HoS ?

If a DOT officers gives you a ticket for logging line 1 while you're sitting in the restaurant eating I would think it's pretty fair to assume he's hell bent on citing you for something. That being the case I have to think this would be one of the easier ones to fight.

 

No, the RULES do not specifically state anything about "Off Duty" time, other than stating that it is the time when a driver is not on duty, is not required to be in readiness to work, or is not under any responsibility for performing work.

If you are eating, using the rest room, grocery shopping, laying under a shade tree watching the clouds go by, playing with the dog, or doing anything else not work-related, you are off duty. You don't need "permission" to be off duty, because the regulations state that you are off duty during this time.

Your responsibility to the motor carrier is to arrive at shippers and receivers on time, oversee loading & unloading, fuel up and drive the truck, perform the required inspections on the truck (pre-trip, post-trip, en-route), and complete the necessary paperwork. All other time not required for those activities is yours to choose how to spend it.

The only place you are finding the "written permission" requirement is in the FAQ, NOT in the actual regulations. It has never been subject to the rule making process, and has no regulation number to cite. You cannot be issued a citation, let alone be placed out of service, for not having a card which the regulations do not require you to have.

This is just another example of the large carriers telling new drivers ridiculous things to attempt to control their time.

 

Yes. Your 14 hours start the time you go on duty to start your day and do not stop (except for with 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper if using the split sleeper provision). If you start your day at 6 AM, you must complete all of your driving before 8 PM...within 14 hours. Logging off duty time while eating, using the rest room, etc. saves you hours towards your 70, because the 70 only counts time spent on lines 3 & 4.

If you're using paper logs, they are in 15 minute increments. While you CAN write specific times to try to show 5 minutes here or there, most drivers will just flag the change of duty status if it takes less than 7 1/2 minutes, and log 15 minutes if it takes more than 7 1/2 minutes.

 

freightliner guy, great point and thanks. while on that same break to bad we can't fuel up and not have it count against us.. or can we ??

 

Fueling is part of your responsibility as a driver. It is on duty time.

 

1.) It's all your fault.

2&3) You can be off duty any time you have been relieved of control and responsibility of the CMV. See, this is where the problems come into play; when on the road the carrier ALWAYS MAKES YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRUCK AND ITS CARGO and you are. UNLESS you are relieved, that is where the written permission comes in and why you are best to have it on you during a stop.

Talk to your regulatory dept and ask them clear, detailed, and precise questions so the two of you have a mutual understanding of what the procedure is to be. You don't want to mess that up. If they give you permission to log "Meal times" off duty, that means "Meal times" not potty stops and shopping trips. DOT deal in black and white. If your carrier gives you permission to take "Breaks" off duty, then almost anything goes; meals, shopping, potty breaks, after bumping the dock and being relieved from loading by shipper / consignee / etc. Any time not driving or working is off duty unless your carrier says you are on duty; THEY WON'T, otherwise you would only be able to drive 11hrs out of 70hrs worked and then you would have to have a 34 hour restart before returning to work.

Also, a new regulation REQUIRES a minimum of 30 minute break after 3 hours and before 8 hours. But the regulation elsewhere still states "Written permission." I think it should be obvious to everyone that they f#@ked up; but it is the law. Get a letter to CYA.

4.) Depends. Are you on paper logs or EOBR?

Paper logs are broken down into 15 minute blocks of time. Any change of duty that is less than 7 minutes in length does not need documented on the grid, but you will want to make a log book entry just as you would any other.

EOBR will allow you to document everything as it happens in real time, including a 5 minute stop to potty. I would advise any driver that if they are stopping and exiting the CMV for any reason and the CMV is out of their sight for any period of time, ie in the rest room, you should perform and log an "In-route Inspection" just as you would any other stop. Between the personal stuff and inspection and logging time you will have more than 7 minutes.

Also, a note about increasing driving hours while using paper logs. If you stop to use the rest room, get a soda, etc AND you perform an In-route Inspection bringing the stops total time to 7 minutes of actual time, you will be required to log it as 15 minutes, due to log books grid. That is 8 minutes additional earning time you do not have charged against your 11. Lets say you are on a day that does not require you to load or unload and you are running down the road, if you were to stop say 11 times during the day you gain an extra hour and a half driving time in your day; actually 88 minutes. Now 11 times is a bit excessive, but any time is better than none. This works well in situations that you are running out of your 11 but have plenty of time left on your 14.

 

No, it does not. The "FAQ" is the only place you are finding anything in regards to "written permission"...and the answers to the FAQ do not have the power of law. There is no regulation number to cite in order to charge a driver (or anyone else, for that matter) with a violation because it isn't a regulation. The "written permission" you speak of has never passed through the regulatory process to be included in the regulations. There is nothing in the regulations requiring you to carry it in the truck, and there is nothing in the regulations requiring the carrier to keep a copy of it in their records. You do not need "written permission" to log off duty time, and as long as you do not meet the criteria for being on lines 2, 3, or 4, you should be logging the time on line 1. There isn't a #### thing the DOT or anyone else can do to you for showing your "Off Duty" time on line 1...providing you were, in fact, off duty at the time. If you should have been on duty (i.e. loading/unloading/fueling/inspecting/repairing/etc.), in the sleeper, or driving...and you logged off duty time...you falsified your logs....and that they CAN write you up for.

 

Taking a pee break only takes 3-5 minutes and you don't have to flag it or anything. I mean, you can, but prepare to be laughed at if you get your logs checked. If you stop for a 5 minute break for whatever 3 times over the course of the day, then you can stick a 15 minute break in there to match your time up again if you want. You don't have to flag it though. I don't.

I just handed the DOT guy at the scalehouse a month's worth of logs the other day just to see if he would find anything. He didn't. Nothing about the way I log off-duty time at shippers or wherever and don't flag it. Nothing about written permission. I've never been asked for that and I've only had it at one company. The only thing I was doing wrong was not writing down the load numbers or what I was hauling. They still enforce that.

Always log fuel stops accurately. That's one thing they can go back and check, especially if you have a comdata card. They can access the records on that card directly and they will.