Switching from 60 hr schedule to 70 hr schedule

I am a local driver, home every night and every weekend. My company operates on the 60 hours/7 day rule instead of the 70 hour rule that I am used to.

Problem is, I am so busy right now that I am having trouble staying under 60 hours in a mon-fri work week.

Can I go against the company and choose to operate on a 70 hr schedule instead, on my own, or so does the whole company have to operate on the same schedule.

 

Pretty sure you have to run the same rules as the company and I believe the 70 hour rule is only used if the company operates 7 days a week. So if they're closed weekends, doesn't apply.
If you're an "essential" employee, regulations have been eased, haven't they?

 

The way a motor carrier operates is what determines which rule they have to follow. The driver has no choice.
Unless you’re hauling product that’s been exempted from hours of service, then you have to comply with the regulations.

 

Ok, that pretty much answers my question, thanks for the responses.

 

Were the same way. Wish it was 70 instead of 60. Have a hard time on a busy week. We run trucks seven days a week. The ones on Saturday or Sunday are usually shuttles. But there are routes that carry over to Saturday occasionally and routes that start Sunday night.

 

Is the carrier operating CMVs every day of the week?

You have to follow whatever the carrier decides, but the carrier can assign different rules to different (or all) drivers as they wish.

From the Guidance for § 395.3: Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.

Question 1: May a motor carrier switch from a 60-hour/7-day limit to a 70-hour/8-day limit or vice versa?

Guidance: Yes. The only restriction regarding the use of the 70-hour/8-day rule is that the motor carrier must have Commercial Motor Vehicle CMVs operating every day of the week. The 70-hour/8-day rule is a permissive provision in that a motor carrier with vehicles operating every day of the week is not required to use the 70-hour/8-day rules for calculating its drivers’ hours of service. The motor carrier may, however, assign some or all of its drivers to operate under the 70-hour/8-day rule if it so chooses. The assignment of individual drivers to the 60-hour/7-day or the 70-hour/8-day time rule is left to the discretion of the motor carrier.

- Section § 395.3: Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.​

 

Which means if the company shuts down for the weekend they cannot legally use the 70 hour rule. If any terminal in the company runs 7 days though, talk to your terminal manager and see if he will switch to a 70 hour week.

 

What do the rules that sign your paychecks say?

 

Does the fact that the OP is a ''local'' driver have any impact on the answers?
Like 12 hrs a day or something and 5 days a week?

 

No.

The company has to roll 7 days to use 70 hours.

Local or long haul makes no difference.