Improper use of personal conveyance violation

If you'd gotten stopped by DOT they would've cited you for illegal use of PC simply because it was "work related" going to work, leaving your home base to go to another yard or anywhere under company dispatch PC cannot be utilized. If you had to go get a DOT inspection from your mechanic you cannot use PC. But if you were going to get a burger, pickup your daughter from school then stop by the store before you drop her off a daycare THAT can be used as PC. But as soon as you leave that daycare to go to the yard to pickup your trailer you'd better be on duty utilizing HOS or have an excellent lie in the pocket.

 

Depends on if you started your PC trip at the empty, but generally speaking using PC while bobtailing is the safest way to do it.

 

So basically, unless I'm missing something, the only missing piece in OP's scenario that would have gotten him in the clear, was to first return to a/the carrier terminal and then head home, given that the return to carrier was on duty and he still had enough time to get there? Seem's like in #2's guidance to include "work sites" could be enough? Am I not reading this correctly or is there something I'm not considering re OP's trip?

(a) Examples of appropriate uses of a CMV while off-duty for personal conveyance include, but are not limited to: 1. Time spent traveling from a driver's en route lodging (such as a motel or truck stop) to restaurants and entertainment facilities. 2. Commuting between the driver's terminal and his or her residence, between trailer drop lots and the driver's residence, and between work sites and his or her residence. In these scenarios, the commuting distance combined with the release from work and start to work times must allow the driver enough time to obtain the required restorative rest as to ensure the driver is not fatigued.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmc...v-personal-conveyance-regulatory-guidance.pdf

 

You should have drove 5 mph home instead of PC

 

Should have said you were looking for the nearest safe place to park. You can't use PC to go home.

 

I've used PC to get home many times after unloading at a receiver and have had DOT inspections seeing it, and they've never questioned it a single time. Maybe they can if they want to be a dick, but they don't.

 

If you're an O/o. It's technically a violation. Like a company driver heading to the yard.

 

Lucky to only get Improper Use violation... Several drivers at my company have gotten "Falsification of Logs" and been put OOS for using PC improperly... That one carries ALOT of points.

 

Yeah I had a driver who didn't listen and used it improperly. He got two false log violations with PC and was put OOS both times. We tried to fight it but no go because PC isn't supposed to be used as many companies allow it to happen. The worst thing the FMCSA did was to even mention it, let alone write a guidance about it.

 

Exactly. Returning to the terminal is on duty. That ends the trip. Then going home is seen as no different than driving home in your Prius.
The confusion comes in when home is the same place as the normal work reporting location. Mostly applies to O/O's but can apply to some company drivers too. In a nutshell driving home is fine, while finishing the trip isn't.