Can a company mandate using sleeper status during 10 Hour Break

§ 395.2: Definitions.

On-duty time shall include:

(4) All time in or on a commercial motor vehicle, other than:

(i) Time spent resting in or on a parked vehicle, except as otherwise provided in § 397.5 of this subchapter;

(ii) Time spent resting in a sleeper berth; or

(iii) Up to 2 hours riding in the passenger seat of a property-carrying vehicle moving on the highway immediately before or after a period of at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth;

 

Most drivers are only aware of WC rules after they get hurt. One sneaky way to screw you is to accept the home state of the company as your WC site. Which makes following the rules to claim WC very difficult. Thats usually hidden in all the paper work they shove at you at O and its accept it or go home.Not uncommon to force a driver to live at the terminal the whole time on light duty. If you don't you loose it. But thats a whole different can of worms.

 

In order to comply with § 395.2(4)(ii), you must be logged on line 2, showing that you are resting in the sleeper while you are on/in the commercial motor vehicle.

 

Dude you have to sleep. Just log it. For F sake you're not making sense. It is written in the law. If you sleep its sleeper berth. Simple. Unless you can show you get a motel or sleep outside the truck in a hammock stretched out under the cross beams of your trailer, you use a tent, or driver lounge like a homeless dude.

 

I am often befuddled when a driver asks a question...then does not get the answer they were seeking...only to then become more dug in to what they wanted to hear.

OP...you have haven gotten the answer to your question...very few if any will agree with you. This is one of those moments where you need to say to yourself..."ya know they have a point."

 

§ 395.2(4)(i) is there for the 30 minute break. It allows drivers who may not have a sleeper (i.e. day cabs) to legally take the required break without having to exit the truck. This is especially helpful in situations involving inclement weather, because nobody wants to stand outside in the rain/cold for 30 minutes in order to be able to show "off duty" time. This was a recent expansion of the purpose behind it. Originally, it was used by those hauling certain hazmat substances which required monitoring, so that a driver hauling a load of explosives could still meet the HOS requirements for driving and rest periods.

It does NOT cover time spent in the sleeper berth, which is covered by § 395.2(4)(ii).

 

DOT assumes sleeping is done in the sleeper as long as a driver is in the vehicle. DOT assumes not sleeping when logging Off Duty time when you're in the vehicle.

It's great fun to have intellectual discussion about complex, confusing regulations. As a retired FAA inspector whose duty was to enforce similar and even more confusing required rest regulations, it's very common to delve into the fine points in a regulated industry, but it is not an argument you will win when push comes to shove against them.