Is on call on duty?

You can be on duty NOT DRIVING as long as you want past your 11 hrs of driving and 14 hour rule.

As has already been alluded to though, you cannot DRIVE again until you complete 10 consecutive hours off duty/ sleeper berth AFTER you go into off duty or sleeper status.

 

I'm on call quite often. I never log it as on duty. If I get called out after I've gone home for the day and I can't make it back to the yard by the end of my 16 hours elapsed time, I just tell the boss I'll get on it once I've had my consecutive 8 hours off duty. He doesn't always like that answer but its my license and record on the line.

 

So the question is, is being on call considered being on duty, even if he doesn't drive or get called

 

Being on call,in my opinion,is not on duty. You are not on duty just by answering phone either. If they call you say after you have been off duty for 8 hours you simply tell them you can't start driving until 2 more hours. Say you live 30 minutes away,leave in time to begin work right at your 10 hour break as driving personal vehicle to and from work is not considered on duty.

 

Okay, look. Your employer is a shady POS and you need to protect yourself. The situation you are in, is illegal. You need to start documenting every single thing, right now. Consider your options. Consider resigning under the right circumstances. But don't do it just yet. Read this carefully.

Yes, this is legally to be considered On Duty time. You are engaged and ready to accept work. This needs to be logged as such. On that note, YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO TALK TO A LAWYER. Do it asap.

Furthermore, If you are an hourly employee, you need to be paid your hourly rate for the time you are spending engaged and waiting to accept work. If they won't acknowledge this, you need to file a complaint with the labor commissioner.

What your employer is doing, is illegal. You should do the following, in this order:

1) Start looking for a new job. Line up something before you start this process.
2)Confront your boss in writing about your concerns; this is a legally protected complaint.
3) Document how they treat you after the complaint. Do they change your hours? Schedule change? Cut your hours? Reassign you to a less desirable position/shift? Treat you with disrespect? Document it, likely it will be considered illegal retaliation.
4) If they don't remedy the situation and start logging this properly or paying you properly, you need to file a Whistleblower complaint (online) with Federal OSHA because your concerns are legally protected under STAA and this situation is clearly a precursor to a lawsuit.
5) If they fire you within 6 months of making your concerns about this situation known, sue them for every penny you can. You would prevail in a wrongful termination suit. This is easier than you might think. You just find an attorney to put the heat on them until they cough up a settlement.

Good luck.

 

NO it isn't.

Here is why.

You can be on call all they want, that is just being able to work if needed not working. You have the freedom to do what you want while on call, but in this case it is the same as being off the clock

It matters if you take a phone call (or some other communications like text) and act before your 10 hours reset is done (that's engagement not a phone call), if you do than that the problem.

What I mean by "act" is actually going to the truck and working.

Now to clarify something, your time card is your log. You don't actually have to "log" but your time card is what you go by. So this means that if you had a 14 hour day, then you need that 10 hours off. It also means that within that 14 hours, if you drive 11, then you have 3 hours of work left to do. OR if you drive 6 hours, you have only 8 hours of work you can do, you can't drive beyond that 14 hours. It isn't like logging in that sense.

 

There is no dot rule about being on call. On call is not on duty. I have friends that are on call in 48 hour blocks. If they get called in the clock starts then when finished they take a 10 hour break and are back on call till the on call window is up.

 

Some office idiot is making up the rules to fit their situation, and make work easy for them. They do that. Learn the log rules and stand your ground. Have a conversation with the higher ups and get them on the same page before calling a lawyer, or resigning, or any of that crap.

You are right about the 14 hour window, and you are right about needed a 10 or at least 8 to proceed being on duty.

About, the question of being on duty when you are on call, can you be fired for not receiving that call? Are you expected to be at work if a call is received? Can you pursue other activities of your choice in that window of waiting for a call? If you are free to do what you want in that window and if their is no repercussions for not answering that call, it is safe to say you are off duty. If you have to show up for work on command in that window, if you have to pick up that call, if you could be fired for not taking a load in that window, there is more of a legal issue their and you better talk to a local lawyer familiar with your states labor laws and FMSCA to get the right answer there. Court cases have decided different ways on that subject.

Either way the higher ups are out to lunch at resolving their labor issues and you should get some understanding between them and the law before they get you in trouble.

 

If HOS RULES aren't broken it makes no difference if a company requires you to answer the phone. It's still off duty. Obviously he can't go drinking or go too far from home. If he doesn't like being on call he needs to find another job. Yes the 14 hour clock can't be broken up. If they don't understand at least that, give us your DOT number and they will surely be audited.

Example of on call for a driver using a log book.

Start time 3 am
Log 3 hours driving with all the stops
Done at yard 11am
Back home 12pm

Boss calls at 1pm and says need you for one more run.
You can work till 5pm.
Can't get back to yard till 2pm because of commute, gives 3 hours to do run. Not possible? "Sorry boss, don't have the hours.

Boss calls at 5pm. Need you right away.
"Sorry Boss, my 10 hour break isn't up till

Boss calls at 5pm. Need you at midnight.
"No problem boss, thanks."

Boss calls at 8pm. Need you at midnight.
"Sorry I couldn't take your call I was sleeping" call them back next time you wake up.

 

If you started your day then went on call your 14 hour rule applies. Now you can extend your day to 16 hours once in a 7 day period if you run local. And on-call time is not necessarily on-duty. If you are at home watching TV that is not on-duty. While you do have to go to work IF they call you can still do what you want for the most part. You aren't getting paid and aren't performing any duties for the company during that time. Now if you were waiting at the terminal for a load you'd have more of an argument, or sitting in the truck waiting to be loaded/unloaded, etc.

Oh, and the 11/14/70/8 hour rules restrict DRIVING TIME only. You can do anything you want for as long as you want once you are past 11/14/70 except DRIVE. You can be on line 4 for 200 hours in a week if you want. You just need to take the time off to get hours back before you can drive, be that a 34 reset or waiting till hours fall off your recap so your 70 is legal, and taking a 10 for your 11/14.