1: Would a driver who uses the 100 air-mile logbook exception have to do a logbook when crossing a state line or international border, even though he/she is still within the 100-air miles?

Guidance: No. The 100 air mile exception is a federal regulation and federal regulations apply when a driver crosses a state line or international border.

2:  May a driver domiciled in the United States comply with the Canadian hours of service regulations while driving in Canada ?

Guidance: A driver domiciled in the United States may comply with the Canadian hours of service regulations while driving in Canada . Upon re-entering the United States , however, the driver is subject to all of the requirements of part 395, including the 11 and 14 hour rules, and the 60/ 70 hour rules applicable to the previous 7 or 8 consecutive days. In other words, a driver who takes full advantage of Canadian law may have to stop driving for a time immediately after returning to the U.S. in order to restore compliance with part 395.

3. How does may a drive accumulate 10 consecutive hours off duty?

Guidance: A driver meets the 10 consecutive hours off duty 3 different ways;

1) 10 consecutive hours off duty, or

2) 10 consecutive hours in a sleep berth, or

3) a combination of off duty and sleep berth time totaling 10 consecutive hours

4. Can a driver still use split sleeper berths to meet the 10 consecutive hours off duty?

Guidance: Driver may no longer split 2 sleeper berths totaling 10 hours as they did in the past. The recent changes do however, provide a new “sleep berth provision” which allow a driver to achieve the “equivalent of 10 consecutive hours off duty”.

The “sleeper berth provision” allows a sleeper berth period of at least 8 hours but less than 10 combined with a separate period of at least 2 but less than 10 consecutive hours off duty, in the sleeper berth, or a combination of the sleeper berth and off duty time, to achieve the “equivalent of 10 consecutive hours off duty”.

5. Is the “equivalent of 10 consecutive hours off duty” the same as 10 consecutive hours off duty?

Guidance: No. Following 10 consecutive hours off duty, a driver may begin a new 14 hour tour of duty and 11 hours of driving. After a driver has achieved the “equivalent of 10 consecutive hours off duty”, the driver also begin a new 14 hour tour of duty and 11 hours of driving but the driver does not begin the new tour of duty following the 2 qualifying periods. The 14 hour calculation begins at the end of the first off duty or sleeper berth period.

6. How do I figure out the 14 hours on tour of duty?

Guidance: The 14 hours begins when a driver comes on duty and ends 14 hours later. Everything a driver does during that time (off duty, on duty not driving, driving and sleeper berth) must be counted in the 14 hour calculation.

Exception: Any sleeper berth period of 8 or more hours is not counted in the 14 hour calculation.

Calculating the 14 hours

Example (1): A driver, following 10 consecutive hours off duty, comes on duty at 6:00 am , at 8:00 pm (14 hours later) the diver must stop driving.

Example (2): A driver, following 10 consecutive hours off duty, comes on duty at 6:00 am , but takes an 8 hour sleeper at noon , since the sleeper berth is not counted in the 14 hour calculation, the drivers 14 hour tour of duty will now end at 4:00 am the next day.

7. What is the new “short haul provision”?

Guidance: Drivers of vehicles not requiring a Commercial Driver's license (non-CDL) to operate who operate within a 150 air-mile radius of their normal work reporting location and return to their normal work reporting location at the end of each work day are permitted to drive 11 hours during a 14 hour tour of duty, following 10 consecutive hours, and extend 2 days a week to 16 hours. On the days a driver extends the tour of duty to 16 hours, the driver is permitted to drive during the 15 th and 16 th hour provided he/she does not exceed 11 hour total.

The short haul provision still require compliance with the 60/70 hour rule and drivers are permitted to restart their 60/70 hours any time they take 34 consecutive hours off duty.

Drivers may continue to work beyond the 14 th or 16 hour but may not drive, and time cards, time sheets may be used to record hours in lieu of logbooks.

9. How does the 34 hour restart work?

10. How would "waiting time" at a terminal, plant, or port be logged?

Guidance: "Waiting time" at a terminal, plant, or port will be recorded as off-duty, sleeper berth, or on duty/not driving, depending on what the driver is doing. If the driver is engaged in any form of work then the time must be recorded as on duty. If the driver is not performing any work and has been provided written authorization to log off duty, from his/her employer, the driver may be off duty.

11. What is meant by written authorization to be off duty?

Guidance: During a tour of duty, a driver may only log off duty if he/she has been giving written authorization from the motor carrier (employer). The authorization must:

1. Relieve the driver of all duty and responsibility for the care and custody of the vehicle, its accessories, and any cargo or passengers it may be carrying.
2. Indicate that during the stop, and for the duration of the stop, the driver is at liberty to pursue activities of his/her own choosing and to leave the premises where the vehicle is situated.
3. Specify a finite period of time for the off duty period.

Any off duty authorization should state the condition under which a driver may log off duty, i.e., meal, waiting at shippers or customers, waiting for dispatch, waiting for repairs.

A driver who has be giving written authorization log off duty, must log off duty for each instance the authorization applies. The decision to log of duty is not a driver option unless the motor carrier (employer) grants that option to the driver.

14:  May a "100 air-mile radius" diver utilize the "16-hour duty period" exception in 395.1(0)?

Guidance: Yes. A CDL driver operating under the 100 air-mile exception in 395.1 (e) may also meet the requirement in 395.1(0) enabling the driver to have 1 period of 16 hours duty each week (or after a 34-hour restart). However on the day in which the 16-hour exception is utilized, the driver would not meet the 12-hour duty period requirement of the 100 air-mile logbook exception and would therefore be required to maintain a logbook for that day. (Remember a CDL driver is not eligible to use the new "short haul" provision.)

15:   If a driver works at another job, unrelated to trucking, during his 34-hour off-duty restart period, and then begins a duty shift for the trucking company, does the 34-hour restart provision apply?

17:  May drivers who work split shifts take advantage of the 100 air-mile radius exemption found at 395.1(e)?

Guidance: For property-carrying drivers, the concept of "split shifts" is no longer relevant due to the limitations of the 14-hour rule. A driver could, after beginning a tour of duty take a number of hours off duty and return to work but, the 14 hour rule still applies and the driver's tour of duty still ends 14 hours after the driver originally came on duty.

A driver utilizing the 100 air -mile radius exception would also be limited a 12 hour tour of duty. Regardless of how many times the driver goes on and off duty during the duty tour. If the driver exceeds a total of 12 consecutive hours from first starting the daily duty tour, the 100 air-mile exception would no longer apply and the driver will be required to maintain a logbook and the 14 hour rule would now apply.

18: How should a change of duty status for a short period of time be shown on the driver's record of duty status?

Guidance: For short duty status intervals (less than 15 minutes) a driver may remain on the appropriate on-duty (not driving) or driving line at the time the change occurs, and flag the change in the remarks section.  The driver must indicate, in the remarks section, the length of the duty status change, such as "6 minutes," and a geographic location such as a highway identification and a mile marker, and the closest city and state.

19: When a driver fails to meet the provisions of the 100 air-mile radius exemption (395.1(e)), is the driver required to have copies of his/her records of duty status for the previous seven days? Must the driver prepare daily records of duty status for the next seven days?

Guidance: No. The driver must only have in his/her possession a record of duty status (RODS) for the day he/she does not qualify for the exemption. The record of duty status must cover the entire day, even if the driver has to record retroactively changes in status that occurred between the time that the driver reported for duty and the time in which he/she no longer qualified for the 100 air-mile radius exemption.