Hours of Service Rules for New Carriers

Hours of Service (HOS) rules govern how many hours a commercial driver can drive and work before taking mandatory rest. These limits exist to reduce fatigue-related crashes. Understanding HOS is essential before your first load — violations are among the most common causes of roadside citations and New Entrant Safety Audit findings.

This guide covers the core rules for property-carrying drivers. Passenger carrier rules differ. Verify all rules at fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/hours-service and in 49 CFR Part 395.

The Core Limits

11-Hour Driving Limit

After 10 consecutive hours off duty, you may drive a maximum of 11 hours. Once you’ve hit 11 driving hours, you cannot drive again until you’ve taken another 10 consecutive hours off duty.

Driving hours accumulate from the moment the vehicle moves on a public road.

14-Hour On-Duty Window

After coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off, you have a 14-hour window in which you can drive. Once 14 hours have passed since you came on duty, you cannot drive — even if you haven’t used all 11 driving hours.

This window does not pause for rest periods shorter than 10 consecutive hours. If you take a 2-hour nap in the middle of your shift, the 14-hour clock keeps running.

The 14-hour rule is what catches drivers who don’t understand it. You might have used only 9 hours of driving, but if 14 hours have elapsed since you came on duty, you’re done.

30-Minute Break Requirement

If you drive more than 8 cumulative hours since your last off-duty or non-driving period of at least 30 minutes, you must take a 30-minute break before driving further.

The break must be in the on-duty/not-driving, off-duty, or sleeper berth status — not while driving. You can use this time to do paperwork, fuel, or rest.

70-Hour / 8-Day Limit

You cannot drive after reaching 70 total on-duty hours in any 8-consecutive-day period. This is a rolling calculation — each day, you look at the past 8 days to determine available hours.

The 60-hour / 7-day version: Some carriers operate on a 7-day cycle. If you don’t operate every day of the week, the 60/7 limit applies instead. Whether your operation uses 60/7 or 70/8 is a business decision — many carriers use 70/8 because it allows more weekly driving.

The 34-Hour Restart

If you run low on available hours (from the 70/8 limit), you can “restart” your 7 or 8-day clock by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. After a valid 34-hour restart, your available hours reset to the full 70 (or 60).

The 34-hour restart provision has additional requirements that have changed over the years. Verify current restart requirements at fmcsa.dot.gov before relying on them in your route planning.

Short-Haul Exemption

Drivers who operate within a 150 air-mile radius of their home terminal and return to the home terminal within 14 hours of coming on duty may qualify for the short-haul exemption.

Under the short-haul exemption:

• No Record of Duty Status (RODS) or ELD required — you do not need to maintain daily logs
• No 30-minute break required
• 14-hour on-duty window and 11-hour driving limit still apply
• You must report and record on-duty time (time records) — just not RODS

The short-haul exemption has specific requirements. If you’re operating within a limited radius and think you might qualify, verify at fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/hours-service-exemptions before going without an ELD.

Personal Conveyance

When a driver uses a CMV for personal reasons (driving to a rest area, a hotel, a personal errand) after going off duty, this may qualify as “personal conveyance” — which doesn’t count as on-duty or driving time.

Personal conveyance has specific conditions: the driver must be off duty, the movement must be for personal reasons, and — critically — the movement must not advance the commercial purpose of the trip. A driver cannot use personal conveyance to reposition a vehicle for the next load or to continue progress toward a delivery destination. Moving to a nearby rest area or hotel after completing work may qualify as personal conveyance even if the vehicle is laden, provided the movement does not serve a commercial purpose. ELD systems have a personal conveyance status. Verify the FMCSA’s current personal conveyance guidance before relying on it — the rules around loaded vehicles and route deviation are nuanced.

Common HOS Mistakes

Not accounting for dock time. Time spent waiting at a dock, supervising loading, and doing pre-trip inspections is on-duty time. Drivers who ignore dock time run into the 14-hour wall earlier than expected.

Confusing driving hours with on-duty hours. You can have used only 8 driving hours but still be done for the day if 14 hours of on-duty time have passed.

Not planning for the 70-hour limit. Running heavy Monday through Wednesday leaves fewer hours for Thursday and Friday. Track your available hours daily.

Trying to use sleeper berth splitting without understanding the rules. The sleeper berth provision is valuable but specific. Using it incorrectly results in an HOS violation.

What Your ELD Does

Your Electronic Logging Device records your duty status in real time. When the vehicle moves, the ELD automatically captures drive time. You manually annotate duty status changes for on-duty/not-driving, off-duty, and sleeper berth.

Your ELD also:

• Calculates available driving hours based on your cycle
• Alerts you when you’re approaching limits
• Records your location at each status change
• Generates logs that can be inspected roadside or by auditors

See ELD Mandate Basics for how to choose and set up an ELD, and ELD Setup for New Carriers for the full implementation guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between 'driving time' and 'on-duty time'?

Driving time is only the hours behind the wheel. On-duty time includes driving plus any other time you're working: loading, unloading, waiting at a dock, doing paperwork, fueling, and pre/post-trip inspections. You can be on-duty without driving, but you can't exceed the on-duty window even if you're not driving most of it.

Can I split the sleeper berth to reset my 14-hour clock?

The sleeper berth split rule allows you to split your off-duty rest into two periods — one of at least 10 consecutive hours (or 8 in the sleeper berth) and one of at least 2 hours — to pause the 14-hour clock. The rules are specific and have changed in recent years. Verify the current sleeper berth provision at fmcsa.dot.gov before relying on it.

Do HOS rules apply if I'm just moving the truck in a parking lot?

HOS applies once the vehicle moves on a public road in interstate commerce. Moving within a private facility (yard moves) may qualify for on-duty/not-driving status rather than driving time, depending on the specific situation. Consult the FMCSA HOS regulations for exact definitions.