30 Minute Violation.

It is my understanding that you "can" take as many breaks as you want but that you are "required" to take one after 8 continuous hours of driving. Because you took your break early and then had a 9 hour drive to end your day you exceeded the mandatory break after 8 hours. I believe that is why most drivers recommend taking closer to mid shift to ensure there are not 8 hours left in your driving day.

 

It's before 8hrs ON DUTY for any reason. Driving, loading, fueling, unloading, whatever. My elog starts that 8 and counts down no matter what once it starts until it's been off duty 30 minutes then it resets to what I had left ( or 8 if I got screwed on timing and had more than 8 left. It will never reset to more than 8 available ever ) before the 30 minute off duty period started.

I've had situations due to the way the unload then travel time to the next customer and reload fell over the course of the day that I've had to take 3 thirty minute breaks to get all the drive hours available to me for that day to make the next days delivery on time. That's the extreme on that side of it but just shows the absurdness of the rule. In the situation you describe you would have to take 2 breaks of 30 minutes to get all your available time for that day.

There is is no limit to the number of 30 minute breaks you can take within the 11/14, only that it MUST be done before you have been continuously on duty in any capacity for 8straight

whenever possible try to take it between the 5 1/2 and 6th hour to only have to do it once and maximize all your hours available for that day if you need them.

 

Take it between 6-8 on and you'll be good.

 

Once you drop down to line 3 or 4 the 8 hour clock starts. No matter what line you are on during this "8" hour countdown it still counts as part of the 8 hour countdown until you take a 30 min break on line 1 or 2.

You noted that you finished your 30 min break at 1:30pm. Now the 8 hour clock starts again. You should have taken another break before 9:30pm.

Yes, you were over by 1 hour.

[h=3]Does a driver need a 30-minute break every 8 hours of driving?[/h]The 8 hours are consecutive hours, so they include driving and all other time (including any breaks that are less than 30 minutes). The new rule says you have to stop driving CMVs once you reach 8 consecutive hours past the end of your last break of at least 30 consecutive minutes

 

My best advise since I drive between 8 to 9 hours a day is stop after 3.5 hours of driving take your 30 min break and after that drive for the rest of the day. Some time I put a small 15 min break but I usually stop after 4 to 5 hours for 30min after I start my day. But having a qualcomm e log devise makes it ez mode.

 

i just stop where ever it's convenient and i'm ready. after the 3 hour mark. it's highly unlikely i'm going to finish out the remaining 8 anyways unless i'm feeling energetic.

 

I'd say you are better off stopping after 6 hours of coming on duty to take your 30 minute break, if possible. At least if you are running more regional or local operations, since then you are usually more limited by your 14 then your 11. The best way to think about the new 30 minute break requirement is that you now have an additional clock to work against. You still have your 11/14 hour clocks to worry about, but just add an 8 hour one. The only difference is that the 11/14 clocks are reset by a 10 hour break, and the 8 is reset by a 30 minute one. And the 8 hour clock works like the 14 hour one in that nothing stops it (ya ya, I know an 8 hour sleeper break extends the 14, but that's a moot point when worrying about the 8 hour clock.)