Hours of service questions and answers

I must be ill, But I'am actually agreeing with someone. You are absolutely correct. There is no limit to hours you can work, only t hours you can drive..... It's a miracle...

 

thank you. i KNOW for a fact that you can be on line 4, and PAST your 14 hr clock. Everybody thinks it is a work clock. it isnt really...it is still your drive clock. you're just given 14 hrs to drive 11 hrs. You can be 'working' 40 straight hours if you want. But you have to get a 10 hr break on line 1 or 2 or a combo of both before you DRIVE again. If i've ever run up against my 14 or my 70 hr clock, and i drive right up to it...then do a 15 min post trip...i've never been in violation with DOT or the company when my logs have been audited. Thats why i use driver daily log.com off my laptop.

 

Yeah, I total back DDL. Cheap insurance.

 

Encourage you to push your 70 with the "off duty" lunch break and the "relieved of duty" company authorized cards.

We have drivers who easily exceed 80 actual hrs. a log week using these.

I say " If I can't make a decent living inside of the legal 70 then I need a new job"

 

i've been pulled around to the back of scales twice in the last year as a 'spot check'. They'll ask to see my logbook, permit book and paperwork for the load. As soon as they ask for the logbook, and i crack open the laptop, they've always said "oh its on computer, dont worry about it, you're good". Bingo....that alone was worth the $100 price tag. Especially if it prevents me from getting a ticket.

as far as chalupa's post.....i dunno if you're just trying to be funny, or if you were serious, but the first page in a swift logbook says:

"This letter authorizes our driver, ______________, to be off-duty during meal and other routine stops"

i'm guessing this is that 'card' you're talking about. But regardless if i had it or not...if i'm not driving the truck, and i'm parked, 'card' or not...i'm on line 1.

as far as driving OTR, and those drivers saying "oh, i'm always pushing my 70" or "i'm almost always running closer to 80 actual hours......know somethin'? When i'm not home......i'm at work. period. i'm "working" 24 hours a day. Yeah, i know that when talking about the 70, we're talking about operation of the truck. but what it all boils down to, is when we roll out of the house for our first load, i'm on the clock till i get back home.

 

As of august 18,2010 I just heard a driver say that the 8 hours of driving per day was just passed yesterday. A friend of mine that used to be a trainer and knows logs very well, called DOT or some federal agency and found out the the new rule will allow you to do 11 hours of driving in a 24 hour period but once you have driven 8 hours you have to go to the sleeper for 4 hours then you can come back on and drive up to 3 more hours. Now that I just added up 8+4+3 = 15 I can see that it goes over the current 14 hour rule. Does anyone else know the exact details of the new rule and when it goes into effect?

 

No one except FMCSA, DOT and OMB know what's in it - because no one is letting on what the changes are! Anything you "hear" is BS right now. I believe Oct. 31st is when it will be unveiled for comment - and then there will be quite awhile (including legal challenges) until anything changes.

 

Anything else is speculation.

 

Exactly.....

 

Yeah, but the problem is, if you log 14.5 or 15 hours a day, you run out of hours pretty quick.