16 hour Big Day

You can use 16 hours only if it will get you back to your starting place,but you can only drive for 11 hours the 16 hour rule doesn’t extend your driving time

 

1. Yes it's proper. There is no restriction on if it's unforeseen or not.
2. No it's not. The 11 hour clock is the 11 hour clock. No general way to extend it.

There are two 16 hr clocks. The local big day and the adverse driving conditions. Under adverse driving conditions you can extend your drive time to 13 hours. Problem is, it must qualify as adverse driving. Poor planning doesn't qualify. Heck, even weather doesn't typically qualify as it tends to be forecasted days out. Even long unload times don't qualify. It has to be a true unforeseen issue like the freeway shut down due to a wreck.

See 395.1(b) and the referenced sections. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-...subchapter-B/part-395/subpart-A/section-395.1

Question 4: Are there allowances made in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for delays caused by loading and unloading?
No. Although the regulations do make some allowances for unforeseen contingencies such as in §395.1(b), adverse driving conditions, and §395.1(b)(2), emergency conditions, loading and unloading delays are not covered by these sections.

Question 5: How may a driver utilize the adverse driving conditions exception or the emergency conditions exception as found in §395.1(b), to preclude an hours of service violation?
An absolute prerequisite for any such claim must be that the trip involved is one which could normally and reasonably have been completed without a violation and that the unforeseen event occurred after the driver began the trip.

Drivers who are dispatched after the motor carrier has been notified or should have known of adverse driving conditions are not eligible for the two hours additional driving time provided for under §395.1(b), adverse driving conditions. The term “in any emergency” shall not be construed as encompassing such situations as a driver’s desire to get home, shippers’ demands, market declines, shortage of drivers, or mechanical failures.