Truck drivers and trucking companies have to follow many regulations, given the safety hazards, tractor-trailers and other large trucks pose on the nation’s highways when they are not properly maintained and safely operated.
Among the most important trucking regulations are the Hours of Service rules imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The rules limit the number of hours commercial truck drivers can be behind the wheel without a break. Driver fatigue is a significant problem in interstate trucking. According to the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, 13 percent of commercial motor vehicle drivers – truckers and bus drivers – were considered to be fatigued at the time of collisions.
When a truck driver violates HOS regulations and causes a crash that leaves others injured, the truck driver and the trucking company may be held financially accountable. At Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., our truck accident lawyers investigate accidents, calculate the extent of our client’s losses, and pursue full compensation for the accident victims from those financially liable for the accident.
What Are the FMCSA Hours of Service Rules?
The Hours of Service regulations limit the number of hours commercial drivers may drive and work per day and week and impose mandatory rest breaks.
For cargo-carrying commercial drivers, the HOS regulations require:
- 11-Hour Driving Limit. A driver may drive a total of 11 hours during a 14-hour work shift.
- 10 Hours Off Duty. A driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours in a 14-hour shift after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
- 30-Minute Driving Breaks. A driver must take a 30-minute break after driving for 8 cumulative hours without at least a 30-minute interruption. A driver may remain on duty but not driving or be off duty.
- 14-Hour Limit. A driver may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. Off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period.
- 60/70-Hour Limit. Truck drivers can only be on duty for 60 hours in a 7-day period or 70 hours in an 8-day period. A driver may not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days. A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
- Sleeper Berth Provision. A truck driver may split the required 10-hour off-duty period, as long as the driver spends at least 7 consecutive hours in the truck’s sleeper berth and one other portion of the off-duty period is at least 2 hours long. All sleeper berth pairings MUST add up to at least 10 hours. When used together, neither time period counts against the maximum 14-hour driving window.
- Adverse Driving Conditions. A driver may extend the 11-hour maximum driving limit and 14-hour driving window by up to 2 hours when adverse driving conditions are encountered.
- Short-Haul Exception. A driver is exempt from certain requirements to log their duty status if the driver operates within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location, and the driver does not exceed a maximum duty period of 14 hours. Drivers using the short-haul exception must report and return to the normal work reporting location within 14 consecutive hours and stay within a 150 air-mile radius of the work reporting location.
After several years of work, the revised Hours of Service final rules were adopted June 1, 2020, and took effect September 29, 2020.
The FMCSA says on a fact sheet that, “The revised HOS regulations will provide greater flexibility for drivers without adversely affecting safety and are based on thousands of comments FMCSA received from industry, safety advocacy groups, Congress, and the American public.”
