Under federal Hours of Service rules, a CDL driver hauling freight can drive up to 11 hours in a shift, and a CDL driver carrying passengers can drive up to 10. Those daily driving limits are the headline number, but they sit inside a larger framework of on-duty windows, required rest, mandatory breaks, and weekly ceilings enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Miss any of them and you can be placed out of service at the roadside.
The 11-Hour Limit for Freight Drivers
Most CDL holders haul property, so this is the rule that applies to the majority of commercial drivers. After at least 10 consecutive hours off duty, you may drive for a maximum of 11 hours before you must stop.1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Those 11 driving hours have to fit inside a 14-hour on-duty window. The 14-hour clock starts the moment you go on duty after your rest period and runs continuously from that point. It covers everything you do for work: driving, fueling, loading, pre-trip inspections, paperwork, waiting at a dock. Once 14 hours have elapsed since you came on duty, you cannot drive again regardless of how many of those hours you actually spent behind the wheel.1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Here’s the part that trips drivers up: off-duty time during your shift does not pause the 14-hour clock. Come on duty at 6 a.m., take a two-hour nap at noon, and your window still expires at 8 p.m., not 10 p.m. The only way to reset it is a full 10-consecutive-hour off-duty period.
The 10-Hour Limit for Passenger Drivers
If you drive a bus or another passenger-carrying commercial vehicle, the numbers shift. You may drive a maximum of 10 hours after taking at least 8 consecutive hours off duty. Your on-duty window is 15 hours, and once it elapses, you need another 8-hour break before driving again.2Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Hours of Service for Motor Carriers of Passengers
The weekly ceilings are the same as for freight. The key differences are the shorter required rest (8 hours instead of 10) and the lower daily driving cap (10 hours instead of 11).
The 30-Minute Break
Freight drivers must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving without an interruption of at least 30 minutes. You don’t have to be off duty for it to count. Any non-driving period of 30 consecutive minutes works, whether logged as off duty, sleeper berth, or on-duty not driving.3Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. When Must a Driver Take a 30-Minute Break The break cannot include time spent loading, unloading, inspecting the vehicle, or performing other work for the carrier.
Passenger-carrying drivers are not subject to the 30-minute break rule under current federal HOS regulations, though individual carriers may set their own break policies.
Weekly Limits and the 34-Hour Restart
On top of daily limits, you face a rolling weekly ceiling. You cannot drive after accumulating 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days, or 70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days. Which limit applies depends on whether your carrier operates vehicles every day of the week (70/8) or not (60/7).1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
You can reset the weekly clock to zero by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off duty. After completing the restart, you begin a fresh 60- or 70-hour period. The restart doesn’t have to include specific overnight hours or fall within any particular window. It just needs to be 34 uninterrupted hours off duty.1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Splitting Rest in the Sleeper Berth
If your truck has a sleeper berth, you don’t have to take the 10-hour rest all at once. You can split it into two periods when three conditions are met: one period must be at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, the other must be at least 2 consecutive hours (either off duty or in the sleeper berth), and the two together must total at least 10 hours.4Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. What Rest Periods Qualify for the Split Sleeper Berth Provision
The split also changes how your 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour window are measured. Instead of running against a single unbroken rest, FMCSA looks at the driving time in the window immediately before and after each rest period. Combined driving cannot exceed 11 hours, and combined on-duty time cannot violate the 14-hour limit.5eCFR. 49 CFR 395.1 – Scope of Rules in This Part The math gets complicated quickly, and most drivers rely on their ELD to track it.
Passenger-carrying drivers have a separate split option that mirrors the 8-hour rest requirement, with neither split shorter than 2 hours.
