CDL driver's duty status when permit driver is driving

The CDL driver (trainer) can drive all 11 hours if he wants to, then turn the wheel over to the permit holder (trainee) and log as many On Duty hours as he wants. That is legal. You can log more than 14 hours On Duty, you just can't drive beyond the 14 hour clock.

As a trainer for Swift when I take on a new trainee we sometimes have loads that the trainee driving by him/herself can't complete in a day's driving. Then I "Super Single" the day's driving. I'll log in first and drive as many miles as I figure will get the trainee into position to take over and finish the day's run. For example, if an 800 mile load has to be delivered within 24 hours that can't be legally done in a 62 mph truck, so I'll drive about 250-300 miles and let the trainee take the rest.

Once my 70 hour clock is eaten up, then we can no longer Super Single. Then all runs are up to the trainee to complete on time. Frequently during the end of solo phase of training my 70 hour clock will be running in deficit.

The only advantage to running in this manner with a permit holder is being able to Super Single while the CDL holder has available hours on his 70 hour clock. In that way you can increase your overall miles, but it will be entirely up to your ability to stay awake for the entire time the permit holder is at the wheel. At some point you will want to take a 34 hour reset to get some good sleep and get a fresh 70.

To respond to the OP's other point... yes, there is good karma involved if you train up a competent, safe driver.

 

I'm sure the rules have changed significantly on training.. but in 1999-2000 I was a Trainer for MS Carriers in Memphis. . We Did run as a team operation when I got comfortable with my student..

 

Actually, if the CDL driver is riding shotgun and the permit driver is behind the wheel, and the permit driver gets pulled over and gets a ticket, more likely than not, the ticket won't go against the CDL driver. Unless, of course, there is an accident and law enforcement can show the CDL driver could have alerted the permit driver of the potential accident and didn't. But that's a tough one to prove.

 

By the time you get on a trainers truck, you already have a CDL.

 

On duty not driving.