Night Owl Exception To New HOS Rule?

I agree. It does nothing to combat fatigue. I find myself doing split sleeper berth more now just to get that 30-minute break dealt with in a way that doesn't add that half hour into my trips... especially the last leg into the receiver.

 

Windsmith You left out:

State and Federal officials may only impose penalties for violations that occurred in this country.
For example, upon entering this country, Canadian and Mexican drivers must show a current RODS for the previous 7 consecutive days. U.S. officials cannot penalize a driver for actions that occurred abroad,

I can drive 13 hours in Canada the day before entering the US and not be penalized.

I have been told by Canadian "DOT" officers that a 36 hour restart and 14 days of logs are required before entering Canada or they can put you OOS for 72 hours.

If you follow US HOS while in Canada with the 36 hour restart and 14 days of logs and at least 24 hours off duty in the last 14 days if recapping you will be fine.

 

What they are saying is that you can't be penalized for for any violations that may have occurred outside the US. BUT they CAN put you OOS in the US until you are compliant with US rules. From the HOS FAQ:

While an 8 hour break is legal in Canada if other conditions are met, it is not legal in the US. A Canadian driver would be required to take a full 10 hour break upon entering the US if this were the case. I would also expect that if a Canada legal 34 hour restart in the previous 7 days did not comply with US rules regarding the 1am to 5am periods, AND the driver's log showed he was over 70 hours if the restart was not completed, THEN the Canadian driver would be put OOS until he's legal to drive again.

It does seem that the FAQ is contradictory on this point, however:

So one answer says that a driver who enters the country compliant with Canadian rules but non-compliant with US rules would be required to take a 10 hour break. That same answer says that a driver cannot be penalized for actions that occurred outside of the US. Then the above answer says that being placed OOS is a 'serious penalty'. I suppose that it could be argued that even though the driver is non compliant with US rules, there is nothing that US authorities can do about it since the driver cannot be penalized for actions that occurred outside the US.

Thoughts?

 

I doubt it.

Too many Canadians come down operating on their hours of service and breaks and do not have to comply with the US. Otherwise, you would have seen more of this on the news and in the forum.

 

Once they're in the US, they have to comply with our HOS rules. So do the Mexicans. That is the law in the US, and just because you might be a foreign national doesn't mean you don't have to comply with our laws. It's the same for us when we go into another country.

 

I am not in disagreement with them complying once in the country.

My point is that their break is under their own law and if they enter the US, they are legal at the time of entry no matter what break they took as far as the 36 hour break.

 

And once they're in this country, their log book must be legal according to our laws. They just don't get carte blanche to run willy-nilly in violation of our laws, no matter how legal they may be 1' north of the border. While they may have enough hours off on a 36 to comply with our 34-hour restart, they have to have the 1-5AM provision covered too... or they are running illegally. That's what the OP is complaining about.

 

It is treated the same as my log book when I enter Canada. I do not have to adhere to their rules for the 14 days prior to my entry.

You might want to address this with the many drivers from Canada that drive here.

 

I know where the confusion comes from... our laws are more restrictive. If you're legal down here, most likely you're legal going north. Coming the other direction, you may or may not. Bottom line is you can't drive down here using Canadian laws, and once you're across the border, you must be legal under our more restrictive HOS law.

 

Yes. But then again, I can run longer up there and be legal. Then, when I return to the states, I am still legal with the long days on my log. These days are not legal in the states, but are fine when I cross back.