HOS Rules and Regulations | Wex Telematics

Everyone say this together, “Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).” Ok, now one more time: “FMCSA.” The FMCSA is the organization within the Department of Transportation (DOT) that focuses primarily on safety. The FMCSA aims to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Read on to find out what that means for your Hours of Service (HOS) solution.

How Safe is Safe?

Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) are the seven categories the FMCSA uses as part of the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to measure safety performance and create monthly Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores. HOS is one of the categories that contributes to the score.

After determining a measurement for each BASIC, CSA rates carriers in percentiles from 0 to 100 by comparing their measurements with their peers. Lower numbers are better, with percentile 0 being the best. They worsen as they approach 100, which is the worst performance. See more at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/.

Who, Me?

Wondering if you must comply with HOS regulations? Most drivers must follow the HOS Regulations if they drive a commercial motor vehicle, or CMV. In general, a CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business and is involved in interstate commerce and fits any of these descriptions:

Weighs 10,001 pounds or more
Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more
Is designed or used to transport 16 or more passengers (including the driver) not for compensation
Is designed or used to transport 9 or more passengers (including the driver) for compensation
Is transporting hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards

See more at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-of-service.

Let’s Break it Down

The following summary of HOS regulations was taken from the FMCSA website (current as of 9/29/2020). Visit http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ for the latest regulations and more HOS information.

The time difference between the Driving Limits and the On-Duty Limits gives drivers the opportunity to take care of non-driving working duties such as loading and unloading cargo, fueling the vehicle, required vehicle inspections, and duties such as meal and rest breaks.

Property-Carrying Drivers	Passenger-Carrying Drivers
11-Hour Driving Limit May drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty.	10-Hour Driving Limit May drive a maximum of 10 hours after 8 consecutive hours off duty.
14-Hour On-Duty Limit May not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty. Off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period.	15-Hour On-Duty Limit May not drive after having been on duty for 15 hours, following 8 consecutive hours off duty. Off-duty time is not included in the 15-hour period.
Rest Breaks Drivers must take a 30-minute break when they have driven for a period of 8 cumulative hours without at least a 30-minute interruption. The break may be satisfied by any non-driving period of 30 consecutive minutes (i.e., on-duty not driving, off-duty, sleeper berth, or any combination of these taken consecutively).	NA
60/70-Hour Limit 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.	60/70-Hour Limit May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
Sleeper Berth Provision Drivers may split their required 10-hour off-duty period, as long as one off-duty period (whether in or out of the sleeper berth) is at least 2 hours long and the other involves at least 7 consecutive hours spent in the sleeper berth. 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.	Sleeper Berth Provision Drivers using a sleeper berth must take at least 8 hours in the sleeper berth, and may split the sleeper berth time into two periods provided neither is less than 2 hours. All sleeper berth pairings MUST add up to at least 10 hours.
Adverse Driving Conditions Drivers are allowed to extend the 11-hour maximum driving limit and 14-hour driving window by up to 2 hours when adverse driving conditions are encountered.	Adverse Driving Conditions Drivers are allowed to extend the 10-hour maximum driving time and 15-hour on-duty limit by up to 2 hours when adverse driving conditions are encountered.
Short-Haul Exception A driver is exempt from the requirements of §395.8 and §395.11 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 in §395.1(e)(1) 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.	Short-Haul Exception A driver is exempt from the requirements of §395.8 and §395.11 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 in §395.1(e)(1) 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.

Property-Carrying Drivers

Passenger-Carrying Drivers

11-Hour Driving Limit

May drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty.

10-Hour Driving Limit

May drive a maximum of 10 hours after 8 consecutive hours off duty.

14-Hour On-Duty Limit

May not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty. Off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period.

15-Hour On-Duty Limit

May not drive after having been on duty for 15 hours, following 8 consecutive hours off duty. Off-duty time is not included in the 15-hour period.

Rest Breaks

Drivers must take a 30-minute break when they have driven for a period of 8 cumulative hours without at least a 30-minute interruption. The break may be satisfied by any non-driving period of 30 consecutive minutes (i.e., on-duty not driving, off-duty, sleeper berth, or any combination of these taken consecutively).

60/70-Hour Limit

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.

60/70-Hour Limit

May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.

Sleeper Berth Provision

Drivers may split their required 10-hour off-duty period, as long as one off-duty period (whether in or out of the sleeper berth) is at least 2 hours long and the other involves at least 7 consecutive hours spent in the sleeper berth. 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.

Sleeper Berth Provision

Drivers using a sleeper berth must take at least 8 hours in the sleeper berth, and may split the sleeper berth time into two periods provided neither is less than 2 hours. All sleeper berth pairings MUST add up to at least 10 hours.

Adverse Driving Conditions

Drivers are allowed to extend the 11-hour maximum driving limit and 14-hour driving window by up to 2 hours when adverse driving conditions are encountered.

Adverse Driving Conditions

Drivers are allowed to extend the 10-hour maximum driving time and 15-hour on-duty limit by up to 2 hours when adverse driving conditions are encountered.

Short-Haul Exception

A driver is exempt from the requirements of §395.8 and §395.11 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 in §395.1(e)(1) 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.

Short-Haul Exception

Resources

Use the following links to review FMCSA resources so that you may familiarize yourself with the various rules governing Hours of Service:

Property Carrying Drivers	Passenger Carrying Drivers	Hours of Service Log Examples	FAQs
FMCSA: Interstate Truck Driver's Guide to Hours of Service	FMCSA: Interstate Passenger Carrying Driver's Guide to Hours of Service	FMCSA: Hours of Service Logbook Examples	FMCSA: ELD Rule FAQs

An HOS Solution provides you and your drivers with electronic logging device and related tools to monitor driver logs so that you can address and resolve HOS violations quickly. Visit http://www.eldinfo.com/ for more information about the ELD mandate and benefits for you and your drivers.