Under 49 CFR 395.3, the driving limits for a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle are straightforward on paper and unforgiving in practice: you can drive up to 11 hours, but only inside a 14-hour on-duty window that begins the moment you start work after 10 consecutive hours off. On top of those daily caps, the rule sets a weekly ceiling of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8, requires a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and offers a 34-hour restart to reset the weekly clock.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.3 – Maximum Driving Time for Property-Carrying Vehicles
The 11-Hour Cap and the 14-Hour Window
Two separate clocks run every shift. The first is the 11-hour driving limit. Once you have accumulated 11 hours behind the wheel, you cannot drive again until you take another 10 consecutive hours off duty.
The second is the 14-hour on-duty window. It starts the instant you begin any work after your 10 hours off, and it runs like a stopwatch that never pauses. Meals, fueling, waiting at a dock, sitting in traffic, resting at a rest area — none of it stops the 14-hour clock. Report for duty at 6:00 a.m. and you cannot legally drive after 8:00 p.m., even if you spent most of the day loading rather than driving. The 11 hours of driving have to fit somewhere inside those 14 hours; how you arrange them is up to you, but the outer boundary is fixed.
What Counts Against Your Hours
The 14-hour window and the weekly totals fill up faster than many drivers expect because “on-duty time” is defined broadly. It covers every period from when you begin work, or are required to be ready to work, until you are fully relieved. Specifically included:2eCFR. 49 CFR 395.2 – Definitions
- All time driving a commercial motor vehicle on any road.
- Time waiting to be dispatched at a terminal, shipper, or other property where you have not been formally released.
- Inspecting, fueling, servicing, or repairing the truck, including pre-trip and post-trip inspections.
- Loading, unloading, supervising loads, and waiting while your trailer is being worked on.
- Attending a disabled vehicle.
- Travel to and from drug and alcohol testing plus the testing itself.
- Any other compensated work, including work for another employer.
Time that does not count: periods when you are completely relieved from duty, resting in a sleeper berth, or, under specific conditions, riding as a passenger immediately before or after a seven-hour sleeper berth period.
The Required 30-Minute Break
You cannot drive after 8 cumulative hours of driving without taking at least 30 consecutive minutes of non-driving time.1eCFR. 49 CFR 395.3 – Maximum Driving Time for Property-Carrying Vehicles The trigger is 8 hours of actual driving, not 8 hours on the clock. Three hours of driving, two hours at a dock, then five more hours of driving hits the trigger — you need the break before you can drive again.
The break itself is flexible. Off duty, sleeper berth, or on-duty not-driving all qualify, as long as the 30 minutes is uninterrupted. Fueling or paperwork counts if you were stationary the full 30 minutes.
Weekly Limits: 60 Hours in 7 Days or 70 in 8
Beyond the daily caps, 395.3 stops hours from piling up over multiple days:3eCFR. 49 CFR 395.3 – Maximum Driving Time for Property-Carrying Vehicles
- 60 hours in 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not operate every day of the week.
- 70 hours in 8 consecutive days if the carrier operates every day.
Both limits are rolling. Each day you add up every on-duty hour from the previous 6 or 7 days (driving and non-driving alike) and subtract that total from 60 or 70 to find your remaining hours. The carrier picks which schedule applies based on its actual operating pattern, but the driver is individually liable for exceeding whichever limit governs the operation. If you work for more than one carrier at the same time, hours from every employer count toward the same cap.
The 34-Hour Restart
The 34-hour restart is optional. Take at least 34 consecutive hours off duty and the previous week’s accumulated hours no longer count against you — the 60- or 70-hour bucket resets to zero.4eCFR. 49 CFR 395.3 – Maximum Driving Time for Property-Carrying Vehicles Any on-duty activity during those 34 hours breaks the chain, and you start counting the rest period over.
You are never required to restart. It simply lets you wipe the slate clean rather than waiting for older days to roll off the back of the 7- or 8-day window. Drivers often line up a restart with scheduled home time. The restart must be clearly reflected on your logs.
The Sleeper Berth Split
Drivers with a sleeper berth can substitute a split rest for the standard 10 consecutive hours off. One period must be at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth. The other must be at least 2 hours off duty or in the sleeper berth. Together they have to total at least 10 hours.5Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
The reason this matters: when the two periods pair correctly, neither one counts against your 14-hour window.6Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How Are Split Sleeper Berth Rest Periods Used in Determining Compliance With the 14-Hour Driving Window Rule It is the only mechanism in Part 395 that can effectively pause the 14-hour clock. Where more than one pairing is mathematically possible on your log, the pairing that produces the fewest violations is the one that applies.
Exceptions That Modify the 395.3 Limits
A handful of exceptions in 49 CFR 395.1 change how the driving limits work for specific operations. They are worth knowing about so you don’t assume they cover you when they don’t.
Short-Haul 150 Air-Mile Exception
Drivers operating within a 150 air-mile radius (about 172.6 statute miles) of their normal reporting location, who return and are released from duty within 14 consecutive hours, and who take at least 10 consecutive hours off between shifts, qualify for the short-haul exception.7eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part Short-haul drivers are exempt from full logs, ELDs, and the 30-minute break requirement; the carrier keeps simple time records instead and retains them for six months.8Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Who Is Exempt From the ELD Rule
Adverse Driving Conditions
Unforeseeable weather, traffic, or road closures can add up to 2 hours to both the 11-hour driving limit and the 14-hour window so you can reach a safe stopping point.7eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part The conditions must have been unknown when the trip started. A carrier that dispatches you into a storm already forecast, or a highway already closed, cannot claim the exception.9Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How May a Driver Utilize the Adverse Driving Conditions Exception or the Emergency Conditions Exception Wanting to get home, shipper pressure, and mechanical breakdowns are not covered.
Oilfield Waiting Time
Drivers of specially constructed vehicles servicing oil and gas wells can log waiting time at a well site as off duty, which means it does not consume the 14-hour window or add to weekly totals.7eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part The waiting time has to be annotated or shown on a separate waiting-time line. Drivers using the oilfield exception cannot also use the 150 air-mile short-haul exception.
Penalties and Out-of-Service Orders
Exceeding the driving or on-duty limits carries civil penalties of up to $19,246 per violation for carriers and up to $4,812 for individual drivers. Falsifying logs is a separate recordkeeping violation with penalties up to $15,846.10Federal Register. Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts, 2025 These 2025 amounts also apply in 2026 because the data needed to calculate the 2026 inflation adjustment was unavailable.11The White House. M-26-11 Cancellation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2026
The more immediate consequence is roadside. An FMCSA special agent who finds a driver over the maximum hours can issue an out-of-service order on the spot.12eCFR. 49 CFR 395.13 – Drivers Ordered Out of Service The driver cannot operate a commercial motor vehicle again until they have taken enough consecutive off-duty time to be back in compliance, generally the 10-hour period required to start a new shift. Neither the driver nor the carrier can override the order, and repeated violations feed carrier safety scores that can lead to audits, intervention, and an unsatisfactory rating.