Am I abusing HOS exemptions too much?

PC quickly became a cruel joke in my opinion.

Shipper kicks you off property - LEO directs you (wherever) , when you are out of hours, are the only legal uses in my mind.

I don’t use it anymore.

 

We've used PC when we got stuck in customs because USDA was backed up for three hours. What are you going to do? Take a 10 in the parking lot at customs?

We've used adverse conditions when a wreck closed the road during a snow storm and we had to go around and add 80 miles. With live cargo, sitting isn't much of an option, nor is taking a 10 at 6 degrees.

There's a time and a place. Not a lot of times or a lot of places.

 

In theory, I use it, but I'm on paper. So 2 weeks ago I delivered to Middletown, OH. I pick up from Cliffs too, but our guy didn't have a load. I dropped the trailer and bobtail to the market, then to planet fitness. That's PC right there!

 

I use PC on occasion. Always the 'PERSONAL' part being the operative reason. My company is really picky about when and where you can drop a trailer. Practically, at a terminal or required at a shipper/receiver are about the only acceptable times. So, if I'm at a terminal, want to go to a store or restaurant, bobtail, with absolutely no load significance associated with it, then PC works just fine. I did have a situation where I think it was OK to use PC. I stopped at a truck stop. Took a shower and afterward wanted to go to a different place for dinner. That place was in the opposite direction from advancing my load and, after my shower, I didn't have legal hours to drive. So, I used PC to go to the restaurant. I stopped there for the night and then didn't PC back to the truck stop I originally stopped. My thinking is and was, if it is abundantly clear that this use of PC offers no advantage to my load or advancing to a terminal and is strictly for a personal reason, then PC is OK. But, to me, use of PC has to clearly have no positive effect on load.
Or, use of PC to find safe parking after running out of hours at a shipper/receiver. The 'safe' part of that situation is the subjective part. What is safe in that situation? If I'm in an area I am unfamiliar with, where it is safe can be questionable. I have a delivery on occasion at a place in the City of Industry California. It is 16 miles from there to my closest terminal. I have used PC a couple of times to go to my terminal for safe parking. May be other spots closer, but I honestly don't know if they are safe and I almost never park on an on ramp, off ramp or turn out because I've never felt safe parking in such a spot. So, to me, that terminal 16 miles away IS the closest safe parking. Unsure if that will ever give me a problem, but I'd definitely fight it if I received a ticket as a result. What I consider safe and what Mr. DOT considers safe, may not be the same. Regardless, I'm using my opinion of safe!

 

My pen and loose leafs determine what I do sometimes. I can’t help it. I am a victim. My pen has threatened to stab me in the eye so I just go along with whatever it wants. The loose leafs also threaten me with severe paper cuts. I think they are both anti-government.

 

Could have easily just used the split.

 

Unless you have a magic box, the split does not make time, nor is being in the sleeper at customs a winning strategy.....

 

It's not so much going home that's allowed. What's allowed is right in the name of the guidance, namely "personal"
In your case it's not valid as it's a continuation of the trip. I.E. the trip is out and back. It doesn't matter if back the stopping point is the terminal or house. What matters to fmcsa is the trip, not trying to play games of semantics. .If you are still on the trip, even coming home, PC doesn't apply.

As kind of stated earlier there are only two times one can use PC and it not be 100% personal.
That is getting told to move by LEO's or getting kicked out of shipper/receiver.
Every other case has to be 100% personal use.

If you look at the wording of PC guidance, the only time home is mentions (residence actually) it specifically says from terminal to home. Nothing about from receiver to home....

Examples of Appropriate Uses of a CMV While Off-duty for Personal Conveyance

1. Time spent traveling from a driver’s en route lodging (such as a motel or truck stop) to restaurants and entertainment facilities.
2. Commuting between the driver’s terminal and his or her residence, between trailer-drop lots and the driver’s residence, and between work sites and his or her residence. In these scenarios, the commuting distance combined with the release from work and start to work times must allow the driver enough time to obtain the required restorative rest as to ensure the driver is not fatigued.
3. Time spent traveling to a nearby, reasonable, safe location to obtain required rest after loading or unloading. The time driving under personal conveyance must allow the driver adequate time to obtain the required rest in accordance with minimum off-duty periods under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) (property-carrying vehicles) or 395.5(a) (passenger-carrying vehicles) before returning to on-duty driving, and the resting location must be the first such location reasonably available.
4. Moving a CMV at the request of a safety official during the driver’s off-duty time
5. Time spent traveling in a motorcoach without passengers to en route lodging (such as motel or truck stop), or to restaurants and entertainment facilities and back to the lodging. In this scenario, the driver of the motorcoach can claim personal conveyance provided the driver is off-duty. Other off-duty drivers may be on board the vehicle, and are not considered passengers.
6. Time spent transporting personal property while off-duty.
7. Authorized use of a CMV to travel home after working at an offsite location.

 

It pauses time. So you still have 3 hours of time.