Need to know

it is only 30 minutes per day. and you cant use it all the time or you may get a call. I use it every now any then if i am like 15 minutes from a terminal and i am not going to make it.

 

It doesn't accumulate. Before electronic logs, you could just drive on off duty and it is the same effect. Can't be under a load or dispatched to pick up a load and you are legal. You could drive half way across the country off duty and be legal because you aren't performing work functions. Just like driving your car. Company policy is another story.

 

Shane the point is that it is there in case you need it. i.e. you are at a terminal and want to go get some food. or need to get to a safe haven. or when your dispatcher asks you to run somewhere and pick up a driver or something. I think that in my 11 months of driving i have used it maybe a handful of times. Its not there to be used every day.

 

I've used it to run and get food during a break and to get home on Friday if I run out of hours (empty of course) both of which are legal uses.

I'm trying to find the language that says you can use it but it's very hard to find. I know it's out there, I've seen it before, a long time ago, and if it weren't legal it wouldn't even be an option on the Qualcomm.

 

Part 395.8, Interpretations Question 26 states, "Guidance: When a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver’s home to their terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver’s terminal to their home, may be considered Off-Duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver’s en-route lodgings (such as en-route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered Off-Duty time.

The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver’s home, from the driver’s home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en-route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance.

(This is from DOT and their interpretation of the regulation, even though it does not specify in the actual text)

 

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/driver/hos/fmcsa-guide-to-hos.pdf

Straight from the horses mouth

 

You can't be dispatched under a load, and you can't better yourself towards a load. Other than those two you can use the 30 mins to run to a store, or go home, however you can't use it to get back to a terminal from hometime as you are bettering yourself towards a load. You can't use it to go pick up a empty. You also can't use it to do work for the company, such as going to a shop or in Samurai's example dispatch having you pick someone up. You can't use it for that.

You can use it to go to a truck stop after unloading at a final stop, however lets say by chance you end up going the same way as the load you are picking up, you are suppose to have logs edit that driving time to drive line. If it took you the opposite way of the load you are fine using off duty drive.



Its for personal conveyance-

Question 26: If a driver is permitted to use a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for personal reasons, how must the driving time be recorded?

Guidance: When a driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work, time spent traveling from a driver's home to his/her terminal (normal work reporting location), or from a driver's terminal to his/her home, may be considered off-duty time. Similarly, time spent traveling short distances from a driver's en route lodgings (such as en route terminals or motels) to restaurants in the vicinity of such lodgings may be considered off-duty time. The type of conveyance used from the terminal to the driver's home, from the driver's home to the terminal, or to restaurants in the vicinity of en route lodgings would not alter the situation unless the vehicle is laden. A driver may not operate a laden CMV as a personal conveyance. The driver who uses a motor carrier's Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) for transportation home, and is subsequently called by the employing carrier and is then dispatched from home, would be on-duty from the time the driver leaves home.

A driver placed out of service for exceeding the requirements of the hours of service regulations may not drive a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) to any location to obtain rest.

 

And L.B. answered as I was typing.