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What are the Hours of Service For Truck Drivers?

Generally, commercial drivers are required to take at least seven and a half hours off duty each week and can resume driving the next morning after ten hours off duty. The driver is permitted to take up to eleven consecutive hours off duty each week if he or she is not driving, but cannot exceed seven and a half hours per day without taking a long break. The rules are not per week, but rather based on rolling seven and eight-day periods.

Hours of service regulations for truck drivers vary from state to state. Federal and state regulations are generally applicable to all drivers, but intrastate commerce drivers must abide by state regulations. Drivers of hazardous materials trucks are required to follow the HOS rules for drivers of vehicles carrying hazardous materials. Hours of service rules also differ between passenger and property drivers. Some states are stricter than others, while others are lax when it comes to regulating truck drivers.

What is the 8 Hour Rule?

If you’re a truck driver, you’ve probably wondered what the “8 Hour Rule” is. It’s federal regulations that require truck drivers to take at least one 30-minute break every eight hours of on-duty time. This break can be taken in off-duty mode, in a sleeper berth, or in any other mode as long as it’s within the first three hours of the shift. Drivers are also allowed to combine breaks to get the maximum number of rest during the day.

Drivers who sleep in sleeper berths are given an extra break, but that’s not a good idea. This exception means that drivers will often spend part of their break behind the wheel. That can be dangerous, especially if they’re driving between midnight and 5 a. However, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Many drivers do this. Thankfully, the new rules will be in place to help ensure safety and comfort for all.

What is the Most Hours a Truck Driver Can Drive?

If you want to make a living driving a truck, you need to know how long a driver can drive before their body starts to complain. Federal laws govern the hours of service (HOS) regulations for commercial drivers. These regulations dictate the maximum number of hours a trucker can drive and how much time they need to rest. Federal guidelines require truck drivers to take at least one hour break every 11 hours. This time limit is in effect until Sept. 29, 2020.

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In order to determine how long a driver can drive, they must calculate their total time on-duty and rest breaks. This is done by adding their hours on-duty over the past seven days. This way, they cannot exceed 70 hours of driving. They cannot drive a truck after logging 60 or 70 hours of ON-Duty time in seven or eight consecutive days. However, if the oldest day of the workweek is out of time range, they may gain back a portion of that time during midnight.

Do Local Truck Drivers Have to Keep a Logbook?

Does every local truck driver have to keep a logbook? The answer is yes, as long as you’re traveling outside your local area. You’ll also need to keep a time sheet, as well. If you’re traveling outside your local area, you’ll need to keep both the log book and your time sheet. For local work, you can use line 4 in your log book.

Most commercial truck drivers use paper logs to record their hours. A typical log contains four sections and twenty-four boxes. Each box represents an hour. A truck driver should draw a line across the time they spent driving each day. For example, if they were driving from nine a.m. to two p.m., they should draw a line across five hours in the driving section.

A few exceptions apply to local truck drivers. Those who have been working within their 100-air-mile radius for the past seven days are exempt from keeping a logbook. But if they aren’t, they’ll have to produce copies of their duty status records. If they’re stopped for a roadside inspection, they must explain their 150-air-mile exemption and show that the driver is exempt.

How Long Can a Truck Driver Drive Before Resting?

FMCSA regulations have strict limits on the number of hours a truck driver can drive. These hours can be up to eleven hours per day, but they must be completed within a fourteen-hour window. During that time, the driver must take a 30-minute break and then not drive again until 10 hours have passed. A truck driver must also take a minimum of four hours off per shift, or ten hours of rest.

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For property-carrying drivers, the hours-of-service limit is 14 hours. Drivers can take other work during that time. However, they cannot drive all 11 hours in one day. They must take a 30 minute break after eight hours of driving. After this, they must go home for at least three hours to take a rest break. In most cases, drivers are required to take their rest breaks every eight hours, or every ten hours.

The driving window is the time in clock hours before a driver must take a break. Federal regulations require that commercial drivers take a rest break after every eight hours of driving. During this time, they may rest, eat, or perform other off-duty activities. However, if it has been more than eight hours since their last rest period, they are required to take an additional half-hour off-duty break. However, this time limit is a little higher for drivers on short-haul routes.

What is an 8 2 Split in Trucking?

The new rule for ELDs does provide drivers with some flexibility. While most ELD systems don’t provide functions to control the 8/2 split, many fleets are still manually calculating the berths for each driver. John Ganiev, the owner of Pittsburgh-based Dream Transportation, decided to evaluate ELDs last year to find a good platform that can provide split-sleeper berth instructions.

A driver who opts for an 8-2 sleeper split is allowed to drive for eight hours and get a two-hour break. After this, the driver must drive for another five hours. If the truck driver needs a rest, he can use the sleeper berth for those three hours. The driver’s dispatch team knows how to make the best use of the sleeper provision, and they’ve planned ahead to do it.

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How Does 7 And 3 Split Work?

How Does 7 And 3 Split Work for truckers? – A new rule takes effect Sept. 29. The seven-hour sleeper berth rule will be more flexible, allowing truck drivers to split their hours in half during the week. But the new rule has a downside, and truckers are not likely to adjust their schedules just yet. That is why many drivers are skeptical of the new rule.

The 7/3 split allows truck drivers to take a three-hour break during the week and continue driving during the second half of the week. However, the 8/2 split can be challenging to manage. The smaller segment counts against the driver’s 14-hour clock, while the longer segment counts as two hours. In order to take advantage of this split, truck drivers must spend at least eight hours off-duty before they can go on their second half-hour break.

How Many Hours Can a Truck Driver Work in a Week?

How many hours can a truck driver work? In order to determine how many hours a driver can work in a week, a trucker must look at the accumulated driving hours on his or her weekly schedule. Truckers cannot operate their trucks more than 70 hours in a seven-day period. However, the federal government has made exceptions for certain industries. For instance, drivers in the oil transportation industry can restart their weekly work weeks if they take 24 hours of OFF-DUTY time. Salesperson drivers do not have to follow this limit.

Commercial truck drivers are also held to weekly maximum driving limits. These hours are different for every trucking company. For example, a truck driver may only be required to drive for 70 hours in a seven-day period if he works five days in a row. Then, he or she will not be allowed to drive for another seven days until the total driving hours for the past working period fall below the limits.

Learn More Here:

1.) History of Trucks

2.) Trucks – Wikipedia

3.) Best Trucks