Sorry-more RV hauler questions

As others have pointed out, you can't log sleeper berth without a DOT compliant sleeper. Hot shots and the like can log off duty and sleep in the back, however, a co-driver could not log off duty in the back seat while you're driving because..

From section 395.2
On duty time is defined as:
(4) All time in or on a commercial motor vehicle, other than:

(i) Time spent resting in or on a parked vehicle, except as otherwise provided in §397.5 of this subchapter

If the truck isn't parked, you aren't off duty.

Nope. If you're driving a truck with a GVWR over 10k or a truck and trailer with a combined GVWR over 10k engaged in interstate commerce, you're a CMV and subject to hours of service. You would be exempt from CDL and IFTA as long as you stay under 26k but not hours of service.

Also, if you get a rollback and carry a trailer up there, its no longer considered a drive away/tow away operation and you wouldn't be exempt from the ELD mandate.

FMCSA guidance from section 390.5

Question 22: Is a motor vehicle drawing a non-self-propelled mobile home that has one or more set of wheels on the roadway, a driveaway-towaway operation?

Guidance: Yes, if the mobile home is a commodity. For example, the mobile home is transported from the manufacturer to the dealer or from the dealer or other seller to the buyer.

Question 23: Can a truck tractor drawing a trailer be a driveaway-towaway operation?

Guidance: Yes, if the trailer is a commodity. For example, the trailer is transported from the manufacturer to the dealer or from the dealer or other seller to the buyer.

Question 24: Are trailers which are stacked upon each other and drawn by a motor vehicle by attachment to the bottom trailer, a driveaway-towaway operation.

Guidance: No. Only the bottom trailer has one or more sets of wheels on the roadway. The other trailers are cargo.

 

24 in side to side and 18 in above and below. Does not matter if you log off duty either. If and when the right D.O.T rolls up on you they can charge up to $1000 and put you in the penalty box. Off-duty must be outside and away from the truck.

 

Wrong

 

Just telling you what the boss had to talk to the D.O.T man that caught one of the other drivers sleeping in the truck at a weight station. So tell me how it is legal with tickets being write and company's like cow town where haft of there stuff was deemed not legal. Please cause I actually sleep in these dam little trucks to save $70 a night

 

Its not legal to log sleeper berth in a vehicle without a space that meets the DOT requirements for sleeper berth. That may be where the trouble arises from. However, I already quoted the relevant section in post #12.

From section 395.2
On duty time is defined as:
(4) All time in or on a commercial motor vehicle, other than:

(i) Time spent resting in or on a parked vehicle, except as otherwise provided in §397.5 of this subchapter

Section 397.5 has to do with hazmat so if you aren't hauling that, the "except as" bit doesn't apply but the rest stands as written. You can log off duty in a CMV so long as it's parked. The law was amended to say that a few years back. You think all these truck drivers are taking their daily 30 minute break outside the truck? The ticket you refer to was written in error and should have been challenged.

 

Got to have fire resistant mattress capture net and remove passenger seat for access to front compartment call any dot officer and ask him and wants what they tell you. Keep sleeping in them trucks without this stuff and Watch What Happens is it legal to sleep in them no matter what you log on your log book

 

You clearly don't know what the #### you're talking about. Nowhere in the regs is there a requirement for a fire resistent mattress. I don't need to call the DOT. They're like truckers sometimes, ask 10 different officers, get 10 different answers to the same question. I know what the law allows

Full sleeper berth requirements -

(a) Dimensions—(1) Size. A sleeper berth must be at least the following size:

Before January 1, 1953 72(l) 18(w) 18(h)

After December 31, 1952, and before October 1, 1975 75(l) 21(w) 21(h)

After September 30, 1975 75(l) 24(w) 24(h)

(2) Shape. A sleeper berth installed on a motor vehicle on or after January 1, 1953 must be of generally rectangular shape, except that the horizontal corners and the roof corners may be rounded to radii not exceeding 10.5 inches.

(3) Access. A sleeper berth must be constructed so that an occupant's ready entrance to, and exit from, the sleeper berth is not unduly hindered.

(b) Location. (1) A sleeper berth must not be installed in or on a semitrailer or a full trailer other than a house trailer.

(2) A sleeper berth located within the cargo space of a motor vehicle must be securely compartmentalized from the remainder of the cargo space. A sleeper berth installed on or after January 1, 1953 must be located in the cab or immediately adjacent to the cab and must be securely fixed with relation to the cab.

(c) Exit from the berth. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, there must be a direct and ready means of exit from a sleeper berth into the driver's seat or compartment. If the sleeper berth was installed on or after January 1, 1963, the exit must be a doorway or opening at least 18 inches high and 36 inches wide. If the sleeper berth was installed before January 1, 1963, the exit must have sufficient area to contain an ellipse having a major axis of 24 inches and a minor axis of 16 inches.

(2) A sleeper berth installed before January 1, 1953 must either:

(i) Conform to the requirements of paragraph (c)(1) of this section; or

(ii) Have at least two exits, each of which is at least 18 inches high and 21 inches wide, located at opposite ends of the vehicle and useable by the occupant without the assistance of any other person.

(d) Communication with the driver. A sleeper berth which is not located within the driver's compartment and has no direct entrance into the driver's compartment must be equipped with a means of communication between the occupant and the driver. The means of communication may consist of a telephone, speaker tube, buzzer, pull cord, or other mechanical or electrical device.

(e) Equipment. A sleeper berth must be properly equipped for sleeping. Its equipment must include:

(1) Adequate bedclothing and blankets; and

(2) Either:

(i) Springs and a mattress; or

(ii) An innerspring mattress; or

(iii) A cellular rubber or flexible foam mattress at least four inches thick; or

(iv) A mattress filled with a fluid and of sufficient thickness when filled to prevent “bottoming-out” when occupied while the vehicle is in motion.

(f) Ventilation. A sleeper berth must have louvers or other means of providing adequate ventilation. A sleeper berth must be reasonably tight against dust and rain.

(g) Protection against exhaust and fuel leaks and exhaust heat. A sleeper berth must be located so that leaks in the vehicle's exhaust system or fuel system do not permit fuel, fuel system gases, or exhaust gases to enter the sleeper berth. A sleeper berth must be located so that it will not be overheated or damaged by reason of its proximity to the vehicle's exhaust system.

(h) Occupant restraint. A motor vehicle manufactured on or after July 1, 1971, and equipped with a sleeper berth must be equipped with a means of preventing ejection of the occupant of the sleeper berth during deceleration of the vehicle. The restraint system must be designed, installed, and maintained to withstand a minimum total force of 6,000 pounds applied toward the front of the vehicle and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

 

This is pretty straight forward. If you don't have a LEGAL DOT approved sleeper birth you don't log Sleeper birth in your log book.

You CAN sleep in the front seat, back seat, bed of even on top of your hood as long as your logging it as OFF DUTY

 

Aside from looking at the regulations which from above was and has been given many times in this area of the forum Midwest gives a simple easy to read explanation of the guidelines. Most of the people trying to give correct intel on this forum have had their MC numbers for years. I myself have taken out the backseat and the passenger seat and have a twin size mattress sitting there. Been in business since 2008.