When the Limits Bend
Adverse Driving Conditions
Unexpected weather, road closures, or unusual traffic you could not have reasonably anticipated before starting your trip let you extend both your 11-hour driving limit and your 14-hour on-duty window by up to 2 hours. That gives you a maximum of 13 hours of driving within a 16-hour window for that day. The exception does not apply to conditions you knew about before starting the trip.1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Short-Haul Exception
If you operate within a 150 air-mile radius of your normal work reporting location and return to that location within 14 hours, you qualify for the short-haul exception. You don’t need an ELD and are exempt from the 30-minute break requirement. The 11-hour driving limit and the 60/70-hour weekly ceiling still apply.1Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
Agricultural Exemption
During state-determined planting and harvesting seasons, drivers transporting agricultural commodities (livestock, produce, farm supplies, and similar goods) within 150 air miles of the commodity’s source are fully exempt from HOS rules for those trips. No driving or work-hour limits, no ELD or paper log requirement. Outside the radius or outside the planting and harvesting period, normal HOS rules apply.6Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. ELD Hours of Service (HOS) and Agriculture Exemptions
Emergency Declarations
When FMCSA issues an emergency declaration in response to a natural disaster or other crisis, drivers providing direct assistance (hauling emergency supplies, fuel, or relief equipment) may be temporarily exempt from all HOS rules for that relief work. Hours spent under the emergency exemption don’t count toward your 60/70-hour weekly limit. Once the direct-assistance trip ends, though, you must take 10 consecutive hours off duty (8 for passenger carriers) before returning to normal operations. A 34-hour restart is not required to transition back.7Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Frequently Asked Questions Related to the FMCSA Emergency Declaration
Personal Conveyance and Yard Moves
Your ELD has two duty statuses that keep certain movement off your driving clock. Personal conveyance lets you move the truck for personal reasons (driving to a restaurant from a truck stop, commuting between your home and terminal, or relocating to a safe rest spot after unloading) and log the time as off duty. The requirement is that you are genuinely relieved of all work responsibilities. You cannot use personal conveyance to reposition the truck closer to your next pickup or advance toward a delivery point, even bobtailing or running empty.8Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Personal Conveyance
Yard moves let you shuffle the truck inside a terminal or warehouse lot and log the time as on-duty not driving rather than driving. That keeps the movement off your 11-hour driving clock while still counting against your 14-hour window. Carriers can set their own restrictions on both statuses that are stricter than federal guidance.
What Happens If You Go Over
Being caught over your hours is not just a paperwork problem. If a roadside inspector finds you have exceeded your driving limit or on-duty ceiling, you’ll be placed out of service on the spot. You cannot move the truck until you have taken enough consecutive off-duty time to satisfy the regulations, typically 10 hours for freight drivers. There is no shortcut, and your carrier cannot legally tell you to drive anyway.9eCFR. 49 CFR Part 395 – Hours of Service of Drivers
The civil fines come after that. Drivers personally face penalties of up to $4,812 per violation for exceeding driving or on-duty limits, and carriers can be fined up to $19,246 per violation. Driving after being placed out of service brings a separate penalty of up to $2,364. Recordkeeping violations such as failing to maintain accurate logs or falsifying records can cost up to $1,584 per day the violation continues, with a ceiling of $15,846.10Federal Register. Civil Penalties Schedule Update
Every HOS violation also feeds into your carrier’s CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) score through FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System. Carriers that accumulate enough violations in the HOS Compliance category get flagged for warning letters, audits, and investigations. For a driver, a pattern of violations makes you a liability that carriers may not want to hire.
If You’re Pressured to Break the Rules
Federal law prohibits your carrier, a shipper, a receiver, or any broker from coercing you into violating HOS rules. If someone pressures you to drive past your hours, skip rest, or falsify your logs, that’s a federal violation on their end, not yours.11eCFR. 49 CFR 390.6 – Coercion Prohibited
If you believe you have been coerced, you can file a complaint through FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. Select “Driver” as your filer category, identify the company, and provide specific dates, times, and details. Save your case number after submitting.12Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How to File a Complaint Drivers who report coercion are protected from retaliation under federal whistleblower provisions.