Should I PC home, 5 hours from home?

If you are driving HOME with the truck then you can, if you are driving to a terminal then using your personal car to drive home then its a no.

 

Read what Moose posted, but not his interpretation of it.
It specifically states it's not legal to finish a trip on pc, it doesn't matter if finishing it means going home or to the terminal.

 

A different scenario ... O/O hauling personal effects from one location to another. Say 900 miles. PC or not? I know what I did, just wondering what the opinion will be here.

 

Holidays? What Holidays? Seriously thou, learn the lesson and make sure things are aligned 2 weeks in advance. You're new and probably haven't earned enough points with dispatch to make it home for holidays in general. I would NOT use PC... you abuse it, you lose it.

 

The FAQ missed the most important thing about the PC advisory, the advisory said it is used for a reasonable move, not for going home or a replacement for drive time, and if you are out of hours, it is not a means to extend drive time except for a reasonable move.

That said, the state DOT enforcement officer DO NOT have to follow this advisory, they can ding a driver if they feel they are abusing PC and put them OOS for 10 or 34 hours.

 

One company I worked for a few years ago let me PC home to DFW from OKC loaded. Not sure if it was legal or not, but they did let me. Current company I am leased to now won't let me PC more than 50 miles without special permission from them. And I delivered my load Friday night and if I hadn't had the hours to drive home after would have had to stay in the truck until my ten was up to get hours to drive home due to the PC rules. Being that I would have been driving home after delivering the load, I couldn't have used PC to get home. What is your companies policy on use of PC? Because even though FMCSA says you "can" in certain circumstances, your company can also say no you can never use PC. Chances are though they do allow it, if you can select it on your ELD. But I would still double check company policy on it before ever using it to keep my nose clean, if it was me.

 

That's because there is no language in the personal convenience guidance that has the limit you are claiming.
The only place there is any sort of distance limit, with I agree does say reasonable, is after getting kicked out of a shipper/receiver.to find the first safe location. Using it, for example, pulling your RV there is zero distance limit, even "reasonable".

If you think I'm wrong please point out where it gives even a reasonable limit, other than point 3 of approved usage.

Personal Conveyance | FMCSA

 

Risk and reward situation. It’s a grey area legally when using for extended periods like that, and it’s frowned upon by 99% of companies. If you blow a steer tire and wipe out a family (exaggerated example, obviously) while under PC, that grey area will be a lot less in your favor when the attorneys get ahold of your info.

If your wife just went into labor, by all means, PC home and take the risk. Getting home for Memorial Day probably isn’t worth it.

I just finished a 700 mile day and am 2 hours from home. Company doesn’t care if I PC the rest of the way, but I can’t give a solid enough explanation for why I need to be home at 2am 820 miles later instead of noon legally, so I’ll sit and wait.

There’s also the whole ‘joy riding’ and termination getting slapped on your DAC by your company that you REALLY don’t want. Essentially, that’s saying you stole the truck.

 

It's not a gray area. If you are using it to further a load, ie getting the trailer load closer to the destination or moving yourself closer to a new load, it's against the rules. That's the bright line. Going home after with no dispatch is a gray area because you're not technically getting a better position, but in all reality if you have any clue your next load will be closer it's probably a no go.

 

I'm going to tag @brian991219 in this so he can also opine. I'm not going to say grey area, but as I said in my first comment these PC rules can be complex. Here is the issue from my perspective. There are 2 parts to this. The first part is the text of the FMCSA rules and the other part is how those rules are interpreted by the state and/or local DOT officers on the roadside. Just as one medical examiner might be OK with you getting a 2-year card and another examiner might want you to get a sleep study. I remember speaking to a SC DOT officer about PC rules a while back. What he told me is he did not like to see a person operating a CMV as a PC. Period! I have spoken to other DOT officers that have told me as long as the driver does not appear so tired they are a danger to the highways and they are not attempting to further a load they are OK with the PC and won't bother the driver.

When I am asked about PC I always tell the driver to follow your carrier's PC rules. In all honesty, I don't see many if at all any carriers OK with you operating a CMV 300 miles going home JUST for a holiday. Even if the FMCSA allowed it. By that statement, I am not saying either way.

I have made my position clear about a carrier's safety dept. These folks are NOT your enemy unless you make them one. The smart driver uses them as a resource and gets guidance from them on matters such as PC. In fact, most safety depts can be a good friend when operations are pushing you to do something unsafe or operate with an expired or missing permit or license plate. Many years ago I was sitting in operations enjoying some coffee listening to a dispatcher tell his war stories when the main company safety director walked in and basically flogged a dispatcher. Lots of vulgar language was used and I later learned that the dispatcher either was fired or quit. All because a driver called safety and got some results.