Local Driver HOS Question

Are you 70 in 8 days or 60 hours in 7 days..?

I know what he’s meaning..
Local drivers within a 100-mile radius of their work reporting location may be exempt from using ELDs and can use timecards instead, provided they stay within a 12-hour duty limit.

thats where that 12 hour comes from..

 

This is from the FMCSA website:

Short-Haul Exception
A driver is exempt from the requirements of §395.8 and §395.11 if: the driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location, and the driver does not exceed a maximum duty period of 14 hours. Drivers using the short-haul exception in §395.1(e)(1) must report and return to the normal work reporting location within 14 consecutive hours, and stay within a 150 air-mile radius of the work reporting location.

 

Local (short haul) exception is for drivers that leave from and return to the same work reporting location each shift, are given at least 10 consecutive hours off-duty and do not remain on-duty for more than 14 consecutive hours. 11 hours behind the wheel is still in effect.

The confusion is coming from an older version of the rule that called for 12 hour limit for CDL drivers while non-cdl drivers were given 14 hours. The two rules were homogonized several years ago.

Federal Register :: Request Access

 

If I read that right, a Driver can take the 16 hr exemption 2 times per week. Next question is whether the 70 hr rule sill holds, or is a total of 74 hrs OK?

 

70 hours still applies!

 

Yes, the maximum weekly time still applies. 60 hours total on-duty (including driving time) for motor carriers not operating commercial vehicles all 7 days every week and 70 hours for carriers regularly operating commercial vehicles 7 days per week. FMCSA does not define "regularly", however common interpretations take "regularly" to mean most weeks, so 48 or more out of 52. Some experts will say a carrier can switch back and forth, say for busy retail season, and while some retail season exceptions do apply, it is not a best practice to switch between 60 and 70 hour weekly totals.

Now, an important note about the 16 hour "big day" exception and you note than it appears to apply 2x per week.

The 16 hour 2x per week is for non-CDL drivers only. A driver of a vehicle not requiring a CDL, as defined in part 383, may stay exempt from log book/ELD requirements under the short haul rule with no more than 2 16 hour days in any 7 consecutive day period. This is designed to accommodate the tradespeople, vocational users of CMVs, and local delivery services using smaller CMVs as their operations can be very unpredictable.

For a short haul CDL required driver, they only get 1 "big day" using the 16 hour window, and for CDL required drivers, they don't retain the log book/ELD exception. A CDL required driver using the "big day" exception found at 395.1 (o), which exempts short haul drivers from the 14 hour clock once per 6 days (or after taking a 34 hour reset), does not also exempt them from the record of duty status requirements. 49 CFR 395.1(o) only offers exemption from 395.3(a)(2), which is the 14 hour window, not the RODS requirement. So, if the truck requires a CDL driver and their operation falls within the short haul parameters, they can have one long day that exceeds 14 hours on-duty, but they must log that day with a paper log book page or a and ELD.

§ 395.1 Scope of rules in this part.
(o) Property-carrying driver. A property-carrying driver is exempt from the requirements of § 395.3(a)(2) if:

(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;

(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

(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).

 

The regs don't require a specific reason to invoke the 16 hour exception when you otherwise qualify for the short haul rule set. This is true for both local non-CDL, that get two chances to have 16 hour days, and local CDL drivers that get one chance to have a 16 hour day. The company could make it part of their operational model to plan for these longer days, but usually they will not.

Now, a driver that does not qualify for the 150 air-mile short haul rule set, yes, they need a reason to use the extra 2 hours such as adverse conditions, but local drivers (unless it is a company policy) do not. So, if you took a layover somewhere in the last 5 days then you need to meet the criteria for adverse conditions to extend your day, but if you are truly a short haul driver then you do not need a reason to have a 16 hour day.

Many larger companies will not use the 16 hour day without a specific reason, such as traffic or weather delays, even when they can because of the issues it causes in the event of a crash. Lawyers love to pick apart hours of service and will quickly challenge if the driver was, or could have been, fatigued if the carrier regularly invokes the 16 hour rule for local P&D operations. They will suggest it represents poor load planning or an operational policy that puts profits above safety when a carrier routinely schedules drivers to use the 16 hour "big day" as an operational model.