one day, and he suggested going to one of the bigger scales, like Cordelia, and just taking my logbook in and asking them to let me know if I am logging correctly... I'm kind of scared of that, because it will stir things up.... but maybe I am worrying about nothing.

Thanks for that Highway Patrol quote Mike_MD.

 

Paid a rate per route, no mileage or hourly.

I drive about an hour or two to the first stop, then a few minutes to each additional stop (with anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour of unloading time depending on whether I am alone or have competent help), then the return trip (hour or two) - total in a 12-15 hour day, maybe 5 or 6 hours of driving, the rest is fingerprinting the contents of the trailer.

I spend about an hour securing the load and getting paperwork in order, sometimes (rarely) waiting for the truck to get fully loaded...

I work 5 days a week - 2 consecutive days off.

Time off between shifts gets pushed to the limits a lot of the time - most of the time is over 10 hours, but definitely not always (at least once every 2 weeks) - that's when I get worried about fudging my log to be able to keep working (like, showing up at 3:45 pm to prepare everything, but only logging when I actually leave the yard at 5:00 pm with a 15 minute pre-trip thrown in to make it look legit).