Hours of Service question.

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by snowez, Aug 15, 2021.

  1. snowez

    snowez Light Load Member

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    So have some questions for the HoS pro's out there.

    1. If I'm "on-duty Fueling" or "on-duty Yard Move"....If I stay on this line for 30 minutes will it count as a 30 minute break?

    2. If I start my day on the drive line and go off-duty. Will my 14 hour's still be burning or will it pause during the time I'm off-duty?

    I'm currently OTR with my trainer and he does some very questionable things that I'm sure isn't right. All throughout the day he bumps me off duty just for 3-4 minutes at a time for the most random reasons.

    I arrive at a shipper and I'm talking to the guard he has me go off-duty. I'm walking inside to get my bills after being loaded. I go off-duty. I'm walking around like a chicken with my head cut-off trying to find the ride door for the shipping reciever office, he has me go off-duty.

    Last week their was a severe wreck that was stop and go for hours and he had me go off-duty on the highway to do the creeper walk and take my break. He told me for no reason to go over 5MPH and let the cars pass LOL

    I'm not even sure if what he has me doing is correct or not. My trainer has over 30 years of experience and he doesn't want me to question what he does on the Qualcomm.
     
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  3. Wasted Thyme

    Wasted Thyme Road Train Member

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    1) yes
    2) the 14 will pause if you are in either off duty or sleeper. Assuming it's at least 2 hours and you have to pair it.

    If you are #### chatting off duty is fine. But getting BOL, looking for the right door...etc. should be logged on duty.

    I think your trainer is trying to max your 70.

    If you're out of the truck working. Log on duty. If not working. Log off duty. Inside the truck. Log sleeper. If you're waiting for a door and it is running over 2 hours. Hit will pair.
     
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  4. snowez

    snowez Light Load Member

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    Okay so if I'm off-duty for less then 2 hours then it'll still burn my 14 hour clock?

    The 14 hour clock doesn't pause until I'm either off-duty or Sleeper Berth for 2 hours or more?
     
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  5. Wasted Thyme

    Wasted Thyme Road Train Member

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  6. Snailexpress

    Snailexpress Road Train Member

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    #1 If you want to save time don't stay On duty 30 min. Combination On duty+ sleeper or off duty will do the same 30 min break.
    You have to be at least 2 hours and up to 3 hours off duty or in sleeper to stop 14 hours. You can be more then 3 hours off duty or in sleeper but they will count it as 3. The second part of split sleeper is in sleeper only. No personal conveyance, no OFF duty. Depends on first part you have to be in sleeper 8 or 7 hours.
    If you was driving split sleeper mode and came to home terminal pay attention to HOS. If there is time for longer rest period you have to log it as sleeper. Otherwise you will be in violation. Sounds stupid but was written by stupids.
     
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  7. Snailexpress

    Snailexpress Road Train Member

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    2 hours consecutive. Not total.
     
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  8. snowez

    snowez Light Load Member

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    So on-duty and any sort of remark for 30 minutes will count towards a break? Fueling, Loading, Unloading, Drop and Hook ETC?

    Also can you explain why off-duty and on-duty would be better to cover my 30 minute break? Sorry I'm brand new to all this stuff so I'm learning how it all works.

    So if I'm off-duty for 2 hours how long will my clock stop for? Also the same for 3 hours for off-duty
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2021
  9. Wasted Thyme

    Wasted Thyme Road Train Member

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    To help explain split birth better. Instead of taking a 10 hour break. Like normal. You can take a short break. Which can be either off duty or sleeper. Plus a long break. Which has to be sleeper. The short can be any length. But at least 2 hours. The longer break is minimum of 7 hours. The combination must equal 10 hours.

    A trick you can use while waiting at customers. Is to use the will pair and sleeper. If you're stuck for over 2 hours. You won't burn your 14. You can still pair it with a normal 10 hour break.
     
  10. snowez

    snowez Light Load Member

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    Good info all, learning more then my trainer ever cared to teach me.

    Thanks
     
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  11. Cattleman84

    Cattleman84 Road Train Member

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    If you go off duty or sleeper for more than 2 hours but less than 7 hours you can use this as the shorter portion of a split berth break, and it will pause your 14... Provided that once you stop for the day you pair that previous break with a sleeper berth of at least 7 hours for the longer portion of the split. These 2 breaks MUST add up to at least 10 hours.

    The shorter break can be either off duty or sleeper, and MUST be at least 2 consecutive hours. The longer break MUST be sleeper, and be at least 7 consecutive hours. When added together these 2 breaks MUST add up to AT LEAST 10 hours.

    It DOES NOT matter which break you do first. The first break PAUSES your 14. The second break will give you back the time you had used BEFORE the FIRST break. IF the second break is 10+ hours it will reset your 11 and 14 hour clocks.

    To be honest, I really suggest that new drivers dont try to use the split berth break until the have a good handle on how logging a normal 14 hour day works, and what all the clocks mean.

    Once you can plan out a week of normal days ahead of time. Complete those days with ZERO log violations and they look pretty close to what you planned them to be a week prior... Then you can start to play with Split-Berth resets and learn how they work.

    I know many drivers that have thought they knew how split berth resets worked... And then learned that they were wrong during a log book inspection by a DOT officer.

    Now for the 30 min break... Any combination of duty status OTHER THAN "driving" that lasts consecutive 30 mins will complete the 30 min break....

    10 mins "On Duty-Yard Move" to check in and dock at shipper. Immediately followed by 20 mins of "Sleeper" while getting loaded. Together they are 30 consecutive mins, and complete the 30 min break.


    If you are doing ANYTHING related to the truck, load, or other company business you need to be on duty. If you are just shooting the bull, wandering around to stretch you legs, or anything else that is 100% non-company/work related you can go Off Duty.

    But don't stay on duty if you dont have to... It wastes your 70 hour clock. Learning good time management is very important to being good at OTR work.

    When I was OTR I could get loaded in ID, unload and reload somewhere between MI and TN, unload in UT or MT, and return to ID in 5 to 7 days.... Sometimes covering as much as 4250 miles in that time, all on ELD with ZERO violations. The ONLY way that kind of mileage in that time is possible is GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT, and knowing how to run a tight log book.
     
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