HOS question

The 70 hour rule, you can not been on duty more than 70 hours and still DRIVE (line 3 and 4) you can not drive, you can do other work but can not drive until you are below the 70 hours. A driver can take as many restarts they want as often as they want if they want to. Key words driving is different than working under the FMCSR, they have different definitions.

 

Your absolutely correct now and don't worry I understand the rules and how to work them to my advantage better than most. What I am saying is don't post contradictory #### without citing proof of your view from the FMCSA. It's not my job to research and prove your argument it's yours. There are way too many opinions spouted on this site as hard truths with no backup and it gets tiresome wading thru the drivel.

 

Driver, I know what you are talking about, many drivers don't even look up anything, I do and have taught the FMCSR for the past 15 years and have contacted the local FMCSR reps, not many people do that.

 

First of all, I wasn't the one making the assertion that you couldn't take a 34 unless you were below 70 hours on the week...I was asking the person who HAD made that claim to post up the regulation #, because I've read the regulations several times and have never seen it.

Now on to YOUR statement about "must" take a restart before exceeding 70: If I work 14 hour days M-F, that's 70 hours. If I wrench on the truck on Saturday taking care of "preventive maintenance" and "normal wear & tear" parts replacement...tires, brakes, grease, oil change, whatever...I'm LEGALLY exceeding the 70 hours, I just can't drive. So let's say I put in 10 hours on Saturday, punching out at 7 PM...I'm at 80 hours for the week.

Now if I take 34 hours off between 7 PM Sat and 5 AM Mon, even under the "2 consecutive periods of 1 AM to 5 AM" BS, I could LEGALLY roll at 5 AM Monday morning. I don't HAVE to wait until Tuesday when last Monday's hours fall off so that I'm below 70 in 8 days for my restart to begin...and for anyone to suggest such a thing is absolutely ridiculous. It is not in the regs. You can work on line 4 (NOT DRIVING) as long as you want or need to....all the regulation state is that you cannot DRIVE past the 14th hour after coming on duty since your last 10 hour break, and you cannot DRIVE past the 70th hour in 8 consecutive days...unless you've had 34 hours off duty to reset your work week hours. Nothing requires your hours to be below 70 in order to restart, which is the claim I was responding to.

 

Yea 10/4 ....I agree..but for
me as driver..I was just assuming the post was meant for driving and not "working" beyond 70..

 

???????? What. News to me. I don't think this is correct. Maybe you'd like to revise this?

 

34-HOUR RESTART - Section E
E-1 . Does 34 consecutive hours off duty automatically restart the calculation of the 60/70-hour on-duty period?
A driver may restart the 60/70-hour period by taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty provided at the beginning of the 34-hour period, the driver has not accumulated more than 60 or 70 on-duty hours in the 7 or 8 consecutive day period. If a driver has exceeded the 60/70-hour on-duty limit, the driver may not utilize the 34-hour restart and must continue to operate under the provisions of section 395.3(b) to calculate the hours available under the 60/70-hour time limit. This would continue until the driver ends a 24 hour period under the 60/70-hour time limit.
Time spent to gain compliance with the 60/70-hour limitation may not be counted as part of a 34-hour re-start period. As soon as the driver ends a 24-hour period under the 60/70-hour limit, the driver has the option of either using any available time to drive up to the 60/70-hour limit and then beginning the 34-hour period, or remaining off duty for an additional 34-hour which would then restart the 7- or 8- day period.

THERE IT IS!!

 

Cite the link you pulled that from please.

 

Driver I got this from my FMCSR Compliance manual page 505 but the link to the FMCSA is www.[B]fmcsa[/B].dot.gov or you can contact your local FMCSA rep in you state. Drivers I know the regs and I have researched the info over the last 20 years. I was also on the Legislative and Regulatory Committee of the CVTA.

 

How about a link? I'm not finding anything on the FMCSA website...